Now and then
Gallery features prints from 30 years ago and today
Kristen Pauch-Nolin

Points of Connection is both spiritual and transportive, suggesting an inherent connection between art, faith and globalization.

The exhibition features Winnipeg artist Karen Cornelius and her long-time mentor Leonard Gerbrandt of Ontario, both of whom explore issues related to humanity, landscape and self-discovery through printmaking.

Exclusively comprising works on paper — primarily etchings — Points of Connection represents more than three decades of production. Many of pieces date back to the early ’80s and have been inspired by both artists’ extensive international travels. Extremely formal, the work appears almost ancient, with elements that suggest exoticism and otherworldliness.

Gerbrandt’s contribution of both large and small pieces demonstrates two distinct aspects of his practice. The first appears rooted in stories and traditions that are best represented by a series of prints titled The Apocalypse. The pieces are overwrought with marks that create an active and wildly chaotic picture plane, revealing both the artist’s interest in pictorial theology and tendency toward a dark, figurative esthetic.

The second and more extensive body of work includes abstracted landscapes, a subject that has dominated much of the artist’s career. The images include loosely rendered land and water masses created using an intense colour palette and graphic style. Each print — although unique in its surface and composition — is very similar to the next, compliant with the artist’s demonstrated and well-established approach.

Dance up the Valley Suite features 10 small framed prints arranged in two tight rows of five. Graphically simplified, the islands’ shapes are surrounded by large areas of blue, effectively illustrating the geography of the Ottawa River Valley. The work is bold in colour and sharp in design, with organic shapes juxtaposed against strong negative areas. The result is both well executed and engaging.

Similarly, Cornelius’ work demonstrates the artist’s technical abilities as a printmaker and effectiveness as a visual communicator. Two significant bodies of the artist’s work make up a large portion of the pieces she has on display: Lamu: An Island Apart and Struggle Within Tiamat.

Struggle Within Tiamat includes 25 zinc etchings that explore the human struggle to exist within life’s perpetual chaos. The compositions are filled with melancholia, including simplified animal and human shapes with titles such as: Alive in Us; Life Grown Full; and Immortality, Desire, yet Death. Visually the work references textiles, especially those produced in Africa, Asia and India.

Each piece clearly demonstrates Cornelius’ love of travel, appreciation of culture and knowledge of international art. The pieces are esthetically beautiful, filled with strong colour and active strokes, with enough content to please audience members who prefer representational work to abstraction.

Although Points of Connection is satisfying and provides a diverse collection of pieces that work well together, it’s difficult to view the exhibition without wondering about the artists’ current practices. The curiosity is compounded by the inclusion of a very small selection of pieces that were created as recently as 2006.

In the case of both artists, the new work is fresh and unencumbered, creating an odd juxtaposition with the pieces that were created 20-30 years ago.

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