RONALD BLOORE, FIVE DECADES
Moore Gallery, Toronto, April 9-30, 2011
A Retrospective Tribute
This was the Moore Gallery's tribute to Bloore's fifty years of painting. This page - all four pages of it - like the page devoted to the Wallace Galleries' Tribute which took place at exactly the same time in Alberta, is our tribute to the dealer.
Held 19 months after the painter’s demise it was the estate's only show with Ron and Amanda Moore as they closed the gallery in 2013.
All the spaces available were given over to one artist. Usually the large space and the east space held separate shows which would open and end together but not this time. This time even the back office space which always displayed an assortment of the Moore stable was taken over by the giant retrospective. It was unprecedented. Even the kitchen / lunchroom which was not open to the public was bedecked with Bloores.
Part One: Thumbnails / Introduction
Part One, is just thumbnails of the images to be found in the other parts. The first three sets are installation shots so they all link to Part Two. The White Paintings are each viewable in Part Three, the rest in Part Four.
Main Gallery, White on White
East Gallery, Drawings and Sculpture
There was no black in the main space. The painter who famously painted white-on-white was given due presentation there. Stepping into the second space, one entered another world.
West Gallery, Late Paintings
The late paintings were a shock to all. Undeniably different and undeniably important, they had to be somewhere their own.
The office space became yet another world.
Main Gallery, Paintings from 1960 to 2000
Part Three shows the works in the order they went around the room, clockwise, but they begin with the large diptych next to the door instead of the early work in front of the door, as these thumbnails do. They were not hung chronologically because of the wide variations in size.
(As usual, thumbs of sold works light up red and the unsold light up blue)
East Gallery, Drawings and Sculpture
Part Four starts with the fairly representative selection of sculptures and drawings. Left out, unfortunately, for fear they would not “hold the wall” next to the bombast around them, were the pen and ink drawings of the early sixties.
The little black maquette at the bottom left actually hung in the office behind Amanda’s desk.
West Gallery, Late Paintings
One of Bloore’s most repeated statements was that there was no such thing as negative space. Space is positive, and this is what makes it a fitting subject for art. Later in life darkness becomes a subject, an unavoidable challenge to our remaining positive. But remaining ultimately positive is the duty of the artist and the task of every person.
