Foreword

The Scenic Route marks Kelly Grace's first solo exhibition with Abbozzo Gallery after a year of representation and regular inclusion in the Gallery 's main floor displays. The Scenic Route sees a departure from Grace's familiar works, concerning itself instead with a graphic-novel and film inspired format depicting a continuous narrative throughout each painting. This bold new direction is coupled with a pronounced vintage aesthetic, with call backs to the 50's and 60's in the form of the immediately recognizable fashion dawned by the characters, as well as in the depicted technology such as typewriters, thick black and white television sets and, of course, chromed classic cars taking center stage, all rendered in Grace's trademarked style. The entire exhibition is then a movie, as viewers are treated to film style techniques, such as dramatic camera angles and close-ups within the paintings themselves, making The Scenic Route a rare viewing experience not often offered by Gallery 's in Toronto. While the subject matter and narrative are quite different, viewers will notice the artist's continued manipulation of light. The paintings Do You Read Me? and Breakfast Broadcast showcase predominately pastel tones interspersed with highlights of bright and lively colours to set dramatic scenes and pull viewing focus, furthering each work's drama and cinema, strengthening the exhibition's genre-bending position as painted cinema.

Ryan Monadjem