A New Story: New Oils and Watercolours by Barry McCarthy

Loch Gallery is excited to present a new collection of watercolours and oil paintings by Barry McCarthy in our Toronto gallery. The artist will be present in the gallery from 2 – 4pm on Saturday, November 4th.

 

"Based in southwestern Ontario, McCarthy first painted and exhibited the farm country surrounding Fergus, with its Grand River and majestic waterfalls. After studying fine art at the University of Guelph, McCarthy’s appreciation of Dutch landscape painting of the 17th century stimulated his passion for the watercolours. Gradually, searching for expanded views and coastlines, a family visit to Atlantic Canada led to summer images of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. His plethora of visual discoveries soon became oil paintings. 

The new medium allowed him to adopt and refine the light and transparency that made his watercolours so memorable. The small watercolour studies provide him with confidence and comfort in a medium for which he is renowned. These studies are then committed into a large format in oil. Enlightened by his constant travels throughout Canada and abroad, McCarthy always seeks new imagery and ideas for his compositions. He looks for subjects or situations imbued not merely with beauty but with a sense of angst and tension."

 

Anja Karisik

 

“Historically, storytelling has always been a much enjoyed social and cultural activity. Painting is no different. There is an abstract quality to my work. There are organic forms juxtaposed with geometric shapes. The viewer’s eye flows from left to right much like reading a book. The foreground introduces the background. The midground is the comprehensive story: it sets the stage for the heat and the power. Boxes and squares dot the space, organic shapes play with the light keeping the flow of eye movement. Subject matter contributes to the story’s mystery! Much like a play…. the stage is set! Every painting tells a story!"

 

Barry McCarthy