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Red Glare


Red Glare (Quinacridone) Dyptych, acrylic and photograph on plexiglas, 24 x 72 inches

Circular panels mounted on the wall appear as a large pair of lenses. The right panel shows a black and white photographic retina scan depicting the human eye-brain system and the left panel is an abstract disc of red paint. The overall reddish color of the left panel is the accumulated layering of twelve distinctive red hues of transparent acrylic paint. The combination of reds that were mixed and applied on this panel are reflective of a dozen research participants' individual red preferences. The first layer of red paint that is visible, and emphasized in the title of this work, is quinacridone. However, despite its placement and label, the true appearance of the quinacridone mixture is obscured by the different red layers behind it. The focus of this work is to critically question the factors that color what is seen versus what is read.


About the artist: Laurel Smith is a contemporary artist whose paintings and other artworks have garnered awards including: Canada Council for the Arts; Alberta Foundation for the Arts; Eastern Canada Winner of the RBC Investments Canadian Art Painting Competition; The Brucebo Foundation; Concordia University Fellowship; Sheila Hugh MacKay Foundation; the Illingworth Kerr Travel Award, and the Illingworth Kerr Academic Achievement Award. Her art has been exhibited across North America and in Europe. Selected solo exhibits include Red Glare, CIXI, Ornaminimalism, LS is more, and Critical Distance. Selected group exhibitions include: The Alberta Biennial of Contemporary Art: Living Utopia and Disaster, About Time: Contemporary Painting, soft core Hard Edge (California and Canada), Inhabiting Spaces (Poland, Portugal, Finland, Canada), and Neo-Minimalism. Smith's paintings are in public collections including the Visby Konstmuseum, The Glenbow Museum, Manitoba Hydro, Calgary Civic Arts Alliance, The Royal Bank of Canada, The Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and other corporate and private collections. More about her studio practice can be found here.

Laurel Smith is the founder of Red Art 2 Mars Gallery. Her studio is located at Latitude: 51°3.0066′ N Longitude: 114°5.1174′ W.

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