Vivid Days

John Visser exhibits at 2gallery

Up close, the single brush strokes that make up John Visser’s work appear almost child-like in appearance. While neatly done, the placement seems a bit haphazard: artistic yes, but something seems off. The mostly similar-sized rectangular blocks feel more like a collage of bricks stuck together, albeit pleasantly arranged where a lighter background seeps through the many, many placed bricks of colour that make up each piece. Up close, very close, the work takes on a very different perspective, but step back a few feet, six or ten feet, and Visser’s pieces transform into something extraordinary, especially his larger works. What it demonstrates is the skill and artistry of the painter and how all those little dabs of colour work in unison, where the completed image comes together as if perhaps unintentionally. It shouldn’t necessarily work so well, but it does—the mosaic tile effect created by his brush is subtle yet inviting, and the viewer is drawn to the depth and dimensionality, intrigued by the tiny blocks of colour that fit seamlessly together, where light and shadow are captured to perfection.

Toronto-based contemporary landscape painter John Visser is currently exhibiting at 2gallery in downtown Picton. The solo show, Vivid Days, a collection of his latest works, is the culmination of a 2020 summer spent at his cottage on Georgian Bay. The pieces present a familiar Canadian landscape of water, rock and trees, yet they are far from run-of-themill landscape oil paintings. 2gallery is relatively new to the Prince Edward County gallery scene, opening its doors in May 2019. Prince Edward County residents for just two-and-a-half years, Craig Daniel and Jim Turner came here from Toronto with the idea of running an art gallery together. “I wanted to slow my life down a bit with my partner Craig, so we bought property here 10 years ago with plans to retire here, but decided to speed up the process,” says Jim Turner, Gallery Director and co-owner.

2gallery owners Craig Daniel and Jim Turner flank John Visser’s Daybreak.

The name 2gallery was chosen to represent two complementary areas of work to be discovered at the gallery: contemporary fine art and historical works. “It’s been great so far and we have been really well received in the County, even with a pandemic,” he says. As a new gallery, they are still building their clientele, yet were pleased with a busy inaugural 2019 season. “We were raring to open the gallery in March this year and then COVID hit,” explains Turner, who says having opted to close in the quiet months of January and February, they were also closed in March, April, May and half of June. “For a new business to be closed five months in its first year is not a great position to be in, but we are lucky because we are still being supported by a number of people who come into the gallery.”

“In terms of style, it is very unique; John Visser’s work feels like impressionism or pointillism in terms of the brush strokes,” explains Turner. “For Canadian art, it is a very traditional subject matter, but a very contemporary style in the way he executes it. When you go up close, to be able to see all the brush strokes, each stroke is an individ ual colour, so there isn’t any blending within the brush strokes; each stroke of colour sits next to each other to build the look. The results are really quite magnificent and when you are close up, it almost looks like a tapestry.” Visser explains how the process, one he admits is laborious, evolved over time. “I’ve always instinctively painted with small brush strokes and with every painting I’m always experimenting and trying new things,” he says. “Eventually, I started making the brush strokes very distinct and separate, and I really liked the graphic quality it gave the paintings. From there, it was about pushing and refining the technique.” Describing his style, Visser says it is sometimes jokingly referred to as ‘jumbo pointillism’ but says he prefers the term ‘mosaic impressionism’. “Each brush stroke is a different colour and as a painter I’m depending on the eye of the viewer to mix the colour,” he says. “This gives each painting a more dynamic quality since it requires a certain engagement from the viewer and it makes the painting work on different levels.” He agrees that each painting takes on a more abstract quality the closer you get, where up-close the painting is all about colour, pattern and texture. “As you step away, the eye and the mind go to work and it becomes more representational,” he says. “I really like the push and pull between the abstract and the representational. The mosaic- like consistent brush strokes also add a sense of movement to the painting and give even the most serene landscape a subtle energy.”

Visser notes how he has always been innately drawn to seeing beauty in landscape, and describes how painting for him, while a constant challenge, is like an act of meditation, and one that requires a certain focus, discipline and persistence. “Landscape painting is about my relationship to the land and my desire to respect and appreciate the natural world around us,” he says. “My hope is that people who see my work will share those feelings and this will have a small ripple effect on the way they look at and treat the world they live in.”Complementing John Visser’s landscapes, Eric Tardif, a fine woodworker from Quebec, brings Grace and Beauty to the gallery with a collection of exquisite wood sculptures created using a unique steambending process. “The interesting thing is he works for a conservation authority as his first career studying birds and the love affair he has with birds comes out,” explains Turner. “We wanted to put the two natural shows together to complement each other.” A member of the Prince Edward County Arts Trail, 2gallery presents exclusively Canadian art, representing around 27 artists (eight of whom are new this season) from emerging to career established in a variety of mediums. All artists exhibiting currently are from southern Ontario and Quebec. 2gallery is located at 256 Picton Main Street and is open daily (closed Tuesdays) 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. John Visser’s Vivid Days and Eric Tardif’s Grace and Beauty run until September 28. For more details, visit 2gallery.ca.