March 9, 2012
ANDREW FAY / NEW WORKS
ONE NIGHT STAND / Vernissage / Friday March 9, 2012/ 7 – 10pm
Tunes by Big Mac Daddy / Proudly sponsored by CKCU 93.1FM & OVERKILL Bar
“I never have a plan. My experiences from the previous day guide me as to what will appear on my canvas.Initially, I’ll spend time with compositional concerns; dividing the canvas up into shapes and creating interesting spaces. Figures begin to emerge and from there, a narrative or atmosphere starts to develop. My paintings are introspective.They are often comical, tragic,brooding and awkward reflecting an artist’s life. I tend to work large or very small.The larger paintings are usually more blunt and aggressive,while the smaller works are intimate and hold a contained intensity. My goal is to complete a theatrical, enigmatic and interesting painting, one that can draw a viewer in.
In the fall of 2010, I went to the National Gallery in Ottawa every Wednesday morning for an hour and a half. I had time to kill between appointments.While I was there, I decided to look at parts of the gallery’s collection that, for whatever reason, I would normally breeze past or ignore. One of these sections was the early European collection. I was aware of these paintings but I hadn’t spent much time with them. I found the imagery of the early Christian Art and Renaissance paintings strange and surreal. The drama was so staged and stilted but the emotions were genuine.
These visits to the gallery lead to the two “dramatic death scene” paintings on exhibition in this show. I think these paintings caught the mood of what I had seen but they were very, very dark.In response, I worked on some more colourful, classically based nudes.
These paintings, along with some smaller works are what I have on offer this time around.
I hope to see you at the vernissage on Friday, March 9th, 7-10pm where I’ll be happy to answer any of your questions and talk to you about my art”.
- Andrew Fay
