Superglow

December 6, 2019 - January 24, 2020

Reception: December 6, 5:30 - 10 pm

Superglow offers a glimpse into the use of DayGlo inks by artists at the Grand Western Canadian Screen Shop. Manitoba artists Winston Leathers and Audrey Riller used these fluorescent inks in the production of the five works in the exhibition. In his Cosmic Variations (1972) series, Leathers juxtaposed metallic and non-metallic inks with DayGlo in the creation of ordered, abstract patterns. In contrast, Riller’s approach emphasized the playful qualities of her illustrative portraits of women.

At this time aesthetics were dictated by mainstream consumerism, and the adoption of DayGlo colours by marketing companies hoping to make their products visually pop off the shelf was a strategy to improve market share.

Viewed under regular sunlight or incandescent lights the works of both artists resonate with the individual intentions brought to the works. Viewed under black light, the colours and their energy are magnified: the reserved orderliness of Leathers' Cosmic Variations effervescent, referencing the energy of the cosmos. In Riller's work, the vitality of the women magnified by the intense colours that describe them and their subject.