Wavelengths: Group Exhibtion

Meet us on our wavelength. Abbozzo Gallery presents the Group Exhibition Wavelengths, a collection of work exemplary of the variety of what can be produced within the wavelengths of the visible colour spectrum and inspired by the intuitive and the innate; the way in which the soul compels the paintbrush, instinct guides the line, and in ultimation, our eye to the canvas. Featured are paintings and sculptures that speak to you silently in the way a familiar friend calls out with a wordless glance; all that is given and all that is needed is the outward expression of internal thought – in the universal language of art. Artists included are Lola Erhart, Delfina Gómez Marestaing, Celia Lees, Fabiana Salomao, Steven K. Tucker, and David Wilstermann, all exhibiting for the first time with Abbozzo Gallery. 

Perhaps it is too simple of an answer to say, “we just do,” in response to why we love the artists in this show, but it is the most true as again – there is something so natural, visceral, and instinctive about the works, something so universally alluring and arresting, that they require no verbal justification beyond that. There is a subtle cooperation between all the seemingly disparate artistic elements of this show, all the work distinct but resting together on harmonious frequencies. The impetus of the show was to find art that pulled us in with the effortlessness of our eyes to light in the absence of it, and what was realized from this vision is Wavelengths.  The exhibition, co-curated by Quincy Shaw, Hannah Scott, and Blake Zigrossi, is largely dominated by abstract and abstracted figurative artwork. 

Lola Erhart is a Patagonia, Argentina based oil painter whose work is “the rational construction of figurative drawing and emotionality through brushstrokes. These reason/emotion aspects, understood as a fundamental part of the human psyche, are the main focus of her search, taking the body as an object of study” 

Lola’s work explores the world that surrounds her and the interaction between her models and the environment they’re immersed in, fluctuating between reality and liminal, emotional spaces. 

Lola’s models are friends or women close to her, resulting in an intimate reverence for her subjects. The artist is currently committed to a body of work that seeks to break with its own limitations and structures in search of an increasingly authentic voice.

Delfina Gómez Marestaing is an Argentine painter based in Barcelona. Although featured in this show is only her oil painting, Gómez Marestaing is working on several different projects of her own and with other artists, practicing with biomaterials, performance and painting, with nature being her main inspiration throughout. 

Celia Lees is a Toronto based abstract painter. Celia began her practice in search of self expression and a more profound connection with both life and herself. 

Typically painting directly onto raw canvas and referring to her artworks as a “visual journal” she paints emotively, often even using her limbs or objects within reach when creating in her studio. 

Fabiana Salomao is a Toronto-based Brazilian artist that straddles the worlds of sculpture, abstraction and figuration. A keen observer of Concretism, Fabiana’s geometric, architectural work combines sleek contemporary neutrals and bold primary colours.

The artist’s figurative work, part of a series called “Concrete Memories”, questions the conceptual ambiguities between Modern and Contemporary art.  The work combines her affinity for architectural forms with figuration, often depicting subjects in highly detailed, ornamented spaces.

David Wilstermann is an Ottawa based painter (encouraged by watching reruns of Bob Ross), working within modes of minimalism and abstraction. His approach is spontaneous, playful and confident, combining gestural mark-making, painting and drawing to produce his unique, captivating work. Always inspired by nature, movement and texture his new work has a fresh organic feel, often sporting wispy, whimsical flowers. 

David spends his days working as a carpenter which informs his love for working with his hands - he thoroughly enjoys the tactile experience of stretching his own canvases and making his own frames, starting from the ground up. He paints on loose canvas on the floor of his studio, allowing him to make dark, bold marks with oil sticks and pastels. He describes his process as very spur of the moment, “whatever happens, happens style of painting”.

Steven K. Tucker is a Toronto based sculpture artist that navigates the space between sculpture and design, utilizing the framework of everyday objects to create works that embrace the chaotic, decadent and grotesque. Steven’s highly experimental approach, which utilizes gestural sculpting techniques, renders found objects and waste materials into objects seemingly engaged in an active metamorphosis. 

His work reveals a deep concern with functionality and place-marking and is rooted in a desire to explore alternate experiences through the repositioning of everyday objects and their given contexts.