Galerie St-Laurent + Hill presents: John Barkley- PAINT, NATURE

Galerie St-Laurent + Hill presents:
John Barkley
PAINT, NATURE
October 17 - 29
Vernissage: Saturday, October 19, 2:00 - 5:00PM


Barkley Artist Statement

It appears that nature remains fundamentally the same except for humanity’s intervention and conception of it. Paint, despite its use by numerous artistic movements such as the preference of flatness or later the return to, and the recycling of, three dimensional imagery, remains paint.
I am always surprised and amazed at how versatile this medium is. How it can be used to create differences in surface, depth, and representation. One perspective of thought and artistic practice advocates that painting can go beyond representation resulting in the emergence of “the thing itself”. In other words, the art work transcends its attributes or its making to emerge and become autonomous. This is an artistic goal but often is hindered by the depiction of representational subject matter. So it is said.
Within this body of work I have endeavoured to explore the versatility of paint while using the rugged and beautiful terrain in which I live as a reference. Some pieces are more representational, and others more reliant on the interaction of paint to communicate an object in the painting. Some verge on abstraction while others appear more picturesque. Some pieces are extremely textured while others are more illustrative. In places paint is applied thick, while in others there is glazing.
In the end, each work is distinct and autonomous.


Barkley Biography

As a young boy, growing up in the Ottawa valley, I drew and painted the forest, my siblings, and the animals on our small hobby farm. My father, an artist as well, took me on sketching and painting trips with him and his artist friends. During my youth I completed a B.A honours, a B.F.A. and then a Masters degree. I was born in Ottawa in 1964 and lived just outside of Perth as a boy. Currently I reside in the Gatineau Hills of Quebec, having residence and studio there.
My art practice has been consistent, ongoing, and persistent as I have pursued various genres, and experimented with various painting applications and constructions since 1996. I have tried just about everything that can be done in painting, from translucent thin washes on canvas to the integration of 3-D objects on board. My process involves both experimentation and inner search. I have been interested in both painting as an art and as a means of investigating the self and its relationship to God.
I am essentially concerned with these two questions.?1. What am I and how am I connected to nature, the earth, the universe and God?? 2. What can I do with paint and particularly how far can I push the genre while communicating ideas?
Ultimately, I am interested in the spiritual aspect of human existence.
My work has been influenced by the group of seven, and the painting application and approach has been compared to the Automatizes. However my most profound influence is attributable to the influence of my teachers, Catherine Everett and Roland Poulin, both intuitive process oriented artists.
I have created a diverse and massive amount of work, having dedicated my life to my practice, therefore making lifestyle, work, and study choices that align with my practice. As a consequence I have an extensive exhibition record and have sought out areas of study that coincide with the process and content found in my work including the completion of a master's degree and thesis.? My research and artistic practice is essentially about human consciousness, and interconnected being. My work is created in a serious practice influenced by environmental concerns, existential questions, and representations of the world, self, and the experience of the divine.

Please don't hesitate to call (613) 789-7145 or email us (mailto:info@galeriestlaurentplushill.com) at info@gstl.info for any inquiries. Our normal hours are: 10:00 - 5:30 Tuesday to Friday, from 10:00 to 5:00 on Saturday

293 Dalhousie, Suite 103
Ottawa, ON K1N 7E5