As Seen in On-line News Magazine, True North Perspective

By Shannon Lee Mannion

Contributing Editor

True North Perspective

Thursday, October 6, 2011 saw art by 17 contemporary artists displayed at Patrick John Mills Gallery, 286 Hinchey Ave., in Hintonburg, Ottawa. The theme is I Killed the Group of Seven and it runs until October 29, 2011.

In a call-for-art paragraph describing what sort of art he was looking for, gallery owner/curator Patrick John Mills wrote:

Artists who are bored with safe, traditional landscapes, tired of happy flower paintings, and same old colourful commercial crap art ... Artists who push art in a new direction: fresh ideas, cutting edge, think-outside-the-box, non-conformist ... will be showing their art in this show.

Among the artists present are two Montrealers, Mathieu Laca and Graeme Welch, absolutely contemporary as in NOW art, and absolutely different styles.

Laca is all brush and gush and over-the-top bold with slashing strokes, bright colours and sexually-charged themes while Welch is a figure painter, nonpareil , who handles his large canvasses with wit and aplomb.

 

These painters are two of the Patrick John Mills Gallery mainstay artists who show avant-guard work rooted in this millennium.

Patrick John Mills Gallery presents an eclectic mix of art with a new show each month.

Additionally, there is a wonderful Sculpture Garden, the only one in Ottawa, in the yard beside the gallery building.

Meanwhile, there are two recent artists' work adorning the gallery walls, some spectacular still-lifes by octogenarian, Ted Zuber, and several whimsical collages and paintings by James Boyd (1928-2002).

 

The show, I Killed the Group of Seven, runs until the end of the month, at which point, Patrick John Mills will host his own solo show.