TIM GARDNER NOCTURNES
MONTE CLARK GALLERY
MONTE CLARK GALLERY This catalogue was published in conjunction with the exhibition: TIM GARDNER NOCTURNES Monte Clark Gallery March 7 – April 4, 2015 Photography: Byron Dauncey Design: Monte Clark Gallery Front cover image: Tim Gardner, “Zephyr” (detail)
Copyright Notice Images may not be reproduced, copied, transmitted or manupulated without written permission. All rights reserved. © Copyright 2015 Monte Clark Gallery Courtesy of 303 Gallery, New York
MONTE CLARK GALLERY #105 - 525 Great Northern Way Vancouver, BC Canada V5T 1E1 604 730 5000 info@monteclarkgallery.com www.monteclarkgallery.com
In Tim Gardner’s second solo exhibition at Monte Clark Gallery, the artist presents a selection of new watercolour paintings depicting figures engaged with the nighttime landscape and sky. In nine new paintings, Gardner examines techniques of representing nocturnal scenes, employing blue and indigo hues and other methods that allow details of a dimly-lit tableau to be viewable while still reading as “night.” Though to the camera or to the eye these colours are not particularly accurate, Gardner plays with this language of nocturnal colour to create strikingly realistic scenes. Gardner’s depiction of nocturnal scenes was partially influenced by 20th century Japanese artist Hiroshi Yoshida. Yoshida created woodblock prints using different sets of inks to create daytime and nighttime versions of the same image, substituting darker hues for the latter. Fittingly, Yoshida was particularly known for eschewing traditional Japanese imagery and depicting landscapes of national parks in the United States, not unlike the recreational scenes that make up much of Gardner’s imagery. Gardner’s new selection of watercolours situate his markedly contemporary figures in such landscapes, and narratives emerge as the subjects interact with their settings: they ride a motorcycle at Sauble Beach, they ski under the moon, they take a photo of the lights in Los Angeles with an iPhone. Exhibited alongside Gardner’s watercolour paintings are three collage works, formally more abstract but still echoing Gardner’s nocturnal palette as well as referencing ground and sky. These works are the continuation of a project that started in 2003 where the artist began collecting the paper towels used to wipe his brushes and palette while in the process of painting. These pieces, formed by collaging the paper towel squares together, are superficially different but maintain an interesting tie to Gardner’s more traditional watercolour works; it’s something in the way they share the same pigments, or as the artist explains, the same “essence.” Tim Gardner completed his MFA at Columbia University in 1999 and has since exhibited his work at The National Gallery (London UK), the San Francisco MoMA, Modern Art (London), the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Kunsthalle Basel, the Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver), 303 Gallery (New York), and at numerous other institutions. His work is held in collections worldwide including the National Gallery of Canada, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Whitney Museum, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMA).
Tim Gardner Night Surfer, 2015 Watercolour on paper 12.125 x 16.125 inches
Tim Gardner 2 Men with Moon, 2015 Watercolour on paper 12.125 x 16 inches
Tim Gardner Sauble Beach, 2015 Watercolour on paper 14.125 x 20 inches
Tim Gardner Untitled (April Fool), 2015 Watercolour on paper 12.125 x 16.125 inches
Tim Gardner Night Ferry, 2015 Watercolour on paper 20 x 14.125 inches
Tim Gardner 2 Men in Canoe, Lake Louise, 2015 Watercolour on paper 20 5 x 28.25 inches
Tim Gardner Gemini, 2015 Watercolour on paper 24.5 x 18 inches
Tim Gardner Man Washing Face and Big Dipper, 2014 Watercolour on paper 12.125 x 16.125 inches
Tim Gardner Skier and Lunar Halo, 2014 Watercolour on paper 25 x 15.5 inches
Tim Gardner Moonlit Night, 2015 Paper towels and watercolour pigment on paper 47.5 x 27.5 inches
Tim Gardner Zephyr, 2015 Paper towels and watercolour pigment on paper 37 x 22 inches
Tim Gardner Blue Dawn, 2015 Paper towels and watercolour pigment on paper 33 x 63 inches