Sky Glabush is one of the country’s leading mid-career artists. As Critic Sarah Milroy describes, Glabush’s paintings investigate “the legacies of art, expressing a special connection to the European traditions of Der Blaue Reiter and Die Brücke, in particular the work of Nolde, Kirchner, Munch, Kupka and Paul Klee.” Milroy explains, “These historic works combine in his imagination with some of the influences from his own lived experience, raised as he was in a variety of alternative, back-to-the-land communities on the west coast of British Columbia.”
Glabush’s paintings are underpinned by a rigorous drawing practice and exist as a meeting point for different ideas and approaches. “The architecture of the drawing is embedded in the materials,” Glabush says, “All the paintings have gone through this process of getting the structure up through the drawing, breaking it down and rebuilding it through color.” The artist often mixes sand into the paint to build texture and to erase but not conceal the labor in his work. This rich surface is a magnet on which bold pigments vibrate and infuse Glabush’s paintings with a humming energy.
Glabush lives and works in London, Ontario, has had solo exhibitions at Philip Martin Gallery, Los Angeles; Clint Roenisch, Toronto; Projet Pangée, Montreal; and Prosjektrom Normanns, Stavanger. In 2020 his work was exhibited at National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
[excerpted from Stephen Friedman Gallery website: www.stephenfriedman.com]
