Beguiled initially by its charming and unassuming facade, I peer into the cool, sunlit space of Paul Petro Contemporary Art Gallery only to find myself spiralling down the proverbial rabbit hole, and thudding into the psychedelic realm conceived by artists Gary Evans and André Ethier. In this duo exhibition, the ordinary meets the fantastical. Traditional landscape, still life, and portraiture are reimagined into new subjective realities, inspiring feelings of euphoria in the onlooker.
Gary Evans’ exhibit Ghost Host consumes the lower level of the gallery, where three large-scale oil paintings are set against an array of some twenty paper collages. These two contrasting media work simultaneously to challenge one’s perception by means of rearranging fragments of vibrantly colored and textured images. On Evans’ work “At the Mouth of the Woods” super-heightened and contrasting patches of colors are applied to the canvas in a combination of short-quick and long-languid lines to produce a surreal impression of a wooded area. The seemingly nonsensical arrangement of the work indicates movement and instability. Upon first glance, I perceive the work to be highly active. After several moments, I notice I have become caught within the picture’s perpetual cyclical structure, not unlike a fly trapped in a spider’s web. It is clear that for all of the flux within the picture, there is an equal and opposite stillness. Time feels as if to have slowed down enormously and I am eternally in the present. The experience is one of static vibration, chaotic harmony.
Gary Evans, At the Mouth of the Woods, 2014, oil on canvas, 72″ x 96″. Photo: Vanessa Zeoli
Evans’ collages demonstrate a similar duality. There is a distinct sense of flux in the way fragmented magazine clippings interact with one another. Vividly hued clothing articles with varying textures converge on a 2D surface. My senses are heightened as I take in these highly tactile and sharply contoured compositions floating in the centre of the page, positive that at any moment the wind will pick up leaving last season’s autumn collection to blow away in the breeze. And yet no matter how many times the gallery door swoops open and shut, the constructions remain stable and still. Much like his paintings, Evans’ collages prove to be highly structured entities in which all parts rely on each other. Two distinct and seemingly incompatible feelings—energy and equilibrium—are experienced simultaneously making for a rather psychologically compelling show.
Gary Evans, both Untitled, 2015, paper collage, 12 1/4″ x 19 1/4″. Photo: Vanessa Zeoli
Installation view of Gary Evans’ works (from left to right) Emblem #1, 2015, paper collage, 15″ x 11 1/4″, Untitled, 2015, paper collage, 15″ x 11 1/4″, Lodger, 2015, paper collage, 15″ x 11 1/4″, Driver #1, 2015, paper collage, 14″ x 11″, Note, 2015, paper collage, 15″ x 11 1/4″, Driver #3, 2015, paper collage, 14″ x 11″. Photo: Vanessa Zeoli
I proceed up a narrow staircase and into the exhibit New Grapes by indie rock singer turned painter, André Ethier. The small works of oil on masonite are distinctly less strategic than the works of his counterpart, appearing to have been completed in a brisk manner. Lacking a strong perceived sense of depth, his paints take on the characteristics of homemade egg tempera, achieving a translucent, streaky texture with a high gloss finish. Ethier’s lively style is met by common subject matter. Still life pictures of rounded women lazing against blossom adorned furniture, resemble the bohemian odalisques of Delacroix and Matisse. Bountiful garden scenes and portraits of a recurring bearded man account for some of the collection’s other subject matter.
Installation view of André Ethier’s works (from left to right) Untitled, 2015, oil on masonite, 16″ x 12″, Untitled, 2015, oil on masonite, 14″ x 11″, Untitled, 2015, oil on masonite, 20″ x 16″, Untitled, 2015, oil on masonite, 16″ x 12″, Untitled, 2015, oil on masonite, 16″ x 12″. Photo: Vanessa Zeoli
André Ethier, Untitled (left), 2015, oil on masonite, 12″ x 9″, Untitled (right), 2015, oil on masonite, 20″ x 16″. Photo: Vanessa Zeoli
One work stands out in particular, seeming inconsistent among the rest of the collection. In the “Untitled” 2015 painting, hipster meets Beetlejuice as the obscure motif of the same bearded man—perhaps self-referential on Ethier’s part—is repeated in an irregular manner against a far-out backdrop complete with cannabis leaves. The energy the work exudes is one of weightlessness and delirium, just what one would expect from an unconventional peacenik who frequents Kensington Market and who almost always has a copy of Kerouac’s ‘On the Road’ in tow.
André Ethier, Untitled, 2015, oil on masonite, 16″ x 12″. Courtesy of Paul Petro Contemporary Art
Evans and Ethier’s collections are bold and offer the spectator a unique opportunity to confront one’s perception of reality. I highly recommend stopping by the gallery at Queen West to see this exhibit before it closes in a few weeks time. It will be a trip unlike any other.
Vanessa Zeoli
*Exhibition information: July 17 – August 15, 2015, Paul Petro Contemporary Art, 980 Queen St West, Toronto. Gallery hours: Wed – Sat, 11 – 5 p.m.