Milly Ristvedt

Act of Silence - grids of black, white, orange, red, abstract, acrylic on canvas

1995

Milly Ristvedt is making a bold proposition in this dramatic series of four large paintings designed to be displayed together. Each of the four canvases offers a stunning visual dialogue in blocks of colour—reds, purples, orange, greens, blues, black and white for contrast. Ristvedt is known as a master colourist who uses colour to express thought and emotion. Art Critic Barry Lord (Art in America) declared that Ristvedt’s paintings were ‘more insistent than Bush, more consciously structured than Molinari.’ “They are meant to be ‘read’ together in the same viewing space. The conversations between them are intense.” Milly Ristvedt Born in British Columbia, Ristvedt studied at the Vancouver School of Art (now the Emily Carr University) and had her first solo exhibit at the Carmen Lamanna Gallery in Toronto. In the late 1960s, Ristvedt shared a studio with famed Canadian painter Jack Bush, met art critic Clement Greenberg and was inspired by American painters Jules Olitiski...

Horizontal bars of blue, maroon, cherry red, pink, lemon yellow, burnt orange and green communicate on a soaked sand-coloured ground in the two panels that form this 9-foot square acrylic diptych painting on canvas. The rhythm of the spaces between the short lengths of colour creates a dialogue of movement that leads the eye upwards through the large picture plane. About the inspiration for the work, the artist wrote: "This is one of the rare paintings that I saw clearly in a dream and painted almost exactly as I saw it. It relates back to the four-panel work, Lock-Up (1972), done a couple of months earlier, where I used the physical break between panels as an edge to anchor some colour bars. In Phoenix, some bars are anchored while others float within the larger ground colour." This painting was included in the exhibition catalogue Milly Ristvedt-Handerek: Paintings of a Decade (1979). Milly Ristvedt, RCA, began her career in Toronto in 1964 after studies with Takao Tanabe at the Vancouver School of Art. In Toronto, during the 1960s and 1970s, she was making and exhibiting large-scale paintings alongside a small but defined group of non-figurative painters who, like Ristvedt, had planted...

BC artist Pat Service is well known for her beautiful landscapes. In the last few years she has interpreted those images in minimalist form rendered in vivid colours. Four Hills is a...

Milly Ristvedt has captured, in vivid colour, and expressive form the wonders of the ‘deep’ in this gorgeous abstract painting. Against a rich blue colour field, ethereal forms and g...

Pat Service has had a life-long love affair with nature. Known as one of Canada’s foremost landscape artists, Service’s work has evolved from classic form to minimalism. The pared do...

Inspired by a famous Italian sculpture, this expressive series of abstract paintings in vivid colours was created by Canadian visual artist Richard Tosczak in collaboration with an I...

I am fascinated by the individual’s relationship within society. It is in this context that I exist. Along the beaten path, I allow myself to observe from a multitude of vantage points; towards the recent past or a future yet to occur. This is what inspires me- the creative moment yet to happen, laden with limitless possibilities. When I take a look at the past, I identify social and personal nuances and their direct influence on my work, and then with excitement look for what comes next. In this process I take distance from myself and view with a critical eye. Ever evolving, I search for more. I am neither a painter nor sculptor, much less a photographer or director, but I am a little bit of everything. I don’t feel bound to one specialized art form, and this allows me to navigate free and unencumbered by norms and expectations. My goal is not to achieve perfection in any one area, but rather to explore all disciplines- joyfully challenging myself, provoking and exploring beyond any pre-conceived limits. In my work I try to establish a connection between my reality and the reality of those who dedicate a few minutes of observation. I’m constantly searching for the vanishing point that gives diverse expression to my artistic production. This is the creative fuel that drives me ever forward. Paulo Canilhas...

colors- original abstract canvas acrylic painting. , Rafael (Barcelona 1956) While contemplating the painting of Ruz, we are inclined to talk about real ‘psychodrama’, in the same ...

Ruz. Vertical. horizontal lines. Interior Landscapes - Abstract Acrylic on canvas . Perfect condition. RUZ, Rafael (Barcelona 1956) While contemplating the painting of Ruz, we are i...

This large 119" x 72" mixed media painting by the artist, XVALA, is from his series 'Pandemic Collection: 8' and depicts bright colorful cartoon chara...

Dionisios Fragias is a New York -based artist born on the Greek island of Kefalonia and raised in New York City. He is the protege of the artist Jeff Koons whose years-long mentorshi...

Dionisios Fragias is a New York -based artist born on the Greek island of Kefalonia and raised in New York City. He is the protege of the artist Jeff Koons whose years-long mentorshi...