Darlene Cole

UPCOMING EXHIBITION:
December, 2024
Bau-Xi Gallery | Dufferin
1384 Dufferin Street, Toronto
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Darlene Cole captures a hazy, haunting world of poetry and wonder. The artist’s distinct oil painting techniques lend a watercolour effect to her subjects without compromising rich colour values and velvety textures. Cole’s canvases—dreamy expanses inhabited by spirited figures—are studies of time and memory. These figures, both human and animal, play a pivotal role, evoking emotional responses in the viewer as Cole navigates between layers of reference and meaning.  At once playful and melancholic, Cole’s work draws on themes characteristic of her established painting career: the inherent mystery of old architectural interiors, the power of painterly colour and texture to spark memory, and the exploration of childhood innocence and its loss. Canvases offer delicate detail work that gives form to softly blended screens of colour, mapping the seamless and often unconscious journey from visual prompt to archetypal meaning: an elk’s elegant antlers emerge against a mossy plane; a child’s red dress bursts through the haze of a dreamy playground; a rowboat sails off toward a dusky horizon. Other recurring tropes in Cole’s work—velvet curtains, picture frames, and armoires—are thresholds that beckon us to an exciting place, far beyond the frame. 

Cole's work is extensively collected across Canada and internationally. Notable public collections include The Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Tom Thomson Art Gallery, the K.F. Preueter Collection of Canadian Art, Royal Bank of Canada, CIBC, OCAD University, Fairmont Hotels (Toronto, Montreal, Banff), and Manulife Financial. 

Take a look inside Darlene Cole's studio in her feature with Constellation Magazine here

View Darlene Cole's CV

60 X 54 in. - $14,500 CAD
Prelude (Algonquin mist)
78 X 60 in. - $17,500 CAD
Prelude (love-struck)
Sold
48 X 36 in. - $10,000 CAD
Prelude (arrowhead)
Sold
60 X 54 in. - $14,500 CAD
Prelude (Pink Clouds + Glass Boat)
Sold
40 X 30 in. - $7,700 CAD
Prelude (wild swan)
36 X 36 in. - $7,950 CAD
Prelude (into the mist)
36 X 36 in. - $7,950 CAD
Prelude (moonlight peonies)
54 X 54 in. - $13,700 CAD
Prelude (rowboat)
30 X 24 in. - $5,950 CAD
Prelude (kitties in the living room)
10 X 8 in. - $2,650 CAD
Prelude (blue willow)
20 X 16 in. - $5,300 CAD
Prelude (protect)
10 X 8 in. - $2,650 CAD
Prelude (beach)
10 X 8 in. - $2,650 CAD
Prelude (pink dress)
Sold
10 X 8 in. - $2,650 CAD
Prelude (windbreaker)
Sold
10 X 8 in. - $2,650 CAD
Darlene Cole artwork 'Reverie (love)' available at Bau-Xi Gallery Toronto, Ontario
Love Notes (some days feel like polka-dots + peonies)
36 x 36 in. - $7,950 CAD
Reverie (lake trio)
60 X 60 in. - $15,200 CAD
Darlene Cole artwork 'Reverie (tracing your footsteps)' available at Bau-Xi Gallery Toronto, Ontario
36 X 36 in. - $7,950 CAD
Darlene Cole artwork 'Reverie (autumn roses)' available at Bau-Xi Gallery Toronto, Ontario
60 X 54 in. - $14,500 CAD
Prelude (peony petals)
Sold
8 X 8 in. - $1,250 CAD
Peonies
Sold
48 X 48 in. - $12,150 CAD
Prelude (spring song)
Sold
30 X 24 in. - $5,950 CAD
Prelude (poem)
Sold
Prelude (peonies at the beach)
Sold
10 X 8 in. - $2,650 CAD
Prelude (rainbow)
Sold
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