Currently :
Impermanent Horizon
Jim Verburg
September 10 to October 29, 2016
A collection of new works by Jim Verburg
Visual noise is carefully monitored, and regular negotiations are made between discipline and chance. With a subtle self-reflexivity that nods gently toward its own internal order, the work conveys everything from leakage to infinity. Light is treated as both subject matter and material for art-making; it is given the chance to resolutely perform its numerous roles as reflector and absorber of opacity and translucence. Verburg’s deceptively minimalist aesthetic eulogizes the ephemeral so that we will become fully absorbed, offering ourselves up to the cascading tonal gradients, deep pigment planes, and emotive human geometries of the non-representational.
- Alex Bowron, from When Light Becomes Form: The Work of Jim Verburg
With a practice stemming from photography, Verburg’s work is inspired by the subtle, nuanced, and fleeting affects of light. Employing materials such as paint, ink, charcoal, and powdered graphite to interact with paper, newsprint, mylar, and vinyl, Verburg creates captivating compositions that mimic the delicate nuances of reflection, absorption, opacity, and translucence. Through an experimental process rooted in mindfulness and intentionality, Verburg explores the dynamic interplay between the physicality and emotionality of his materials. Tight geometric compositions are contrasted with layered planes of transparency to create subtle minimalist representations of a complex introspection. By treating light as both material and subject, Verburg pushes the boundaries of the physical by prioritizing the intangibilities of form.
Verburg’s recent projects include a public art installation for the city of Ottawa, a choreographed work for the Toronto Dance Theatre, a book project with Fw: Photography in Amsterdam, the group exhibition For you / And me, at Paul Kuhn Gallery (Calgary), a special project with Zalucky Contemporary (Toronto), and a solo exhibition Rodman Hall Art Centre (Brock University, St Catharines Ontario).
Previous solo exhibitions include One and Two at Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal (2011), Afterimage at Galerie Nicolas Robert, Montréal (2014) , What is Missing / What is Seen for widmertheodoridis, Zurich at VOLTA NY, New York City (2015), and Light Becomes Form, The Horizon Rests Into View for Nicolas Robert gallery at the Texas Contemporary Art Fair, Houston (2015). He’s been a part of the group exhibitions More Than Two (Let It Make Itself), curated by Micah Lexier at The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Toronto (2013), Primeiro Estudo: Sobre Amor, curated by Bernardo Mosqueira at Luciana Caravello, Rio de Janeiro (2014), Far Away So Close, curated by Kimberly Phillips at Access Gallery, Vancouver (2014), and Chroma at Inman Gallery, Houston (2015).
Verburg’s film For a Relationship won the 2008 Jury Prize for the Best Canadian Short Film at the Insideout Film Festival (Toronto), and was nominated for the Iris Prize (UK). His book O/ Divided/Defined, Weights, Measures, and Emotional Geometry, was awarded by Dazibao Montréal (2013) and was shortlisted for Best Printed Publication at the Gala des Arts Visual, Montréal (2014). Work from the publication was featured by Art Metropole at Art Basel Miami (2013). His most recent artist book A New Relationship Between Reflective Sides was launched last fall at MoMA Ps1 with the New York Art Book Fair (2015), and was featured in the recent traveling Collectif Blanc exhibition Forme | Édition | Expérimentation (2016, Gatineau and Toronto).