Nick Lepard : Isabella
June 5 – 28, 2008
Artist Reception: Thursday, June 5, 6 – 8 pm
Diane Farris Gallery is proud to present Isabella, the first solo exhibition of paintings by Vancouver artist Nick Lepard.
The large-scale portraits featured in the exhibition are given the feminine title, Isabella, as a reminder of what is absent from the room: absolute truth. Presented instead are seven different men – seven different representations – each with his own perception of her.
Most often identified by his ‘break-out’ self-portrait piece, From Milan to Vienna, presented in 2006 at the gallery, Lepard’s work has gained considerable attention over the past year and was featured in last fall’s Art For Life auction. This early notice continued with the inclusion of one of his portraits in Western Living magazine’s fall/winter issue of “Condo”.
Working from photographs of his subjects, Lepard creates vigorous visual sensations of each sitter’s personality and personal history. The resulting portraits are raw, brash, and proficient beyond his years.
Lepard engages with his subjects through a process he describes as “an act of mapping”. Translating photographs through highly-charged paint strokes, new images emerge. Each gesture is a description of the subject and a construction of a new entity.
“I attempt to commit the viewer's gaze to the act of visually building the image with every encounter,” says the Vancouver-born artist.
Lepard first exhibited with Diane Farris Gallery in the summer of 2006, and has since been included in several group shows. As a prelude to his first solo exhibition at the gallery and his graduation from Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Lepard is currently featured in this months’ issue of Vancouver Magazine in an article titled Futures Market.
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 Take What's Given, 2007 |
