REAL PAINT: REALISM AT BAU-XI TORONTO THIS JULY

Left: William Lazos, Bubble Blower, acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24 inches
Right: Chris Temple, One Way, oil on canvas, 60 x 45 inches

This July, Bau-Xi Gallery in Toronto will be exhibiting artwork that celebrates contemporary realism. Three gallery artists will be exhibiting new work in a variety of media, sizes and formats – each interpreting this theme in varied ways. Artists included will demonstrate not just technical skill with, but also the unique ways in which paint contributes to figuration.

Shaun Downey's realist style masterfully bridges traditional portraiture and the contemporary. Jenna Opsahl of Jungle Magazine (London, UK) states: "His scenes are mysterious and unknowable - and yet they feel familiar; as if we ourselves, have been here before." This exhibition closely follows Downey’s inclusion in the public installation Keeping It Real, on at Station Gallery, Whitby, this June and July. 

William Lazos' painted surfaces are technically precise and smoothly rendered, using a combination of meticulous airbrush and paintbrush techniques to capture subtle plays of light and complex textural surfaces. His subjects - carnival scenes and other contemporary cultural objects - call on all the senses in their striking detail. Lazos' paintings combine haze and sharp focus, document and memory, hyper-realism and childlike wonder to mesmerizing effect.

Chris Temple has been capturing the complexity and sublimity of Canada's urban environments for over 30 years. His technically precise paintings render the cityscape as something both strong and delicate, familiar yet mysterious, and always reverant of contemporary landscape as an endless source of visual interest. Chris Temple has exhibited extensively across Canada, and is featured in prominent collections and institutions.

CLICK ARTIST NAMES ABOVE TO PREVIEW ARTWORK FOR THIS EXHIBITION