CINEMA VERNIS

FOREWORD

By CAROL PODEDWORNY

 

John Abrams and I have crossed paths professionally several times in the past nearly 25 years. I first became aware of his work through an exhibition which the institution I was working for had borrowed from the up-start little commercial gallery in Toronto, Garnet Press. That was 1985 and the exhibition was entitled, Nostaligia for a Metier. The exhibition contained work by some of the brightest artists of the day, many of whom as time went by — like John — would become household names in Canada. John’s contribution to the exhibition was several vibrant and scathingly composed still lives.

 

In 1992, John and I would work together for the first time on an exhibition entitled Rethinking History for the Mercer Union in its Adelaide Street space. In the political arena that was the arts community at that time, Rethinking History rocked the curatorial boat and John’s roll in that rocking was significant. As artist and curator Andy Fabo remarked at the time in a feature article in C Magazine, “[the] most daring inclusion was the work of John Abrams. Not only is he a member of the dreaded “white heterosexuals of Anglo-Saxon background but he is also a painter of heroically-scaled work — two credentials that could totally negate [the] premise. ... While the work of John Abrams may appear to be an erratic choice, it is actually central to [the] curatorial strategy. In Rethinking History, Abrams presented “heroically-scaled paintings” that documented Canadian history in a manner that sought to alter that which had been recorded in the text books and to re-consider motivations and results. In poignantly spare monochromatic images of lose, Abrams’ emblematic images — still lives in their singular depiction of a helmet, a printing press and a child — signaled a contribution to the politically charged debates of the day and as Fabo remarked, “act[ed] as a trope for history: illusive, ever- changing, dark.”

 

Most recently, John and I worked together in 2001, on a touring exhibition entitled Landmark, an exhibition that re-considered the traditions of landscape painting in this coun- try. John’s paintings in that exhibition were three magnificent large-scale masterpieces from his Canadian History series, one of which is now in the collection of the McMaster Museum of Art — while its compatriot works are housed in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; and the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, Oshawa. Abrams’ works in Landmark, painted between 1998 and 2000, established John as a present day history painter — a painter

of heroically-scaled and imagined works of art that reference culture and country. The topics are contemporary “battles”: the environment, resources, culture and politics.

 

It is a pleasure to be working with John once again through the curatorial imagination of RM Vaughan — culture critic, artist, curator, journalist and writer. The exhibition combines Vaughan’s love of John’s paintings with his knowledge and passion for the filmic arts. Cinemas Vernis: John Abrams is comprised of seven large paintings and one grid of sixty smaller paintings brought together in an exhibition which considers John’s filmic-inspired paintings. Drawing upon the imagery and themes of fabulous foreign films such as Lina Wertmuller’s Swept Away (Italian, 1974); Jean-Jacques Beineix’s Betty Blue (French, 1986); and Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless (French, 1960) and Contempt (French, 1963), Abrams’ paintings wrestle with capturing the moving image on a still surface. His ability to do this successfully, innovatively and with a cer- tain amount of ingenuity and brilliance is captured beautifully in RM Vaughan’s curatorial essay and in the statements by Canadian filmmakers Sky Gilbert, John Greyson, Jeremy Podeswa and Christina Zeidler.

 

It is not difficult, given the record of John’s body of work: the list of his awards, com- missions, exhibitions and collections which house his works, to see why Abrams is one of the best painters of his generation. John Abrams: Cinemas Vernis has been a pleasure to produce and I would like to thank RM Vaughan for his brilliant and timely curatorial thesis; his cohorts in development: Sky Gilbert, John Greyson, Jeremy Podeswa and Christina Zeidler for their insightful additions to a read of Abrams’ work; and, for their support and assistance, the artist’s partner, Carla Garnet; and the artist’s dealers: Paul Petro Contemporary Art, Toronto; and Boltax Gallery, Shelter Island, New York. I would also like to thank Michael Cullen, Peterborough, for his precise photographic work of the exhibition; and Branka Vidovic, NeoGraphics, Hamilton, for another stunning and thoughtful exhibition catalogue design. Much thanks are also expressed to the Ontario Arts Council who has provided the MMA with a generous grant to assist with catalogue design and production. Finally, to John, thank you for the paintings and for a quarter century of inspiration.

 

Carol Podedworny

Director & Curator McMaster Museum of Art Winter 2008