The big takeover

Extreme Painting explodes at
galleries all over the city

NO ULTIMATE FIGHTING HERE:
Work by Mauricio Limon and Patrick Lundeen

by STACEY DEWOLFE

These days, when you hear the word extreme, a plethora of images comes to mind: from the plastic surgery nightmares of Extreme Makeover to the tongue-cancer-inducing madness of Doritos eXtreme Kickin’ chili flavoured corn chips, going to extremes has come to mean pushing against the limits of what the human body has been designed to endure. So when I stumbled across a press release for a collaborative, cross-city 16-gallery exhibition entitled Extreme Painting, I was intrigued.

“The idea stemmed from looking at trends in painting towards more aggressive and material-emphasizing work,” explains artist and curator Ben Klein, who initially conceived of the idea for the project. “But we widened it… giving [gallery owners] the chance to explore a compromise between their regular mandates and the idea of extremity.” René Blouin, whose eponymous gallery Klein describes as one of the most respected in Canada, and “by consensus, the most historically cutting-edge,” was involved from the start, coining the title and helping to set the parameters of the exhibition. “I thought of ‘extreme painting’ as I was looking at the work of many young painters,” says Blouin. “Involving several galleries seemed the best way to approach these ideas. Every gallery has an editorial position and it appeared to me that juxtaposing all these different takes would enrich the viewer’s experience.”

Last weekend, I wandered down to the Belgo Building (372 Ste-Catherine W.) to check out some of the participating galleries, each of whom was given full reign to interpret the theme.

“At first I thought that ‘extreme’ as a title for a city-wide exhibition was a bit silly… thinking of ultimate fighting, but then I warmed to the idea because I liked its broad possibilities for interpretation,” explains Megan Bradley of Push Gallery (suite 425). The paintings in Patrick Lundeen’s Mad Masks Beyond the Vendome may not be extreme in their materials or methods, but in their references to religion and sport, they speak to a kind of cultish extremism that resonated for Bradley.

Paul Bureau’s colour field paintings at Donald Browne (suite 524) are perhaps a more literal example of the theme, their thick chunky surfaces replete with layer upon layer of paint. Paintings by Kim Dorland and Wil Murray at René Blouin (suite 501) also follow this line, the viscerality of their respective projects coming together to create what Blouin describes as a “volcano of energy.” A similar approach was also taken by the folks at Trois Points (suite 520), in Clint Griffin’s garishly hued landscapes, their surfaces laden with paint and printed elements, and the hideous smiles that scream out from James Olley’s portraits.

One of my favourite pieces is a video by local artist Alana Riley at Joyce Yahouda (suite 516). Though there are a few painted works here, for the most part, guest curator Nicolas Mavrikakis has focused on videos and installations about painting. In Riley’s work, an overhead camera captures the artist as she washes a paint-strewn floor with a mop, bringing the colours to life with every stroke of her “brush.”

In addition to the shows mentioned above, Belgo residents Lillian Rodriguez and Roger Bellemare are also participating in the exhibition. And in the coming weeks, check out shows at Parisian Laundry, Han Art, Division Gallery, Galerie d’Este, Dominique Bouffard, Simon Blais, Orange and Pangée.

EXTREME PAINTING RUNS THROUGHOUT
THE CITY UNTIL AUG. 30