New St. Thomas Exhibition Pictures the World Around Us
by Eric Bunnell
The St. Thomas Times-Journal, January 8, 2013
Bright's Grove painter Ian McLean refuses to go easy -- not on his medium, oil, nor the viewer.
"I choose to paint with oil," he says in an artist's statement.
"It is fluid and messy and it often does not behave. It is a rather serious medium with an enormous history, but I like to coax and cajole and use it to render images that are at once irreverent and laden with serious subtext."
In his show Easily Distracted: New Paintings opening Jan. 12 at St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre (stepac.ca) and continuing to March 26, McLean coaxes and cajoles his paints to explore the relationship between the natural world, and the world we really want it to be.
Sometimes, he pictures real places. Other times, they are imaginary.
But, McLean says, "At all times, these images suggest efforts to contain, control, manipulate, or avoid circumstances of nature as evidenced in highly groomed or domesticated environments.
"The Implied narratives usually reflect a deep-seated desire for comfort, beauty or distraction."
McLean, who teaches art in Sarnia, studied at the University of Guelph and has exhibited widely at public and commercial galleries, and has been collected across Canada. He is the recent recipient of an Ontario Arts Council Mid-Career Artist Grant. There's an opening reception 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Jan. 12.
Running concurrently at the art gallery is an exhibition of drawings, paintings and photographs from the art gallery's permanent collection illustrating how artists explore interior spaces.
Located at 301 Talbot St., the gallery is open noon - 3 p.m. Sundays, 10 a.m - 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and noon - 4 p.m. Saturdays. Free admission. 519-631-4040.
by Eric Bunnell
The St. Thomas Times-Journal, January 8, 2013
Bright's Grove painter Ian McLean refuses to go easy -- not on his medium, oil, nor the viewer.
"I choose to paint with oil," he says in an artist's statement.
"It is fluid and messy and it often does not behave. It is a rather serious medium with an enormous history, but I like to coax and cajole and use it to render images that are at once irreverent and laden with serious subtext."
In his show Easily Distracted: New Paintings opening Jan. 12 at St. Thomas-Elgin Public Art Centre (stepac.ca) and continuing to March 26, McLean coaxes and cajoles his paints to explore the relationship between the natural world, and the world we really want it to be.
Sometimes, he pictures real places. Other times, they are imaginary.
But, McLean says, "At all times, these images suggest efforts to contain, control, manipulate, or avoid circumstances of nature as evidenced in highly groomed or domesticated environments.
"The Implied narratives usually reflect a deep-seated desire for comfort, beauty or distraction."
McLean, who teaches art in Sarnia, studied at the University of Guelph and has exhibited widely at public and commercial galleries, and has been collected across Canada. He is the recent recipient of an Ontario Arts Council Mid-Career Artist Grant. There's an opening reception 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Jan. 12.
Running concurrently at the art gallery is an exhibition of drawings, paintings and photographs from the art gallery's permanent collection illustrating how artists explore interior spaces.
Located at 301 Talbot St., the gallery is open noon - 3 p.m. Sundays, 10 a.m - 4 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, and noon - 4 p.m. Saturdays. Free admission. 519-631-4040.