Living in the ethereal world by Philip Willey.

Current work on display at The Avenue Gallery ranges from hard edge neo-cubism by Andy Woolridge to some forceful almost abstract flower paintings by Vicky Marshall.  Majestic mountains by Margaret Shelton and powerful paintings by Brent Lynch meet soft drifting landscapes by Karna Bonwick. These are all competent painters exploring their own niches. they aren't interested in shattering old paradigms but in creating high quality works of art. There are also some extraordinary views of medieval Italian suburbs made from tiny bits of fabric by Silvia Armeni….even with a magnifying glass no seams are visible. In fact at first glance they look like prints. Armeni apparently is very secretive about the actual process.

Injecting drama into landscape has much to do with the way paint is applied, the choice of subject and the composition. Rob Elphinstone’s storm battered trees for instance, clinging to some remote wind-swept rock, make for some very intense drama. This is nature as theater, an approach that can easily lapse into sentimentality but Elphinstone manages to pull it off. I did have some trouble with his statement though. He obviously enjoys the tactile side of painting but he doesn’t like the term Expressionism. He prefers the less emotionally loaded Actualism ‘which captures the essence of the observed in a more fundamental way.’  Well OK, gallery-goers appreciate a bit of exegesis, but unless he’s hoping to articulate a whole new school of painting I’m not sure why he doesn’t let the paintings speak for themselves. They do it eloquently.

Ginny Glover produces clay sculptures inspired by a variety of sources including Greek and Roman ruins encountered in North Africa, earthy, tactile textures and the shape of didgeridoos which she saw in Australia. The result is some striking elongated human forms which made me scribble ‘Giacometti on an improved diet’ on a piece of paper. I have no idea where these thoughts come from. I hope Ginny won’t mind.

In a new venture the Avenue Gallery aims to show more historical paintings alongside contemporary work. Collectors corner it’s called. There you may be lucky enough to find paintings by John Hammond, Edwin Holgate, John Lyman and, if you’re quick, the great Riopelle.

There’s a Riopelle in the Winchester Gallery too, upstairs. The main gallery features new work by Philip Mix. I’m familiar with the stylised forms Mix uses to express the oneness of nature so it’s interesting to see him extend the same approach in a recent series of paintings at Winchester Gallery in Oak Bay. These are still lifes but the inanimate objects have been reduced to their essentials so that they become one with their backgrounds. Dimensions become fused, Braque and Picasso inevitably come to mind (resistance is futile), and in the best of these paintings Mix succeeds in blending spirit and intellect to capture the reality behind physical appearances.

Winchester Modern is showing work by the late Glenn Howarth. I knew Glenn and I'd often drop into his fan Tan Alley studio to see what he was up to. To be honest I could never quite get a grip on his work....perhaps that was the point. I'd always find him working, often on several pieces at once, he was always cheerful and he always made time for chat. I always felt calmed by his gentle sensibility. He seemed to be exploring ways of seeing...this strange process by which we absorb images into our own private narratives, the elusive unfocused mystery of the everyday. Fischl yes, perhaps a touch of Hockney's whimsy, or Bacon (without the violence) but something uniquely Howarth. Something ethereal. Now I'm supposed to round all this off with some clever little sentence that summarizes his life but I can't think of anything adequate. Rest in peace Glenn.


The Avenue Gallery – 2148 Oak Bay Ave. Victoria, BC
Winchester Galleries in Oak Bay – 2260 Oak Bay Ave. Victoria, BC
Winchester Galleries Modern – 758 Humboldt St. Victoria, BC