Skip to content Skip to main navigation

Alex Colville

Painting of a construction woman looking into horizon

Alex Colville

June 15–August 7, 2004

Curated by Tom Smart

Organized and circulated by the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia

Presented by AIM Trimark Investments

University of Toronto Art Centre

The University of Toronto Art Centre is pleased to be the Toronto gallery hosting this important travelling exhibition. Organized and circulated by the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, the show is being presented by AIM Trimark. The curator of the exhibition, and also the author of the accompanying publication, is Tom Smart, formerly of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery and the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and currently the director of Museum Programs at the Frick Art and Historical Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Alex Colville (b. 1920) is one of Canada’s most renowned artists, who has garnered a world-wide following. The quiet mystery inherent in all his works has intrigued his public since he first began exhibiting in the early 1950s. Coupled with his eerie brand of naturalism, the misleadingly mundane and familiar subjects he repeatedly uses makes Colville’s art at once accessible and enigmatic.

The show comprises sixty-nine works in total, fifteen of which are paintings. The remaining pieces are the artist’s hallmark preparatory studies for the paintings, and related prints. This exhibition is intended to give viewers a glimpse into Colville’s working methods, as he painstakingly plots the geometry and space of each of the compositions.

Opening Reception

Tuesday June 15, 2004
University of Toronto Art Centre

Conversation

Tuesday June 15, 2004
Featuring Mark Cheetham and Alex Colville
University of Toronto Art Centre

Lecture

Tuesday June 15, 2004
Featuring Tom Smart
University College, Room 140

Exhibition Tour

Wednesday June 16, 2004
Lead by Alex Colville
University of Toronto Art Centre

Our Supporters

We gracefully acknowledge presenting sponsor AIM Trimark.

Title Image: Alex Colville, On a River, 1996. Acrylic polymer emulsion on hardboard. 48 x 111 cm.

aimtrimark_black