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Contemporary Art Gallery

555 Nelson Street
Vancouver, Canada
Open from Tuesday to
Sunday 12 pm → 6 pm

Admission always free
ArchiveExhibition
31 Oct 92until28 Nov 92

Rhoda Rosenfeld

Dark Works 1988 –1992

555 Hamilton St

An artwork on a white wall. The work is a painting on fabric pinned to the wall, containing rusty, earthy tones. Extruding from the painting is a large wood branch, possible with tree roots attached.

Rhoda Rosenfeld is a Vancouver-based visual artist and poet. As a visual artist she has worked with photography and painting, at times combining the two. The exhibition at the Contemporary Art Gallery features a series of paintings Rosenfeld has been producing since 1988.

The Dark Works, to be exhibited at the Contemporary Art Gallery from October 31, were derived from a set of photographs taken by Rosenfeld in 1970. Before the film was developed, it was damaged by moisture and, as a result, the intended landscape images were obscured by ghostly biomorphic shapes. The landscapes in the paintings are also obscured, this time by a turbulent layer of brush marks that force a slow visual assimilation of the image. This veiling of the image is metaphoric of Rosenfeld's feeling about our relationship with a landscape that is increasingly mediated by technology through ecological erosion and the mass media. Rhoda Rosenfeld works slowly, producing an average of two paintings a year. The paintings are large, 5 feet by 8 feet, and are installed unstretched. The materials she employs include clay, oil paint, oil stick and colour pencil.

Three large works in the corner of a gallery space. The works are dark paintings on unstretched canvas resembling light leaks on film. One work in the corner also had a large branch attached to it.
The corner of a gallery space, with one work on each wall. The works are large, dark paintings, with white, blue and yellow blended into them. They are on unstretched canvas, pinned to the walls.
Two large paintings on a white wall. The works resemble damaged film negatives, and are presented on unstretched canvas, pinned directly to the wall. They are dark with soft, light, details.

Documents

Essay: “Rhoda Rosenfeld: Dark Works 1988-1992,” Keith Wallacepdf578kb
An artwork on a white wall. The work is a painting on fabric pinned to the wall, containing rusty, earthy tones. Extruding from the painting is a large wood branch, possible with tree roots attached.
Three large works in the corner of a gallery space. The works are dark paintings on unstretched canvas resembling light leaks on film. One work in the corner also had a large branch attached to it.
The corner of a gallery space, with one work on each wall. The works are large, dark paintings, with white, blue and yellow blended into them. They are on unstretched canvas, pinned to the walls.
Two large paintings on a white wall. The works resemble damaged film negatives, and are presented on unstretched canvas, pinned directly to the wall. They are dark with soft, light, details.