Milly Ristvedt, #5 in Gold, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 84 x 54 inches
April 6 – 27, 2013
Walnut Contemporary
Walnut Contemporary is showcasing “Breathing Space”, an exhibition of new paintings by senior Canadian artist Milly Ristvedt. This exhibition marks the return for Ristvedt from over a decade of private studio work to the gallery milieu. Active in the late sixties and seventies period of post-abstract expressionism with mentors such as Jack Bush, Milly’s work re-emerges with a new significance of verticality and colour as “the visual meditations of the human condition, and the possibility of hope” (Milly Ristvedt, February, 2013).
But the question is, who is her new audience? As young adults, including myself, find ourselves in a generation of looking back, and trying to find out how to communicate with the art re-emerging from old eras? What we encounter with Ristvedt’s work is all the heart of the challenging Canadian post-abstract expressionists with a new sense of modernity. Her work is quiet but powerful, subtle but it speaks to audiences of the long past, the immediate present, and the hopeful future. But for today, in a contemporary understanding, Ristvedt challenges even the ripest painters of our young generation; one could say we have something to learn.
Saba Askary
Thanks Saba for the insightful article on Milly’s work. You can all view the exhibition until April 27th at Walnut Contemporary, 201 Niagara Street, Toronto, ON
In today’s milieu of technology that changes in the blink of an eye, rendering anything in its path obsolete, and the resultant craving for the next new thing, I am not surprised that young adults would think that art coming from “old eras” (what is that?) would not have much to communicate. Great art doesn’t have an era. It’s timeless. I would agree that you have a lot to learn.