Rose Pearson, Rabbit, Cat, Monarchs, acrylic and paper on canvas
The sun was shining on the weekend which made the drive down to Lindsay to see Rose’s show quite delightful. The Lindsay Gallery is located on the top floor of the public library. Many municipalities combine art galleries and public libraries and it tends to be a happy union as people who might not otherwise venture into an art gallery can “accidentally” find themselves doing just that. Locating the public gallery within the library also creates myriad opportunities for cross programming and helps drive foot traffic. And while the Lindsay Gallery might be showing its age a little bit, the space was nonetheless an inviting backdrop for Rose’s work, not to mention being totally hoppin’ on the first Saturday afternoon of March Break!
Pauses is an exhibition of paintings and mixed media work from the past five years. Rose confessed that once the show was hung she thought it felt a little disjointed, but I disagree. What we see is a non-linear transition from work that relied heavily on daily image journalling to paintings that seem to have been captured more spontaneously. Personal mythologies tie them together, that and, as Rose commented, “light and space”. She has moved from actively building an inventory of source imagery to happening upon it.
Rose Pearson addresses the audience at the opening reception of “Pauses”
In her own words:
The paintings in this show are each based on moments that were pauses for me. These often feel like moments of profound consciousness. Sometimes these moments of pause were searched out and sometimes they just appeared; each pause was recorded with a single photograph that was then subsequently used as a reference for the paintings.
Rose’s work is influenced by Jack Chambers, Alex Colville, and dare I say, Mary Pratt. In painting every day objects and familiar domestic scenes she isn’t trying to elevate the mundane – I think she is saying that there is no mundanity. The surface of a toy teapot can be gloriously reflective and captivating and that is reason enough to paint it.
I did a terrible job of photographing much of the show on account of how packed the gallery was! You’ll have to make the trek to Lindsay to see it in person – Pauses runs to March 29, 2014.
Haliblurtin' 