Derek Root
October 11 to November 17, 2018
Derek Root is well known for his mastery of colour, and his new body of work focuses his dexterity on the monochrome. In past works, Root has explored the monochrome through wax paintings, but his latest works delve into a new method of composition where the artist methodically applies and removes wet paint from the canvas surface.
Creating different textures and patterns through repetitive linear strokes using hand-made tools, the works suggest elemental knowledge and assume a narrative or poetic quality. Though reductive in colour—charcoal on charcoal, white on white—and absent of any overt symbolism, a sense or mood emerges from the expressive quality of the mark-making. Root uses the means of abstract minimalism—seriality, the grid, and monochrome, to emphasize the gestural mark and surface, indicating the existence of time passing. Like all of Root’s paintings, regardless of medium, they embody an enigmatically sculptural presence.
Derek Root is a graduate of the Emily Carr University. He has exhibited both nationally and internationally, including at Monte Clark Gallery, Union Gallery in London, and the Vancouver Art Gallery. His works are included in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Canada, the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Canada Council Art Bank, and numerous others. Derek Root lives and works in Vancouver.