Return To The Real
Joe Becker + Ken Danby + Brian Donnelly + William Fisk + Joanne Tod + Ted Tucker
Through representation and narrative, Return to the Real traces three generations of realist painters in Toronto. This exhibition focuses on artists who are known for their technical prowess, and traces the shifts in High Realism from nature based subject matter to that of popular culture.
In the 1970s Canadian art historian Paul Duval defined High Realism as a special kind of pictorial art that is characterized by vision, sharpness of definition, precision of technique, and accuracy of detail. Of course, this form of realism is much more than just the photographic capturing of images. The variations in Return to the Real prove that individuality of expression and methodology makes each artist’s vision highly personalized. Realism runs concurrently with abstract art movements in Toronto and can be considered even more successful in terms of audience reach. High Realism became popularized by artists such as Ken Danby and by dealers such as Walter Moos. Artists such as Joanne Tod renounced abstraction in the 1970s as she sought to deal with depicting political issues as symbol-making in contemporary culture.
The new generation of realists in Toronto are led by precision artist William Fisk; and they are cheeky, ironic and challenging to conservative tendencies. Joe Becker, Brian Donnelly and Ted Tucker, follow Fisk’s technical mastery, but they diverge as they pervert historical realism. All together, this exhibition makes for a survey snapshot of realism in Toronto.
Drake thanks Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Gallery Moos, and Christopher Cutts Gallery,
