Exhibition Description:

This exhibition features the paintings of artist John Mars, whose practice involves the application of thousands of layers of paint over a period of years, and often decades. This lengthy process gives his paintings an extraordinary level of detail, texture, movement, and chromatic complexity, rendering them entirely unique within the history of abstract painting in Canada. The slow drying of paint, and the contemplative space this affords for Mars’ conscious and subconscious thoughts, is integral to understanding how each painting is created. While Mars emphasizes the inherent physicality and materiality of his paintings, he simultaneously invites the viewer to engage with them deeply, to unfold meaning from each composition. They are intended to be non-objective and multi-dimensional, meaning that they do not reference objective reality and offer viewers an opportunity for spiritual transcendence. This exhibition celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of Mars’ first solo exhibition, which took place at Glenhyrst Art Gallery in 1977, and represents five decades of the artist’s practice and singular imagination.