{"id":40846,"date":"2018-05-25T19:49:11","date_gmt":"2018-05-25T23:49:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artoronto.ca\/?p=40846"},"modified":"2018-05-27T10:57:48","modified_gmt":"2018-05-27T14:57:48","slug":"pat-mcdermott-at-christopher-cutts-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/?p=40846","title":{"rendered":"Pat McDermott at Christopher Cutts Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Sonnet Paintings<\/em> series is Pat McDermott\u2019s third solo exhibition at the Christopher Cutts Gallery, containing 20 similar sized paintings.<\/p>\n

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Installation view of Pat McDermott, Sonnet Paintings<\/em>, Christopher Cutts south gallery. Photo: Sophie Wang<\/p>\n

McDermott uses a minimal palette and simplified shapes to depict unfamiliar objects. His unique abstraction of tube-like structures can be difficult\u00a0to interpret for viewers at first sight. His works are not meant to be seen individually, but rather as a series of pieces that interconnect. Audiences can comprehend the Sonnet paintings<\/em> more easily by knowing McDermott\u2019s previous works. The Properties of Language<\/em> series (2016) applied the same motifs as the Sonnet paintings<\/em>. The two series show many similarities in their artistic forms; both built upon bold colour contrast to draw clear distinction between the tube-like structures and the monochrome backgrounds. While The Properties of Language<\/em> use white objects on black backgrounds or red objects on blue backgrounds. The Sonnet paintings<\/em> combine red colored objects on black backgrounds with a strong highlight at the center of the tubular design which makes them stand out three dimensionally on the two dimensional surface.<\/p>\n

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Pat McDermott, The properties of language No.9 (left) and The properties of language No.12 (right), both 2016, acrylic on MDF board, 24″ x 24″. Courtesy of Christopher Cutts Gallery<\/p>\n

By depicting unfamiliar, non-existing objects, McDermott\u2019s works refuse any possible categorization and invite the viewers to become active spectators. As he states, \u201cBecause I have depicted a world that the viewer does not know, the viewer is free to really look. The observer feels the relationships, tensions, quandaries, dilemmas, support and warmth that exist within the work and themselves.\u201d The challenge for audiences is trying to make sense of the objects in the paintings. What do these objects stand for and what does the artist intend to express with them? Do the intertwining tube-like objects represent the metal structure of buildings and through it our modern world, maybe even a futuristic view? Could it be possible that the red columns stand as metaphors for human organs or arteries and veins?<\/p>\n

There is an uncertainty in these works that leave them open to interpretations. One of the possible narratives is related to language. \u201cup against\u201d and \u201cseeing through making,\u201d resonates with my cultural background. They remind me of rearranged Japanese characters. It makes me wonder, if this was an intentional design, or only a coincidence from the artist\u2019s unconscious associations.<\/p>\n

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Pat McDermott, up against (left) and seeing through making (right), both 2017-18, acrylic on plywood, 15″ x 15″. Courtesy of Christopher Cutts Gallery<\/p>\n

The amazing labyrinths of tubular forms could easily represent something as complicated and beautiful as a sonnet. Sonnets are hard to write, since they are short and must be clear to be understood \u2013 they are the essence of language. These tubes sing about mysteries to us. That is exactly what McDermott wants, as he wrote, \u201cIn the Sonnet Paintings<\/em>, I have tried to depict the abstract with clarity\u2026The paintings possess a photographic quality but what they depict is not ever obvious.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Pat McDermott, so lightly here, 2017-18, acrylic on plywood, 15″ x 15″.\u00a0Courtesy of Christopher Cutts Gallery<\/p>\n

The ambiguity and abstraction created in the Sonnet paintings<\/em> require active thinking from the audience, which can be challenging, but also amusing at the same time.<\/p>\n

Sophie Wang<\/p>\n

*Exhibition information:\u00a0Pat McDermott, Sonnet Paintings,\u00a0<\/em>April 28 – May 26, 2018,\u00a0Christopher Cutts Gallery, 21 Morrow Avenue, Toronto. Gallery hours: Tue \u2013 Sat 10 am \u2013 6 pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Sophie Wang<\/strong><\/p>\n

The ambiguity and abstraction created in the Sonnet paintings<\/em> require active thinking from the audience, which can be challenging, but also amusing at the same time.<\/p>\n

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