Joseph Drapell, Stepping Out (detail), 1985, 78.25 x 69″
March 22 – April 29, 2012
Opening: Thursday, March 22, 7–10 p.m.
Opening remarks by Aaron M. Milrad J. D., B.A., Counsel at 7:30 p.m.
LAUSBERG CONTEMPORARY
326 Dundas Street West
Toronto, Ontario M5T 1G5
T: 416.516.4440
E: toronto@galerie-lausberrg.com
www.galerie-lausberg.com
Hours: Tues–Sun 12–6 or by appointment
Please join us for the opening reception of Joseph Drapell : ETERNAL RETURN Thursday, March 22, 7–10 p.m. at Toronto’s Lausberg Contemporary Gallery. The artist will be present. Don’t miss opening remarks by Aaron M. Milrad J. D., B.A., Counsel at 7:30 pm.
Drapell first established his reputation with a series of large, primarily red, abstract canvases, which attracted little attention in Canada until one appeared on the cover of Art International (1978) and another was purchased by the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (1979).
In the 1980s Drapell further developed his personal methods, using striated spreading devices, bevelled stretchers, reflective paint and acrylic gels to stimulate the creative process. He gained continued inspiration from his “spiritual home” on Georgian Bay in the “Island Pictures,” finding meaning in the ethereal, freely flowing forms of sun and water. Drapell was guest artist at the Triangle Artists’ Workshop (NY State, 1984) and the Emma Lake Artists’ Workshop (SK, 1988).
In the 1990s Drapell was widely exhibited in the United States and Europe, where he was recognized by American critic Kenworth Moffett and Parisian gallery owner Gérald Piltzer as a leading figure among the “new new painters,” a grouping of abstract artists in Canada and the northeastern United States whose work is characterized by high-keyed, glossy colour and built-up surfaces.
Joseph Drapell (in middle) with visitors at the opening
“My painting did not start with an agenda to return what art had lost in the postmodern period—not at all—instead it was my free, idealistic, non-conforming character that forced me to build myself without much concern for trends, for being ‘in.’ It gave me the ability and willingness to be ‘out of sync.’
“Looking back at my work, it seems to me that my art has provided an alternative to the verbal, non-visual trends. By now, the record shows the absurdity of the postmodern aim when subjective self-expression was discarded in order to provide ‘more objective’ art. Without personal focus, how can art be authentic? Without visual power, how can art endure?” – JD 2009
Artists Linda Martinello and Tim Whiten
Mocca artistic director David Liss with a visitor
