Biography

Gordon Jennings was born in Saint John in 1959, and immediately demonstrated his artistic interest; his mother said he was “Drawing as soon as he could hold a crayon”. At the age of 6 he won a city wide art competition. He was in grade one, and his art teacher at the time was George Fry. He has been painting in oils since the age of 10, and although he has not exhibited often in recent years, he has continued to paint every year since. Gordon received his BFA from Mount Allison University in 1993, and has subsequently had solo exhibitions and has participated in some group shows. Most notable of the group exhibitions was his inclusion in the 1994 Marion McCain Atlantic Art Exhibition, the year in which it included artists from all Maritime Provinces for the first time.

This exhibition was curated by Hermenegilde Chiasson, and was traveled to various public museums across Canada . Following this, Hermenegilde Chaisson also curated a very large solo exhibition of Gordon Jennings' work for the Art Gallery, Universite' de Moncton in 1996-97. Gordon has continued his studio practice but has exhibited very little since 1999. The 4 X 4 Series is his first solo exhibition in more than a decade.

Exhibitions

2009     4 X 4 (solo); Peter Buckland Gallery, Saint John , NB

2007     Who dunit?; New Brunswick Museum , Saint John , NB

2005      Art & Artifacts ; New Brunswick Museum , Saint John , NB

1999      Mask ; Peter Buckland Gallery, Saint John , NB 

1997      New Work (solo); The Space Gallery, Saint John , NB

1997      Artist profile (solo); Art Gallery, Université de Moncton, Moncton, NB

1994      Anecdotes and Enigmas ; Marion McCain Atlantic Art Juried Exhibit 

1995      New Work (solo); City of Saint John Gallery, Saint John , NB

1992     Sculpture Exhibition; Moncton City Gallery, Moncton , NB

1991     Marion McCain Juried Art Exhibit

Published Articles

1997     Arts Atlantic Magazine #56 - Review of Gerald Collins Exhibit

Artist Statement 

For more than ten years I've entertained the possibility of constructing this show; the concept grew out of a few different contemplations which I would like to share. Although my past work has generally been well received, this acknowledgement has never translated into many sales. This has not necessarily been a bad thing. The luxury of painting without the distraction of promotion, sales and audience is very liberating, but in the end sales equate to exhibits and ultimately to credibility. My work is very eclectic; I'm influenced and draw inspiration from multiple ideologies and artistic styles. Thus, my work moves from realism to non-objective abstraction, from the figurative, including portraiture, to symbolism. I also tend to work in series, some spanning many years of exploration. I have noticed, however, that when my audience views a particular work or series they assume this one work or one series encompasses my complete style or oeuvre. That is, in part, one of the reasons that this new exhibition is important for me. I want this work to be seen. I do not paint for therapy. I paint to communicate and I want to provoke the audience to thought and discussion.

When you consider that most exhibitions tend to have a common theme, usually linked to the visual images, i.e. landscapes, abstractions, figurative etc, I thought it would be different and possibly interesting to challenge the status quo. Thus the idea to create a show where the only common theme was the size of the work (4ft X 4ft) showcasing the many sides of my visual expression. I also understood that this concept was a risk, it could turn out to be a good idea or it carried the equal risk of being a really poor one, however, this determination will be yours to make.

Although my work is eclectic there are common themes and concerns expressed throughout the work. My work tends to be a commentary on the tension found between styles of art and between people and relationships.

I try to have my work operate on a few different levels, in once sense I attempt to speak about the human condition and how as individuals we have a unique, although common experience of the world. On another level I want to speak about the history of painting and the act of painting itself, how it has evolved, how has it changed, what does it mean? For example unlike many of my contemporaries I don't see a huge difference between such art styles as the renaissance, abstract expressionism or pop art and believe all visual expression is indeed linked. Until Picasso and Braque invented cubism at the turn of the 20th century, painting was simply a three dimensional illusionist space on a two dimensional plane. After cubism and with the onset of the post-modern era a broader view of painting developed and the concept of "anything goes" became more prevalent. This fuels an ongoing and continuous discussion surrounding the flat plane verses the illusionistic space or a combination of both. It has created competing camps of visual expression between figurative styles and non-objective styles or more simply realism verses abstraction. It has even created discussions regarding the critical priority in art making, is it the conceptual act or the actual act of producing a product which is paramount? I like to play with the tensions created by this dichotomy.

In regards to styles of art I am not an advocate of any one camp. However, I hope you will see that although I acknowledge the importance of concept, I'm very much interested in the act of painting in itself. I'm moved by the physicality and plasticity of painting and its important for me that the physicality of the painting is evident to the viewer. However, this doesn't mean the work is void on any conceptual components; in fact most of my work is created in my mind's eye originally and based on my experience and my thoughts. After that it's a simply act of trying to reproduce that image with paint.

Although this show is more traditional I also like to find new ways to build paintings, I enjoy bringing odd materials together which on their own are quite benign like Tar, sand and cardboard for example. But with the creativity of the human mind and hand they can be brought together and changed into an object sometimes beautiful, visually expressive and hopefully meaningful.

Of course it's not my role to say if I've been successful in this endeavor, that is the role of the viewer, the general public and persons who have an interest in this form of communication, who attend gallery functions like this, people like yourself.