Annapolis-Pretty Much /Ron Moppett

TrépanierBaer is pleased to announce the opening of its fall season with an exhibition of new works by critically acclaimed, Gershon Iskowitz Prize winner, Ron Moppett.
Ron Moppett, whose work addresses popular culture, reveals through his painting, a form of visual poetry filled with uncanny juxtapositions, syntactic disruptions, and elliptical historical references. His characteristic use of fragments of text and images is, according to notable Canadian art critic Nancy Tousley, a personal vernacular. She sees in his work a “vocabulary of signs, drawn from multiple sources and depicted in various styles, [which] constitutes a form of speech whose cadences fall on the eye rather than the ear”.
In his new work, Ron Moppett continues to draw upon a diversity of historical and cultural styles through an unconventional fusion of adapted imagery. Moppett, always comfortable with scale, will unveil a formidable and poignant work measuring 12’ x 16’ as the centerpiece of the exhibition. Here multifaceted alignments of geometric panels infused with art historical references reveal an active system of visual poetics drawn from a spectrum of the everyday to the skyward. Boldly displaying the indeterminate phrase “Pretty Much,” this ambitious work plays upon the nonsensical utterances of everyday jargon to offer a diverse view of pop culture vernacular. Ultimately, what unfolds in the work’s visual interplay is a plurality of consciousness: a complex space of shifting viewpoints to which the viewer is invited to actively explore.
Ron Moppett is one of Canada’s leading contemporary painters who has established a significant visual arts career with many honours, exhibitions, publications, and awards including the prestigious Gershon Iskowitz Prize for painting in 1997. His work consistently shows in exhibitions across the country and is held in prestigious collections such as the National Gallery of Canada.
In addition to his studio practice Ron Moppett is the Director of the Illingworth Kerr Gallery at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary.
For more information please contact Yves Trépanier or Kevin Baer at (403) 244-2066, or email tbg1@telusplanet.net.