Art Passage Exhibition
Feb 1-March, 31 2021
Gallery Hours: Sat/Sun 11am-4pm during regular exhibition times.
When you stop in to the Gallery to see the current exhibition, Lock up when you leave by Liz Bentley, take a wander down the hall to the Art Passage where you will see 14 small paintings, part of an ongoing series called Fragment Studies by Richard Motchman.
Text courtesy of the artist:
Nine of the paintings in the Art Passage have just returned from a three month exhibition in Astoria, Oregon at the Royal Nebeker Art Gallery which is part of Clatsop Community College. A total of 17 paintings of mine, including interactive column paintings and these Fragment studies, were in a two-person exhibition with Portland artist Paul Rutz. This exhibition came about as we were both included in a juried group show organized by the gallery called Au Naturel. I flew down to Astoria for the opening , saw the work on the walls, gave a workshop to students and explored interesting Astoria a little. The gallery paid a fee for shipping and a generous fee for the workshop; this show and trip were also made with help from Bill, another friend Mark, the models who posed and Xchanges as the host of my studio.
Biography
I was born in 1960 in Mombasa, Kenya. My family migrated to Canada when I was three, we settled in Penticton, B.C. As a child, I did lots of drawing and “art”, but when I was a teenager, I read about Vincent van Gogh which inspired in me the notion to be an artist. I attended the University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C. from 1978 to 1982, earning a B.F.A., having majored in visual arts. It was at university that I started creating three-dimensional figures, initially made out of paper. Three-dimensional figure paintings made with canvas and resin were the focus of my artmaking for decades.
In 1982 I travelled for six months in Europe, spending most of my time in art museums. The experience of Renaissance, Baroque, Realist, Impressionist and Expressionist art seen in all its glory had a great impact on me and has shaped my art a great deal. In 1983 I joined Xchanges and have been involved with the artist co-operative ever since; I am presently the president of this artist-run centre.
My first interactive paintings were created in 1998 and, in various forms, have been the focus of my art practise ever since. I focus on interactive paintings because they make time and movement elements of painting and provide the viewer with the opportunity to make choices and in a sense collaborate in the paintings.
My paintings have been exhibited in solo and two-person exhibitions in British Columbia and Oregon, and group exhibitions in Canada and the USA. My work is in private collections in Canada, the USA, and England.
The most common first reaction to my paintings is “I have never seen anything like this before”.
Artists are invited to submit proposals for the Art Passage gallery area by using our online form here.
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