The Ottawa artist Benjamin Roger explores in his large-scale paintings the issues of seeing and not seeing, being seen and being invisible. In doing so, he refers to the poet Patrice Desbiens who explored the alienation of the Francophone minority in his L’Homme invisible/The Invisible Man. This poetry collection from 1981 is written in both French and English.
 |
Invisible Man #3, 72 x 96 inches (183cm x 244cm), acrylic and oil on canvas, 2011 |
Like Patrice Desbiens, Rodger focuses on the two sides (English and French) of his cultural identity. Like he said: "With a lot of Franco-Ontarians, it's this idea that you can blend in. There's nothing that says on your face that your mother tongue is French. There's an invisibility between even Franco-Ontarians." (Adam Volk: The Man who wasn't there, 02-10-2011, Ottawa Xpress, Link)
 |
| Invisible Man #4, 72 x 96 inches (183cm x 244cm), acrylic and oil on canvas, 2011 |
This invisibility is the main topic of the series which is currently shown at the Orange Art Gallery. His impressive artworks blend detailed portraiture with colourful textures. Therefore, his paintings seem to oscillate between abstract and figurative when full lenght portraits of his friends are floating on backgrounds of geometric patterns.
 |
| Invisible Man #2, 48 x 72 inches (122cm x 183cm), acrylic and oil on canvas, 2011 |
The figures are standing on front of the pattern, but are more and more superimposed by them, until only a white contour drawing remains of them. They seem to dissolve into the geometric lines. According to the artist, the series refers to a meeting that did not actually occur between Desbiens and Rodger a few winters ago in Montreal (Link to the artist's website).
Facts:
"I Saw the Invisible Man but He Didn't See Me"
233 Armstrong St.
March 3 - 27, 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment