Painting directly on to the wall, Neil Campbell's geometric shapes and patterning transform the gallery's interior. He intervenes in the architecture, toying with the experience of space and addressing questions of viewer perception. Letting intuition guide the process, he divines 'sweet spots' within the given space, scaling his shapes and situating them by making references to a system of harmonics. His pitch-perfect way of blending architecture, placement on the wall, size, and edges produces retinal and phenomenological power.
Read MoreA longer look reveals that his painted designs derive from a wide range of inspirations: from the history of Western art to commercial and popular art as well as to observations made during his daily experiences. Their careful compositions and proportions are the result of obsessive attention. The works are carefully fitted to the exhibition space: the work appropriates the wall and acts as a mediator between the viewer and the space.
Campbell's works achieve a scale that is appropriate to address the vertical human form. They are not simply intended as optical events but are intended to engage the viewer's entire physiology. As Roy Arden observed "Standing before his paintings, one feels their calculated effect on our bodies and senses -far from 'abstract', the experience is both physical and spiritual, in a manner that most abstract painting has only succeeded in symbolizing".
Campbell revisits ideas and artists. There are shades of Lawrence Weiner, James Turrell, Robert Irwin, and Bridget Riley hanging over this mesmerizing outing. But so does the spirit of something deeply committed, convincing, and felt.Neil Campbell lives and works in Vancouver. He studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, The Vancouver School of Art andConcordia University in Montreal where he received a MFA in 1979. Overthe past years, Campbell has been the subject of solo exhibitions, including Blanket Gallery in Vancouver (2011); Marianne Boesky Gallery,New York (2008); Gallery Franco Noero, Turin (2011, 2007 & 2005);Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver (2006), Centre d'Art Contemporain deMontreal, Montreal (1993) and Andrea Rosen, New York (1990). His work was included in group exhibitions at Veneklasen Werner, Berlin (2011);Centre National d'Art Contemporain de Grenoble, Grenoble (2009); Klosterfelde, Berlin (2009); The Balmoral, Venice (2008); TheContemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver (2004), Art and Public, Geneva(1996) and Queens Museum, New York (1990). In 2006, Campbell curatedPAINT at the Vancouver Art Gallery, a survey of painting in BritishColumbia since the 1960's.
Text courtesy Office Baroque.
