On one of his visits to Montreal, west coast artist Arnold Shives was asked to create an original black and white drypoint etching to accompany a poem written by John K. Grande and dedicated to artist Jean-Paul Riopelle. The project inspired Shives to expand this etching into a collection of artworks in homage to the late Quebec artist. Adopting various colors and textures to further mediate as well as explore the spirit of Riopelleâ€s work, Shives placed broken picture glass shards on his images and spray painted them in a process that evokes Jean-Paul Riopelleâ€s later works. Homage to Jean-Paul Riopelle employs a vigorous abstract language that Riopelleâ€s 1950s and early 1960â€s painting embodies, as well as draws on the Snow Goose image that Riopelle so loved.

Arnold Shives was born in Vancouver British Columbia and is an internationally recognized painter and print maker. He has exhibited across Canada, the United States, in South Africa, in Europe and in Japan, Shives work can be found in numerous public and private collections including the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the San Francisco Art Museum and in the Artists for Kids Gallery in North Vancouver.

Vernissage: Saturday, December 4th, 2010 – 2 to 6pm

Visual Voice Art Gallery
space 421
Arnold Shives
Homage to Jean-Paul Riopelle
December 2nd – 22nd , 2010 
www.visualvoicegallery.com