GRAHAM GILLMORE

Through his visual use of language, Graham Gillmore shows us that communication can both connect and distance us at the same time. His text often examines conflicting sources of knowledge as well as personal and universal human experience.

Words are carved with a router in rounded block letters into a glossy, oil and enamel painted panel. The controlled aggression of the excavated picture plane produces delicate shadows cast within each letter, giving the work a sculptural quality.

There is a constant submerging as layer on layer of amorphous liquid paint sinks below the surface to murky depths. The brilliant luminosity and luster of these paintings often strike a note of ambivalence, so that there always seems to be a glimmer of hope, rather than a mere fatalistic recitation of the writing on the wall.

The raw and the refined, the absurd and the profound, acceptance and rejection, risk and restraint; one trusts these paintings because they seem to reflect lived, felt experience.

Gillmore lived in New York for over 25 years and has positioned himself internationally. His reputation extends across Canada, the United States and in Europe with recent exhibitions held in Toronto, Vancouver, Mexico City, San Francisco, New York, Miami Beach, Madrid and Berlin. Earlier exhibitions include “Learn to Read” at the TATE Modern alongside John Baldessari and Carol Bove. His work is collected by the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Audain Art Museum, British Columbia; the Ghent Museum, Belgium; Gian Enzo Sperone, New York; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto; RCA Records, New York; The Royal Bank of Canada; The Bank of Montreal; The Vancouver Art Gallery; and numerous other institutions and private collections worldwide. He has been featured in publications such as Canadian Art, Border Crossings, W Magazine, Art News, ArtForum, L.A. Weekly, C Magazine, and the New York Times Magazine.

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