Anthony Redpath: Distilled

×

Expand

Anthony Redpath, “Cedar Stacks II,” 2017

inkjet digital output on aluminum, 36” x 36”

Anthony Redpath’s photographs of weathered industrial facades evoke thoughts of abstract paintings. Carefully composed and rich in detail and texture, they offer abundant evidence of time’s passage via rust streaks, peeling paint and decades of embedded grime. It’s almost as if he is invoking the painterly qualities of a process-based practice.

The design qualities of Redpath’s work are also seductive. His images juxtapose different shapes, tones and lines, all pressed into the flatness of the picture plane. “Striving for ultimate graphic simplicity can help communicate an idea in the most arresting way,” says Redpath, who lives in Vancouver.

×

Expand

Anthony Redpath, “Orange Blue,” 2017

inkjet digital output on aluminum, 36” x 25”

The 12 images in Distilled, on view at the Paul Kuhn Gallery in Calgary until Dec. 22, have no foreground, no background, and certainly no human presence. Nor is there any horizon line.

Art critic Sky Goodden, in a 2016 catalogue essay on Redpath’s work, says he invites viewers to consider their distance.

“It’s an invitation apparent in that unnerving imbalance that occurs when you’ve lost the horizon line … a horizon line is all-important to our orientation," she writes.

“What happens when we don’t know where we are in relation to something else? How does this unmoor us? How does a distance – or potential nearness – to a thing inflect how we feel? What defines us, what sets us apart?”

×

Expand

Anthony Redpath, “Rogers Chute II,” 2017

inkjet digital output on aluminum, 25.5” x 36”

Redpath’s images have a high resolution, which means viewers can appreciate myriad details and find arresting smaller compositions within the larger image as they draw closer. “The visual edges within the photographs are just as sharply resolved as the brush strokes on large-scale paintings,” he says.

While Redpath has concerns about resource extraction and the West Coast environment – and found many of the industrial sites around Vancouver and on Vancouver Island while enjoying outdoor activities –  he says the main focus of his work is aesthetics. ■

Distilled is on view at the Paul Kuhn Gallery in Calgary from Nov. 17 to Dec. 22, 2018.