It’s a Material World

Carmen Ruschiensky, Téte rouge Image: galeriedivision.com

Three artists working in very different ways feature in Galerie Division’s current group show, Material World. The one whose work struck me most is Quebec-based painter Carmen Ruschiensky. The bold colours of her abstract compositions are playful and tasteful, and just as visually enticing is the way the brush strokes create depth and a sense that these things she paints are moving: bodies growing out and off the canvas, views of goings-on in insides.  Like Téte rouge, which even before you see the title seems like a portrait (a head haloed by the soft glowing background), all Ruschiensky’s paintings here suggest figures. Maybe it’s a stretch, but Téte brings to mind one of Van Gogh’s self-portraits–the copper-top artist as monk. (One of Ruschiensky’s paintings from 2004 is called Dejeuner sur l’herbe, in reference to Manet’s masterpiece, so it may not be too much of a stretch.)  In another painting in the show, Cocktail, I think I see peachy flesh and the lines of little black dresses, while blue and white blobs hover like comic book conversation bubbles. So there’s art history here, but it’s turned into something evocative of contemporary design and the body, and perhaps there’s the connection to the show’s title.

Check out Material World here.

Check out more art by Carmen Ruschiensky here. I particularly like her more representational works Buffet à volonté (2000) and Livres (1995).