Gordon Smith: Photo Works

Gordon Smith is a key figure in contemporary Canadian art. Since the 1950s, he has worked continuously to expand the dialogue between abstraction and representation while always pushing the traditional limits of painting. More recently, inspired by visual elements in his studio, Smith has taken photographic imagery and reworked the surface using acrylic paint and collaged elements. In relation to the images that lies beneath (or on top of, depending on the piece), these painted gestures generate a host of meaningful associations between the lyricism of abstraction and the reality of representation.