Field of Vision

August 24 – October 7, 2016

Opening Reception – Saturday, September 10, 2-5pm

Jim Reid’s work is rooted in plein air painting of the 19th and early 20th centuries, and filtered through ideas relating to modernism, expressionism, biology and environmentalism. He is inspired by nature on its own and the complex relationship that exists between the environment and humankind. Despite countless years of research, human understanding of the natural world is far from complete. Nature remains beyond our control, infinitely complex and enigmatic. The fragility and resilience of nature, its order and chaos, fascinate the artist and he approaches his subject with a great deal of sensitivity and depth.

In the past, Reid has created works from deep inside the forest, focusing on the tangled undergrowth of the forest floor and the cycle of growth and decay. In this new body of work, he has shifted his gaze to vast open spaces. Reid has painted this landscape for many years. A historic locale northwest of Toronto,  the Peel Plain’s farms reveal a time-layered working of the land dotted with small sections of forest. Distant horizons can still be found there however the plain is rapidly disappearing under the pressure of urban expansion. Reid’s paintings are a contemplation of timelessness and impermanence. At first glance serene, yet energetic and chaotic, they reflect the conflicting forces of a transforming landscape.