Kofflery Gallery's Howard Podeswa: A Brief History Exhibition Review
Since I've been back home in Toronto, I have been trying to fit in all the art exhibits that started just before or during my vacation, which has been hard. But I finally got the chance to visit Koffler Gallery's
Howard Podeswa: A Brief History, which was near the top of my must-see art exhibits.
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| A Study of Hell, 2013 |
I'm so glad I found the time to visit this amazing exhibit before it closes near the end of the month.
A Brief History was created after the death of Howard Podeswa's father and his mother becoming ill. Working through his grief, Podeswa created the two large paintings,
Heaven, 2015 and
Hell, 2013 the centerpieces of the exhibit. When I first entered the small dimly lit exhibit, I walked around the outer corridor where several studies of
Hell are displayed, giving me a glimpse of what is to come. I would suggest to any visitor to follow the same route.
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| Hell, 2013 |
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| Hell (detail), 2013 |
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| Hell (detail), 2013 |
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| Hell (detail), 2013 |
Heaven and
Hell hung opposite each other in the middle room and although at first they can be a little overwhelming, especially
Hell, I took my time to really absorb the paintings and all the images within them.
Hell contains several menacing images and scenes swirled together within a large circle, depicting what I can only imagine, the chaos and horror of what hell may be like. The dark imagery Podeswa uses is a mix of realistic and abstract, some scenes ripped from modern day news stories, historical events, and nightmares. In stark contrast on the opposite wall hangs
Heaven. A large canvas painted white with several small circles carved in the paint, showing what I believe, are small pieces of heaven that differ from circle to circle, not unlike how different the idea of heaven would differ from person to person.
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| Heaven, 2015 |
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| Heaven (detail), 2015 |
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| Heaven (detail), 2015 |
Even though this exhibit is really just two large paintings and several Studies, I highly recommend a visit, it is absolutely amazing!
Howard Podeswa: A Brief History runs until March 27, 2016. Please visit
Koffler Gallery for more information.
P.s!: The Koffler Gallery is located within Youngplace Artscape, which always has several free art exhibits within their hallways and stairways!
P.s,
Melanie!
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