"Painter's Prerogative"

An exhibition of recent small scale work on canvas and paper at The Gallery / Art Placement inc., Saskatoon, SK, September 16 - October 21, 2021
For more info contact Linda or Levi at gallery@artplacement.com

"Art Placement is pleased to present Painter’s Prerogative, an exhibition of works on canvas and paper by Jonathan Forrest. Over the course of nearly four decades, Forrest has established a national reputation for his unique and continuously evolving approach to abstraction. Throughout the breadth of his production, which is paradoxically notable for its variety as well as its cohesiveness, one element remains constant: his passion for the medium of paint.

For a painter, few things are more enchanting than paint. Art historian James Elkins called it their “life’s blood”. The act of painting—the brushing, smearing, pushing, scraping, and pulling of coloured mud across a two-dimensional surface—is a tactile, physical process that is also psychic, sensual, sensational; an experience of both the hand (body) and the mind. It is, to borrow another phrase from Elkins, “liquid thought”. It is fluid, mercurial, unstable, alchemical potential offering limitless possibilities. It is unlike any other medium, a fact that Forrest, like all painters, knows intimately.

Jonathan Forrest was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and grew up on the Canadian prairies. He divides his studio time between Vancouver Island and small-town Saskatchewan. He has exhibited extensively in Canada and abroad and his work can be found in numerous public and private collections. His upcoming exhibition at Art Placement coincides with a mid-career survey on view at Art Gallery of Swift Current from September 11th to October 30th.", Levi Nicholat, Art Placement, Saskatoon.

Small Canvas works (painted March to June 2021):
(click on image for larger jpeg)

"Hold Tight", 2021, Acrylic on Canvas, 32" x 24"
"Tempest in a Teapot", 2021, Acrylic on Canvas, 32" x 24"
"Building Character", 2021, Acrylic on Canvas, 32" x 24"
"Handshake", 2021, Acrylic on Canvas, 32" x 24"

"Fairy Tale", 2021, Acrylic on Canvas, 32" x 24"
"Side by Side", 2021, Acrylic on Canvas, 32" x 24"
"Walk in the Park", 2021, Acrylic on Canvas, 32" x 24"
"Let’s Get Blue", 2021, Acrylic on Canvas, 32" x 24"

"Freight Train", 2021, Acrylic on Canvas, 32" x 24"

Full sheet paper works (Painted February/March 2021):

"First out of the Gate", 2021, Acrylic on Paper, 30” x 22 1/4”
"Ocean View", 2021, Acrylic on Paper, 30” x 22 1/4”
"Running the Gauntlet", 2021, Acrylic on Paper, 30” x 22 1/4”
"First Green", 2021, Acrylic on Paper, 30” x 22 1/4”

"Lucky Duck", 2021, Acrylic on Paper, 30” x 22 1/4”
"Comedians", 2021, Acrylic on Paper, 30 1/8” x 22”
"Wild West", 2021, Acrylic on Paper, 30 1/8” x 22”

"Moody Blue", 2021, Acrylic on Paper, 30” x 22 1/4”
"Valentines", 2021, Acrylic on Paper, 30” x 22 1/4”

Small paper works (painted October/November 2020):

"Homeward Bound", 2020, Gouache on Paper, 13" x 10"
"Clear Sailing", 2020, Gouache on Paper, 13" x 10"
"Short and Sweet", 2020, Gouache on Paper, 13" x 10"
"Ducks in a Row", 2020, Gouache on Paper, 13" x 10"

Studio shots: