ROBERT
R OBERT FEE: ACCIDENTALS
The exhibition titled Accidentals created by Robert Fee is a testament of malleability of painting to marry different styles of artistic expression. In Fee’s painting, the viewer can sense multiple historical influences ranging from collage, Surrealism, Pop Art, and current post-modern paradigms. In his paintings, Fee often juxtaposes visual elements which are in constant flux and unanchored, giving the images a great dynamic quality and sense of movement. The images are composed of abstract forms often hinting at the presence of representational components.
The inspiration for the paintings comes from various sources. Some of them are based on observable realities which are then inserted into various narratives, often resulting in felt tension and visual discord. In the process of creating compositions, Fee’s conceptual strategy is aimed at creating spaces which can be 3D environments, but also reaffirming the flatness of the pictorial plane. The representational entities are placed in hybrid environments which do not fit together logically. In Fee’s compositions the pictorial spaces overlap, and the elements shift in scale. Some elements are animated, others suspended in different spaces of various densities.
Despite the predominantly surreal appearance of Fee’s compositions, in the images in Accidentals there are representational elements that provide the viewer with hints about layers of possible narratives. The propensity to generate a narrative is often hinted at in the paintings’ titles which function as entry points to generate associations about possible meaning.
Lubos Culen Curator Vernon Public Art Gallery
The title of the exhibition, Accidentals, refers to the musical term indicating a temporary shift in a musical composition. Once the key of a song is established, an instrumentalist reading the music will encounter a note has been made sharp or flat for that bar and they must adjust. Then the music will default back to the original key for the subsequent bars, until the composer creates another shift somewhere else. At first this temporary change may be a mystery to the individual player, but to the composer there is underlying meaning; a change in the harmony, or a different scale with a particular sound. What might have seemed a random change always has a purposeful intention. The accidental always adds more tension, drama, and interest to the piece.
With these paintings, I gather structures randomly, as you would with a collage, and I start creating parameters and set a course for the work. At first, the paintings seem to be about something unintended; mostly from imagery I gravitate towards but not knowing where it will fit into the work. Some of the strangest references that I choose do seem like random accidentals; not knowing how they will relate to the whole. Often, I’ll find a phrase or image that materializes out of simple curiosity.
I engage with the visual challenge, integrating and editing the accidental imagery into the painting. A quiet interaction takes place between the images, their potential subtext and my brushwork and colour palette. The compositions involve a process that channels energy around and throughout. The process of additions and revisions repeats until ultimately the composition appears resolved. I like discovering beauty or humour that may reveal itself in this process. The paintings involve some free association, which probably also involves my own psychology, but I hope these connections have some universal resonance.
Robert Fee
Growth Hacking Funnel, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 28” x 28”
Hit and Roll, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 30” x 48”
I Have Found the Things, 2020, acrylic and collage on panel, 24” x 24”
I’m not Antisocial, I’m Just Busy Reading, 2024 acrylic on canvas 2019 28” x 28”
Vertigo: The Voice That Tempts Us, The Desire to Fall, 2020, acrylic on panel 16” x 48” (triptych)
Siren #1: Deliver Us From Entropy, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 24” x 30”
Siren #2: Friendship is Magic, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 24” x 30”
The Structure of Deep Belief, 2020, acrylic on panel, 20” x 24”
Pitting On The Last Lap, 2024, mixed media on panel, 36” x 36”
ROBERT FEE - BIO
Robert Fee has been a high school art and music teacher for the past 25 years. As a painter and jazz saxophonist, he has been interested in the overlapping creative aspects of music and visual art, and has used strategies as a teacher to introduce multi-disciplinary practices to his students. Musically, he has shared the stage or performed with groups such as Downchild Blues Band, Jeff Healey, Men at Work and Michael Buble. He currently lives in New Westminster with his wife and two daughters.
CURRICULUM VITAE
EDUCATION
1998-1999: Bachelor of Education – University of British Columbia
1989-1994: Bachelor of Fine Arts – University of British Columbia Okanagan
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019
Makeshift: October 2-27, The Gallery at Queen’s Park, New Westminster B.C.
2016
Down to Earth: March 6 - April 24, View Gallery, Richmond B.C. Happenstance: Feb 3-28, The Gallery at Queen’s Park, New Westminster B.C.
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
We Meet Again: October 1- November 26, Lake Country Art Gallery
2022
Richmond Art Teachers’ Show: August 5-September 9, Rotunda Gallery in the Richmond Cultural Centre
2019
From Lochs to Lakes: Mary Smith McCulloch’s Creative Legacy: June 29-August 11, Lake Country Art Gallery
2017
Works from Robert Fee and Alistair McRae: Jan 31-Feb 25, The Gallery at the Cultch, Vancouver B.C.
2012
Elemental: New West Artists Group- Network Hub Gallery, New Westminster B.C.
Visual Verse: New West Artists Group- Network Hub Gallery, New Westminster B.C.
Art Squared: New West Artists Group, New Westminster Quay
Inspired by Words - Arts Council New West Gallery, New Westminster B.C.
What to do Next: New West Artists Group-Network Hub Gallery, New Westminster
2004
Praxis: Richmond Art Teachers Association Exhibition, Richmond Cultural Centre
2003
Praxis: Richmond Art Teachers Association Exhibition, Richmond Cultural Centre
1999
Rocket Divers: with Amy Moss, Lugz, Vancouver B.C.
1997
Performance with Jurgen Brockmann, curated by Gary Pearson, The Alternator Gallery, Kelowna B.C.
1994
Crossing the Line: B.F.A. Grad Exhibit - UBCO, Kelowna B.C.
1992
Kinections: Second Year Painting Exhibition - UBCO, Kelowna B.C.
Art Lynch: Second Year Final Exhibition - UBCO, Kelowna B.C.
PUBLICATIONS
The Creative Voice: Life and Art in the Okanagan –Gary Pearson, 1998, Caitlin Press
This publication was produced in conjunction with the exhibition: Robert Fee: Accidentalsc Art Gallery, May 23 - July 16, 2024
Production: Vernon Public Art Gallery
Front cover image: Dilly Dally, 2020, acrylic and collage on panel, 20” x 20”
copyright © 2024, Vernon Public Art Gallery
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