Gregory Hardy - Luminous Explorer
Reception: Thursday, October 23rd, 6 - 8pm
October 18 - November 13, 2014
Marvelling at the untamed power of the natural world, Gregory Hardy is very much a modern-day romantic. Not only does his work celebrate the sublime beauty of nature, his paintings are also metaphors for intense emotional states. With masterful facility, he produces pictures in which the paint seems to be guided rather than controlled. His heavy paint often crescendos at the crest of a cloud formation before sliding down the plane of the picture, all the while maintaining the representational illusion. Using a bold colour palette derived from nature and exaggerated for pictorial impact, he often mixes colour directly on the canvas—a half dozen hues blend together in the gestural drag of a 3-inch wide brush stroke. All these elements coalesce into pictures that are supercharged with energy and emotion...

The very recent works included in this exhibition range in scale from small panels to large canvas and linen works. Whether monumental or intimately proportioned, the paintings consistently maintain the vitality that has come to define Hardy’s artistic vision. He is regarded by collectors and curators across the country as one of the leading landscape painters of his generation. His work has been shown in commercial galleries and public museums for over 30 years, and his paintings are included in many private, corporate and public collections such as the Canada Council Art Bank, Mendel Art Gallery, Art Gallery of Alberta, Norman MacKenzie Art Gallery, Scotiabank, Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, and six Canadian embassies throughout the world.

Installation Images: