LAB 6.0: High Early, Gary Pearson

Kelowna-based artist Gary Pearson explores the artwork of Maxwell Bates in this multimedia LAB project. Pearson examines Bates' fascination for the living theatre of social life. Pearson's project revisits two of Bates' works to develop a creative dialogue and an environment that examines the idea of entertainment. Pearson states, "The silence and stasis of paintings, drawings, prints, books, and photographs are legendary. That is their strength and their weakness, depending on how you look at it. High Early attempts to contextualize this silence, unravel and disperse it. ?Subject matter and narrative themes that are germane to Maxwell Bates' artwork are subjects and themes that interest me as an artist." Pearson's project for the LAB includes painting, video, photography and text. Two of Bates' works from the Art Gallery's permanent collection will be included in the installation. The exhibition has been scheduled concurrently with the major retrospective exhibition, Maxwell Bates, At the Crossroads of Expressionism.