From Chris Flodberg’s latest exhibition

DETAILS

Matters of Denial by Chris Flodberg
Art Gallery of Calgary
Friday, January 18 - Saturday, April 5

More in: Visual Arts

Find It...

Art Gallery of Calgary

Our mothers told us: “Finish what’s on your plate, there are starving children in the world,” and we did. They said: “Clean your room, it looks like a bomb went off,” and we did, in spite of the melodramatic imagery. I know that my mother would be aghast at the decadence, waste and destruction pictured in Chris Flodberg’s exhibition Matters of Denial, on display now at the Art Gallery of Calgary.

At first glance, perhaps, Flodberg’s images may not look challenging to the contemporary art viewer, but after the second and the third look it becomes clear that he is in every respect a modern artist. Born and raised in Calgary, Flodberg began painting when he was only 15 and went on to complete his BFA at the Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD) and his MFA at the University of Alberta in 2000. His artistic career seems to be snowballing, as this exhibition follows his inclusion in the Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art that wrapped earlier this month.

The old masters of Europe greatly inspire his work, which hearkens back to the days of romanticism and formal Dutch still lifes. These paintings were executed with rich colours, extreme detail, emotion and symbolism. Lush arrays of food and drink are portrayed by Flodberg in urban settings that beg to tell tales and have obvious messages for the audience. This, however, is not the exhibition to attend if you are looking to unfold narratives on canvas.

Flodberg states that art that is able to connect with its viewer does not offer a clear message but instead leaves him or her with a feeling or a sensation. He likens looking at art to waking from a dream — one can rarely describe every aspect of a dream but usually carries the feeling of it upon waking. The purposeful absence of a clear narrative almost becomes a relief for the audience searching through Flodberg’s paintings. Though his earlier work is recognizably biographical, his more recent pieces present contrasting elements that are difficult to unravel. Banquets of food are presented in front of the shells of buildings in anonymous cities, or in well-appointed halls that are conspicuously empty. Throw in a couple of giant squids or a sky full of fish and things really get strange.

The young Flodberg claims that he is using these paintings to express his personal experiences of guilt and disappointment as opposed to ideas that might be clearer, like those of consumerism and environmental destruction. He sees himself and his generation as arriving at the end of the party, so to speak. The world has eaten, drank and been merry, but is now full of leftovers. The artist bemoans the fact that he has missed the best. Following this, he claims that these paintings are a critique of himself, of the guilt he feels for wanting to experience everything good that is left in the world.

Overall, pretty heavy, personal stuff. But does it work? The paintings are lavish and covered in intense brushstrokes capturing the spirit, though not the fine detail, of his artistic influences. One is quickly engaged by the exhibition, trying to piece together the divergent components that make up the foregrounds and backgrounds of the works. In fact, many of these components are shared between the works, further adding to the puzzle. However, I am thankful that art is open to interpretation. Beneath the layers of meaning are skilled paintings with a few good images about our consumer-driven society. And flanked, of course, by giant squid.