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Contours: Extended Painting in the Pacific Northwest

The shared history of the Seattle and Victoria art communities is a productive one, and can be traced back to the solo Seattle artist exhibitions mounted by former Art Gallery director Colin Graham in the 1970s. Seattle Now, a major group exhibition, curated by Greg Bellerby in 1984, revisited Graham’s efforts to examine the eclectic and dynamic visual arts south of the border. CONTOURS, co-curated by Matthew Kangas (Seattle) and Lisa Baldissera (Victoria), takes this model one step further, examining contemporary art production in both cities.

“Despite reports of premature death, painting not only continues to live in Seattle and Victoria, it is thriving.” states Kangas. “Part of its rehabilitation, however has meant artists seek strategies for extending the limits and parameters of painting: beyond the rectangle; beyond paint; beyond the wall.”

CONTOURS is characterized by inventive uses of materials and processes, coupled with ironic twists of painting languages. The exhibition features the works of Isabel Kahn, Jesse Paul Miller, Susan Dory, Mark Takamichi Miller and Patrick Holderfield from Seattle and Jeremy Borsos, Stephanie Aitken, Caroline James, Brian G. White and Tom Burrows from Victoria. The artists refer to the rich history of painting to invent new forms and display their confidence in the medium – and its future – along the way.