BRIAN HARVEY DRIFT
Abbozzo Gallery 401 Richmond Street West Unit 128, Toronto ON, M5V 3A8. Tel: (416) 260-2220 abbozzogallery.com
Member of the Art Dealers Association of Canada
Table of Contents 1. DRIFT: Foreward 2. Brian Harvey: Biography 3. Artist's Statement 4. DRIFT: Works List 5-29. Works in the Exhibition
Brian Harvey: DRIFT Foreward Brian Harvey is most comfortable portraying the ephemeral; he often focuses on specific moments and times of day that feel rare and fleeting. Harvey’s effective surrender to the cityscape, and his acknowledgement that he himself is a part of the city's social reality, gives him the ability to portray these fleeting moments while maintaining the same distance a documentarian would keep from their subjects. Harvey's powerful use of colour is the voice that serves to highlight and magnify even the most mundane details of city life, be it the burgundy colours comprising a grimy streetcar (Logan and Gerrard, 2019), or the cheerful yellow lights that illuminate a seemingly unremarkable alleyway (South of Gerrard, 2019). Harvey's technique lends importance to the forgotten and overlooked parts of the city, endowing them with beauty comparable to some of Toronto's most well-known and iconic landmarks. His art broadcasts to the world the momentary qualities of the modern city, linking him to the rich traditions of the Impressionists and the American Realists, which have so vibrantly and successfully captured modernity in a similar style and subject matter as Harvey does today. - Ryan Monadjem
[1]
Brian Harvey Biography Toronto born painter, Brian Harvey, studied at The Art Centre at Central Technical School, the Toronto School of Art, and received a BFA from OCAD University in 2016. Upon graduating from The Art Centre in 2003, Harvey focused on building an oil painting practice and within a few years, began working full time as an artist. He has been painting for two decades and his work has been widely collected across Canada, the United States and beyond; his work can be found in both private and public collections. He is inspired by the commonplace and the typically mundane; the everyday objects, spaces and landscapes that surround him. He strives to explore and monumentalize these overlooked and forgotten pockets of Toronto’s urban landscape. Maintaining his longtime residence, Harvey continues to capture Toronto’s pulse, living and working in the city.
[2]
DRIFT
Artist's Statement DRIFT is a new body of work that explores urban spaces, specifically the familiar facets of my own neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario. Drawing from the tenants of psychogeography that emphasize exploration, playfulness and drifting in urban environments, my inspiration comes from walking, from unplanned journeys through the landscape, and from getting lost in familiar places, honing in on things missed in the everyday experience. Random movement through urban landscapes can create a disorienting feeling as new discoveries and connections are made, enabling things to be seen through a different lens. These works reflect fragments of that aimless drift through Toronto’s urban landscape. - Brian Harvey
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DRIFT Works List Behind St. Helen’s, oil on panel, 36x36”, 2021 Coin Laundry Glow, oil on panel, 24x48", 2021 Delivery Van, oil on panel, 8x8”, 2021 East, oil on panel, 8”round, 2021 Eddie’s, oil on panel, 24x18”, 2021 Empty Seats, oil on panel, 42x36", 2021 February Strip Mall, oil on panel, 12x36”, 2021 Green Fence, oil on panel, 8x8”, 2021 Green Garage, oil on panel, 8x8”, 2021 Intersect, oil on panel, 8x8”, 2021 Logan and Gerrard, oil on panel, 36x36”, 2019 Long Way Home, oil on panel, 30x60", 2021 Monumental, oil on canvas, 48x72", 2021 North, oil on panel, 8”, round, 2021 Past the Green Garage, oil on panel, 36x48", 2021
[4]
Rayman’s, oil on panel, 60x30", 2021 Red Fence, Autumn, oil on canvas board, 12x6”, 2019 Red and Green Garage, oil on panel, 8x8”, 2021 Red Garage, October, oil on panel, 8x24”, 2019 Reserved, oil on panel, 36x36”, 2021 South, oil on panel, 8” round, 2021 South of Gerrard, oil on panel, 8x24”, 2019 7 Seconds, oil on panel, 48x48", 2021 Still Open, oil on panel, 36x24”, 2021 Sundown, oil on panel, 8x8”, 2021 Top of the Lane, oil on panel, 8x8”, 2021 West, oil on panel, 8”round, 2021
Behind St. Helen’s, oil on panel, 36x36”, 2021
[5]
Coin Laundry Glow, oil on panel, 24x48", 2021
[6]
Delivery Van, oil on panel, 8x8”, 2021 [7]
East, oil on panel, 8”round, 2021
[8]
Eddie’s, oil on panel, 24x18”, 2021
[9]
Empty Seats, oil on panel, 42x36", 2021
[ 10 ]
February Strip Mall, oil on panel, 12x36”, 2021
[ 11 ]
Green Fence, oil on panel, 8x8”, 2021
Green Garage, oil on panel, 8x8”, 2021
[ 12 ]
Intersect, oil on panel, 8x8”, 2021
[ 13 ]
Logan and Gerrard, oil on panel, 36x36”, 2019 [ 14 ]
Long Way Home, oil on panel, 30x60", 2021
[ 15 ]
Monumental, oil on canvas, 48x72", 2021
[ 16 ]
North, oil on panel, 8”, round, 2021 [ 17 ]
Past the Green Garage, oil on panel, 36x48", 2021
[ 18 ]
Rayman’s, 60x30”, oil on panel, 2021
[ 19 ]
Red Fence, Autumn, oil on canvas board, 12x6”, 2019
[ 20 ]
Red and Green Garage, oil on panel, 8x8”, 2021 [ 21 ]
Red Garage, October, oil on panel, 8x24”, 2019
[ 22 ]
Reserved, oil on panel, 36x36”, 2021 [ 23 ]
7 Seconds, oil on panel, 48x48”, 2021 [ 24 ]
South, oil on panel, 8” round, 2021 [ 25 ]
South of Gerrard, oil on panel, 8x24”, 2019
[ 26 ]
Still Open, oil on panel, 36x24”, 2021
[ 27 ]
Sundown, oil on panel, 8x8”, 2021
Top of the Lane, oil on panel, 8x8”, 2021
[ 28 ]
West, oil on panel, 8”round, 2021 [ 29 ]
Text © 2021 by Ryan Monadjem and Brian Harvey All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission by the publisher
Published by Abbozzo Gallery 401 Richmond St. West, Suite 128 Toronto, Ontario M5V 3A8
Credits: Images courtesy of Brian Harvey and Abbozzo Gallery Catalogue by Quincy Shaw
