Peepshow

"This is a process of seeing which invites the spectator to become an 'optical producer' as well as spectator - creating a theater for contemplation upon the act of seeing and the mechanics of representation.  This interactive drama plays out what is essential to all radical pictorial art, not the formulation of frozen iconic emblems that 'illustrate' ideas, but the active recognition...in the mind's eye during the contemplation of pictorial art of our own comparative experiences of the visual complexity of everyday life."

- Ian Wallace, from Corner of the Studio (1993) and El Taller (1993):  A Description and Reflection Upon Two Recent Works

Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain is pleased to present Peepshow, the latest solo exhibition of paintings and drawings by Dil Hildebrand.  For this, his third solo exhibition at the gallery, Hildebrand meditates on the theme of the artist's studio.  What results in Peepshow is a further negotiation of the opposing forces of space and surface within painting.  In characteristic fashion, a host of references converge in these new works; film, theatre, historical painting and documentary photography are all consciously evoked and explored here, revealing their influence throughout the exhibition.

Peepshow is, in one sense, a hall of funny mirrors, distorting the artist's studio and absurdly reflecting it as an alter ego of the gallery.  Deep and seductive, this new suite of paintings beckons all to come inside to the world inhabited by the now-absent artist, inviting them to consider their own relation to its artistic production.  Hildebrand gives us a veil of colour through which to peer into this private setting, and thereby renders us into dormant observers standing at the threshold.  While a theme of “transparent surface” is apparent in the paintings, this device seems rather to demonstrate how impervious the canvases truly are; from behind curtains of florid colour the paintings lure yet refuse to reflect.  In all, Peepshow may be regarded as a contemplation of the aesthetic, technical and hierarchical relations that exist between painting, drawing and photography.  By reversing the photographic image into the background, it is as though figure and ground have been inverted.  In this drama, the fore-grounded paint is no longer cast in its familiar role as ground but is thrown forward into a role playing itself, as a figure upon the stage.

In a new series of charcoal drawings, Hildebrand takes a different view of the studio.  Cast in dramatic lighting and framed in letterbox, these delicate drawings are quiet peeks into dark places within the workspace, as though gleaned from an imagined film noir.  While appearing to be drawn from photographs, they are in fact drawn from life and lit from the artist's imagination.  One suspects just how filmic the imagination has become, considering the fidelity to photographic appearance that is evident in this work.

Dil Hildebrand was born in 1974 in Winnipeg, Canada. He obtained his MFA at Concordia University, Montreal in 2008. In 2006 he won the RBC Canadian Painting Competition and has since participated in many exhibitions throughout Canada, the United States and abroad.  In October 2010 he will exhibit new work at the 4th Beijing International Art Biennale 2010 in Beijing, China.  Upcoming exhibitions include a solo show at YYZ Artists' Outlet, Toronto, in Fall 2011.  He lives and works in Montreal.

The artist would like to thank the Canada Council for the Arts and Le Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec.


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BOOK LAUNCH
Saturday, September 25 at 2:30 pm (as part of Les journées de la culture)



Long Drop: The Paintings of Dil Hildebrand
featuring essays by Louise Déry and Richard Rhodes, and an interview by Christine Redfern

Join us at the gallery for the Montreal launch of the new artist's monograph Long Drop: The Paintings of Dil Hildebrand published by Anteism Publishing and distibuted by the RCAAQ. Featuring a roundtable discussion with Hildebrand and Harley Smart (Anteism) on the challenges of publishing an artist's monograph.

(click on images below for larger view, please ensure browser pop-up blockers are disabled)


CANVASES

Studio C 2010 oil on canvas 213.5 x 183 cm (84" x 72")

Studio D 2010 oil on canvas 213.5 x 183 cm (84" x 72")

Studio E 2010 oil on canvas 213.5 x 183 cm(84" x 72")

Studio F 2010 oil on canvas 193 x 148 cm (76" x 58.25")

Studio G 2010 oil on canvas 193 x 148 cm (76" x 58.25")

Studio B 2010 oil on canvas 91.5 x 62 cm (36" x 24.5")		Renovation 2010 oil on canvas 64 x 71 cm (25" x 28")
Armature 2010 oil on canvas 46 x 36.5 cm (18" x 14.5")

Pane 2010 oil on canvas 30.5 x 26 cm (12" x 10.25")		Pane B 2010 oil on canvas 30.5 x 26 cm (12" x 10.25")		Pane C 2010 oil on canvas 30.5 x 26 cm (12" x 10.25")		Pane D 2010 oil on canvas 30.5 x 26 cm (12" x 10.25")
Pane E 2010 oil on canvas 30.5 x 26 cm (12" x 10.25")		Pane F 2010 oil on canvas 30.5 x 26 cm (12" x 10.25")		Pane G 2010 oil on canvas 30.5 x 26 cm (12" x 10.25")		Pane H 2010 oil on canvas 30.5 x 26 cm (12" x 10.25")
Pane J 2010 oil on canvas 30.5 x 26 cm (12" x 10.25")		Pane K 2010 oil on canvas 30.5 x 26 cm (12" x 10.25")		Pane L 2010 oil on canvas 30.5 x 26 cm (12" x 10.25")		Pane M 2010 oil on canvas 30.5 x 26 cm (12" x 10.25")
Pane N 2010 oil on canvas 30.5 x 26 cm (12" x 10.25")		Pane P 2010 oil on canvas 30.5 x 26 cm (12" x 10.25")		Pane Q 2010 oil on canvas 30.5 x 26 cm (12" x 10.25")		Pane R 2010 oil on canvas 30.5 x 26 cm (12" x 10.25")
Pane S 2010 oil on canvas 30.5 x 26 cm (12" x 10.25")

CHARCOALS

Clock 2010 charcoal 24 x 32 cm (9.5" x 12.5")		Cabinet 2010 charcoal 24 x 32 cm (9.5" x 12.5")		Fan 2010 charcoal 24 x 32 cm (9.5" x 12.5")
Sink 2010 charcoal 24 x 32 cm (9.5" x 12.5")		Cart 2010 charcoal 24 x 32 cm (9.5" x 12.5")		Sheet 2010 charcoal 24 x 32 cm (9.5" x 12.5")
Sawhorses 2010 charcoal 24 x 32 cm (9.5" x 12.5")		Jug 2010 charcoal 24 x 32 cm (9.5" x 12.5")		Canvases 2010 charcoal 24 x 32 cm (9.5" x 12.5")
Staircase 2010 charcoal 24 x 32 cm (9.5" x 12.5")

/TOP/

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