Sky Glabush

Philip Martin Gallery is proud to present, Weight of Light an exhibition featuring new large-scale landscape paintings by Sky Glabush. These works, comprised of layers of oil and sand on canvas, imply a deep and meaningful relationship between the viewer and nature, fueling a sense of wonder in front of awe-inspiring phenomenon.

In his work, Glabush’s layered landscapes aim to tell a story, riffing on folk tales and narratives in order to tell it in a new way. His paintings address our sense of the sublime: placing the viewer in front of an epic sunset, an inky, star filled sky; as well as more contemplative environs, such as twilight filled forests, or flower fields at night. Glabush lets the painting come at the viewer like a breath, an opening into a newly elevated awakening.

This unique sense of painting is deeply formed by the artist’s own experiences living and working in a variety of places such as Saskatchewan, Belize, California and Amsterdam. Using a common or familiar subject as a roadmap, Glabush improvises within the original scheme, distilling and searching to find the form. Oftentimes the negative space is filled with one color, a bright red or blue, which sand is then poured onto, obliterating the image. The sand is then layered in colors until the initial impulse disappears and something new emerges. This process of layering and color breathes a new sense of identity and self into a recognizable, common subject.

Rooted in modern aesthetics, Glabush as a painter and storyteller, reimagines his works historically. “Night Field” acknowledges a historical precedent like Van Gogh’s famous masterwork but with a fresh sense of gestural abstraction. Glabush seems to let go of the scaffolding of the image and works freely, in an open way. In “Weight of Light” we see an awe inspiring sunset radiating light in every direction giving a sense of consternation while at the same time layers of oil paint and sand give depth and gravitas to this otherworldly piece. This deep historical knowledge, as well as his free-spirited upbringing, gives Glabush’s work a unique perspective to neo- Modernist aesthetics. Glabush says,“ I want the painting to come at you like a breath, an opening, the overworking doesn’t mean that you see many things… I will work a painting until it’s dead but then all of a sudden, I’m making it alive, finding a thing within it.”

Sky Glabush (b. 1970, lives London, Ontario) received his BFA from the University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada), and his MFA from the University of Alberta (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada). Recent solo exhibitions include Philip Martin Gallery (Los Angeles, CA); Clint Roenisch Gallery (Toronto, Ontario); Galerie Zink Waldkirchen (Waldkirchen, Germany); Projet Pangee (Montreal, Quebec); and Prosjektrom Normanns (Stavanger, Norway). His work has been included in exhibitions at the University of Western Ontario (Ontario, Canada); Museum London (London, Ontario); Galerie de l’UQAM (Montréal, Quebec); and Rideau Hall (Ottawa, Canada). Glabush is an associate professor of visual art at the University of Western Ontario. Glabush’s work is included in such collections as Colart Collection (Montréal, Quebec); National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, Ontario); Museum/London (London, Ontario); Ross and Marion Woodman Collection (London, Ontario); McIntoch Gallery (London, Ontario); Bank of Montreal (Toronto, Ontario); MacKenzie Art Gallery (Regina, Saskatchewan); Mendel Art Gallery (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan); University of Saskatchewan (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan); and Alberta Foundation for the Arts (Calgary, Alberta). His work has been featured in publications such as “White Hot Magazine,” “Canadian Art,” and “Border Crossing.” Glabush lives and works in London, Ontario, Canada.