Exhibition Description:

In this exhibition, artist Jeanette Obbink uses local and regional sites to examine the historical tradition of painting en plein air (in the open air). Plein air painting is like an alchemy that can transmute what is familiar or unremarkable into something profoundly beautiful. It was first conceptualised in the early 19th century by artist Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes in his treatise Reflections and Advice to a Student on Painting, Particularly on Landscape (1800), which argues that artists should be physically embedded in the landscape when painting. Several decades later, French artists including Claude Monet and Pierre-Auguste Renoir ventured outdoors to paint the surrounding countryside and scenes of everyday life. Fascinated by the changing conditions of light, colour, and atmosphere, their efforts soon led to the establishment of Impressionism, one of Modernism’s most important movements. In Canada, Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven famously utilised plein air painting on their travels to the swamps of Algonquin Park, the villages of Quebec, and the shores of Lake Superior. One of Ontario’s premier plein air artists, Obbink follows in this rich cultural tradition, focusing her attention primarily on the areas surrounding the Grand River ecosystem, Dundas Valley, and the Niagara Escarpment. Her work is largely concerned with representing unmarked, ordinary places that others easily overlook, those defined by their taken-for-grantedness. They are records of a moment in time that now appear monumental.