Since the beginning of 2020, I’ve made a departure from relying on photographic reference material and am painting in a more fragmented approach, drawing from memory, and moving into abstraction. This process has pushed my work outside of the rigidity of realism and into a more physical aesthetic, pushing the materiality of paint forward. I’ve been trying to activate the painting’s surface by experimenting with different mediums, incorporating cut canvas collage elements and using synthetic colours like iridescent, fluorescent, and phosphorescent paint.
My paintings have had recurrent subject matter of driving for some time, but I think about these recent works like they’re almost autobiographical. Inspired from years of my wife and I travelling regularly back and forth between Halifax and Saint John and also from favorite music that I’ve appropriated song lyrics from. While this work has a more personal sentiment than what I’ve made in the past, the lyrics create a pop culture reference that frames the series into a conceptual narrative, giving a level of atmosphere to the work, and inclusivity to the viewer. I like to think about the paintings like tracks of music from a personal playlist you would listen to while coasting down the highway on a road trip.
I am grateful to acknowledge the support of Arts Nova for this work.
Visit Studio 21 artist Jack Bishop in his studio on Studio 21 Fine Art's Youtube channel.
Jack Bishop received a BFA from NSCAD in 2007. Since graduating he has lived between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and has worked with creation grants from Arts NB, Arts NS, and the Canada Council for the Arts. In 2008 he was awarded “Emerging Artist of the Year” from Arts NB. In 2013 he was included in “The Painting Project” a major survey exhibition of contemporary painting across Canada at Galerie L’UQAM in Montreal. Since then he has exhibited solo and group exhibitions all over Canada. His work can be found in public and private collections across the country, including the Canada Council Art Bank, The NB Art Bank, The NS Art Bank, The Beaverbrook Art Gallery, The Department of Foreign Affairs Canada, The Colart Collection, Stewart McKelvey and TD Bank.
My paintings have had recurrent subject matter of driving for some time, but I think about these recent works like they’re almost autobiographical. Inspired from years of my wife and I travelling regularly back and forth between Halifax and Saint John and also from favorite music that I’ve appropriated song lyrics from. While this work has a more personal sentiment than what I’ve made in the past, the lyrics create a pop culture reference that frames the series into a conceptual narrative, giving a level of atmosphere to the work, and inclusivity to the viewer. I like to think about the paintings like tracks of music from a personal playlist you would listen to while coasting down the highway on a road trip.
I am grateful to acknowledge the support of Arts Nova for this work.
Visit Studio 21 artist Jack Bishop in his studio on Studio 21 Fine Art's Youtube channel.
Jack Bishop received a BFA from NSCAD in 2007. Since graduating he has lived between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, and has worked with creation grants from Arts NB, Arts NS, and the Canada Council for the Arts. In 2008 he was awarded “Emerging Artist of the Year” from Arts NB. In 2013 he was included in “The Painting Project” a major survey exhibition of contemporary painting across Canada at Galerie L’UQAM in Montreal. Since then he has exhibited solo and group exhibitions all over Canada. His work can be found in public and private collections across the country, including the Canada Council Art Bank, The NB Art Bank, The NS Art Bank, The Beaverbrook Art Gallery, The Department of Foreign Affairs Canada, The Colart Collection, Stewart McKelvey and TD Bank.