What Her Paintings Told Me
I hear the click of my boots as I walk up the gallery stairs. The sound reverberates on the white walls of the gallery, waking up the paintings that silently stare back at me. I’m looking at Nora Myers’ exhibition, Everything Now Forever
My eyes are drawn to thick black strokes of paint. They form a rectangular shape in the middle of a work that is directly in front of me. It’s an oil on masonite and I can see the textural effects of different painting techniques on its surface. The black strokes are uneven, exposing horizontal strips of cream and white hues in the center of the image. These strips of paint have a cloud-like, ephemeral appearance. Outside of the dominate black outlined rectangle is cream coloured paint. The paint has formed ridges and lines, revealing the directions the surface was caressed with a brush.
Detail of painting installation in Nora Myers’ show Everything Now Forever in the FAB Gallery until October 25.
When I step back and put distance between myself and this painting, shadows elongate from the right side and bottom edges of the work. The shadows become darker with each step backwards. Myers sanded down the painting frame, causing it to curve into the wall and project the painting forward. This produces a sculptural effect, constructing an illusion that the painting is hovering on the wall.
The clusters of paintings are arranged similarly to verses of poetry. They communicate a rhythm to each other and to the viewer. They interact with the exhibition space. One gray toned painting hovers next to the gallery’s brick wall. Scraped into the paint are thin, horizontal and vertical lines that mimic the grid-like pattern of the bricks.
Detail from Everything Now Forever by Nora Myers.
These idiosyncrasies and subtle conversations within Myers’ exhibition are the aspects I find most striking about her work.
Everything Now and Forever is open to the public until October 25th, 2014 in the University of Alberta’s Fine Arts Building Gallery.
Event title: Everything Now and Forever by Nora Myers, MFA painting final visual presentation
Exhibition dates: until October 25, 2014
Venue: FAB Gallery (1-1 Fine Arts Building, University of Alberta)
FAB Gallery Hours: Tuesday to Friday: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Saturday: 2 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Closed Sunday, Monday and statutory holidays
Admission: Free.
Previous articleRecap of Grant Miller’s guest lectureNext article
In the Studio with Nora Myers