Mary Babineau
This exhibition opens on Friday, January 5th, 7:00–9:00 PM
Artist talk: Saturday, January 13th, 1:00 PM
Exhibition runs through Sunday, January 21st, 2018
Gallery Hours:
Saturdays and Sundays, 12 to 4 pm,
or by appointment.
Babineau draws from personal photographs and sense memory in these oil paintings about visceral response and the flux between pleasure and dystopia in the public spaces of Las Vegas. Glitzy kitsch, monumental architecture, and dazzling interiors contrast with the glare of economic disparity and desperation in this major tourist destination, a large American city in the desert.
Artist Statement:
“The Vegas Project is about my attraction to the high-pitch contrasts in Las Vegas tourist areas. The oil paintings, which are drawn from personal photos and sense memory, are gestural and layered re-imaginings of the urban architecture and interior public spaces. I’m engaged by the visceral pleasure and simultaneous sharp edges of unease. Kitsch and glamour, designer lighting and dazzling reflective surfaces conflict with the disparities of situation and economics on the streets, all flaring in a dystopia under the desert sun.”
Artist’s Bio:
Mary Babineau has a BA, Fine Arts from the University of British Columbia, a Diploma of Fine Art and an Independent Studio Program Certificate from Vancouver Island School of Art. She works from sense memory and personal photos to explore experience of urban environments in drawing and painting. The gestural re-imaginings of public spaces create landscapes of uncertainty through which Babineau reflects on her experience of place and space.
