Violet Owen: Modern Woman

"Nude in a Chinese Smock", 1982, oil on canvas

While absorbed with the female figure, portraiture is not Owen’s prime concern. Rather, her concerns are primarily formal. Inspired by a variety of modernist art movements such as post-impressionism and German expressionism, Owen uses the model as a point of departure to explore the figure, creating a mood in her works through the placement, pose, and strongly accentuated forms of the model and using striking colours and manipulating paint for maximum visual impact. As stated by Owen in an interview with Alberta Culture in 1972:

I’m not a socially conscious painter or environmentally conscious painter. (My work) entirely revolves around my own personal relations with other people.

Co-curated by Chris W. Carson and Shane Golby, Violet Owen: Modern Woman shows at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery in Edmonton until January 31, 2015. The Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open on Wed-Fri from 10 am - 4 pm and on Sat from 12 - 4 pm. The Gallery will be closed from December 21, 2014 through January 6, 2015.

Violet Owen: Modern Woman

"Gina", 1986, oil on canvas

While absorbed with the female figure, portraiture is not Owen’s prime concern. Rather, her concerns are primarily formal. Inspired by a variety of modernist art movements such as post-impressionism and German expressionism, Owen uses the model as a point of departure to explore the figure, creating a mood in her works through the placement, pose, and strongly accentuated forms of the model and using striking colours and manipulating paint for maximum visual impact. As stated by Owen in an interview with Alberta Culture in 1972:

I’m not a socially conscious painter or environmentally conscious painter. (My work) entirely revolves around my own personal relations with other people.

Co-curated by Chris W. Carson and Shane Golby, Violet Owen: Modern Woman shows at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery in Edmonton until January 31, 2015. The Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open on Wed-Fri from 10 am - 4 pm and on Sat from 12 - 4 pm. The Gallery will be closed from December 21, 2014 through January 6, 2015.

Violet Owen: Modern Woman

"Self Portrait", 1986, oil on canvas

While absorbed with the female figure, portraiture is not Owen’s prime concern. Rather, her concerns are primarily formal. Inspired by a variety of modernist art movements such as post-impressionism and German expressionism, Owen uses the model as a point of departure to explore the figure, creating a mood in her works through the placement, pose, and strongly accentuated forms of the model and using striking colours and manipulating paint for maximum visual impact. As stated by Owen in an interview with Alberta Culture in 1972:

I’m not a socially conscious painter or environmentally conscious painter. (My work) entirely revolves around my own personal relations with other people.

Co-curated by Chris W. Carson and Shane Golby, Violet Owen: Modern Woman shows at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery in Edmonton until January 31, 2015. The Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open on Wed-Fri from 10 am - 4 pm and on Sat from 12 - 4 pm. The Gallery will be closed from December 21, 2014 through January 6, 2015.

Violet Owen: Modern Woman

"Woman with Mask", 2012, mixed media relief

While absorbed with the female figure, portraiture is not Owen’s prime concern. Rather, her concerns are primarily formal. Inspired by a variety of modernist art movements such as post-impressionism and German expressionism, Owen uses the model as a point of departure to explore the figure, creating a mood in her works through the placement, pose, and strongly accentuated forms of the model and using striking colours and manipulating paint for maximum visual impact. As stated by Owen in an interview with Alberta Culture in 1972:

I’m not a socially conscious painter or environmentally conscious painter. (My work) entirely revolves around my own personal relations with other people.

Co-curated by Chris W. Carson and Shane Golby, Violet Owen: Modern Woman shows at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery in Edmonton until January 31, 2015. The Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open on Wed-Fri from 10 am - 4 pm and on Sat from 12 - 4 pm. The Gallery will be closed from December 21, 2014 through January 6, 2015.

Violet Owen: Modern Woman

"Self Portrait", 1953, oil on canvas

While absorbed with the female figure, portraiture is not Owen’s prime concern. Rather, her concerns are primarily formal. Inspired by a variety of modernist art movements such as post-impressionism and German expressionism, Owen uses the model as a point of departure to explore the figure, creating a mood in her works through the placement, pose, and strongly accentuated forms of the model and using striking colours and manipulating paint for maximum visual impact. As stated by Owen in an interview with Alberta Culture in 1972:

I’m not a socially conscious painter or environmentally conscious painter. (My work) entirely revolves around my own personal relations with other people.

Co-curated by Chris W. Carson and Shane Golby, Violet Owen: Modern Woman shows at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery in Edmonton until January 31, 2015. The Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open on Wed-Fri from 10 am - 4 pm and on Sat from 12 - 4 pm. The Gallery will be closed from December 21, 2014 through January 6, 2015.

Violet Owen: Modern Woman

"Self Portrait with Nudes in Background", oil on canvas, 2013

While absorbed with the female figure, portraiture is not Owen’s prime concern. Rather, her concerns are primarily formal. Inspired by a variety of modernist art movements such as post-impressionism and German expressionism, Owen uses the model as a point of departure to explore the figure, creating a mood in her works through the placement, pose, and strongly accentuated forms of the model and using striking colours and manipulating paint for maximum visual impact. As stated by Owen in an interview with Alberta Culture in 1972:

I’m not a socially conscious painter or environmentally conscious painter. (My work)

entirely revolves around my own personal relations with other people.

Co-curated by Chris W. Carson and Shane Golby, Violet Owen: Modern Woman shows at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery in Edmonton until January 31, 2015. The Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open on Wed-Fri from 10 am - 4 pm and on Sat from 12 - 4 pm. The Gallery will be closed from December 21, 2014 through January 6, 2015.

Violet Owen: Modern Woman

"The Green Nude", 2006, oil on canvas

While absorbed with the female figure, portraiture is not Owen’s prime concern. Rather, her concerns are primarily formal. Inspired by a variety of modernist art movements such as post-impressionism and German expressionism, Owen uses the model as a point of departure to explore the figure, creating a mood in her works through the placement, pose, and strongly accentuated forms of the model and using striking colours and manipulating paint for maximum visual impact. As stated by Owen in an interview with Alberta Culture in 1972:

I’m not a socially conscious painter or environmentally conscious painter. (My work)

entirely revolves around my own personal relations with other people.

Co-curated by Chris W. Carson and Shane Golby, Violet Owen: Modern Woman shows at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery in Edmonton until January 31, 2015. The Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open on Wed-Fri from 10 am - 4 pm and on Sat from 12 - 4 pm. The Gallery will be closed from December 21, 2014 through January 6, 2015.

Violet Owen: Modern Woman

Co-curated by Chris W. Carson and Shane Golby, this retrospective covers 60 years of Violet Owen's remarkable artistic career. The exhibition features paintings, drawings, and sculptural work, all deeply rooted in explorations of the female form. Join us for the opening reception on Thursday, December 11 from 7:00-9:30 pm at Visual Arts Alberta Gallery. Violet Owen: Modern Woman will be exhibited from December 11, 2014 to January 31, 2015. Please note that the gallery will be closed from December 21 - January 6 for the holidays.

Bits and Pieces: Patricia Coulter

"Blaze of Glory", mixed media on canvas, 18" x 24"

Coulter describes her process this way: I usually have some theme or inspiration in my mind before beginning a piece, and then being by gluing, with an archival glue, some remnants from my daily life - receipt from a restaurant, a page torn from an old book, etc and let it dry. Then I start with a few charcoal pencil lines to lightly sketch in a landscape scene. This gives me a start but no telling where the painting will go from there. I then begin putting paint on, I add a few drips, I add more paper, more paint, and on it goes! I have been very pleased with the results I’ve achieved - I find the whole process is encouraging, creative, and inspiring!

View Coulter's mixed media work in her exhibition "Bits and Pieces", on now at the Visual Arts Alberta Gallery. Showing alongside Coulter is the photographic work of Jean-Rene Leblanc in "Presentification of Paradise". Both shows are up until December 6, 2014. 

Visual Arts Alberta Gallery is open from Wed-Fri, 10am-4pm and Sat, 12-4pm. The Gallery is closed for holidays and holiday weekends.