David Macwilliam - Recent Works

"David MacWilliam's recent paintings are not easy to categorize and inhabit a place where traditional notions of painting are questioned. They are hybrid objects, where the oval shaped painting hovers away from the wall on an elaborate support structure designed to create a concave surface. The thickly painted surfaces on textured material and MacWilliam's deft handling of colour are reminiscent of the 1950s European abstraction of painters like Alberto Burri, best known for his paintings on burlap and as a precursor to Arte Povera. MacWilliam's references to art history and his blurring of the boundaries between painting and sculpture invite a discourse on what a painting can be and infuse the works with contemporary meaning." -- Greg Bellerby, Director/Curator, Charles H. Scott Gallery, Vancouver

Group shows which have included work by David MacWilliam are many, among them the Paris Biennale (1982) and the Vancouver Art Gallery's "Art and Artists 1939-83" (1983-1984) and momentous "weak thought" exhibition (1998-99). Solo shows of his work have taken place, for instance, at the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (1984), the Vancouver Art Gallery (1990), Galleria Panorama in Barcelona (1997) and Le Musée Regionale de Rimouski in Quebec (1998). Several works by him will appear in the Vancouver Art Gallery's PAINT, opening September 30, 2006. He teaches painting at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design where he is currently the Acting Dean