Gregg Simpson

“In the context of the currently fashionable East Village Surrealism, Gregg Simpson’s work has both authenticity and interest. It is based on an in-depth understanding of historical surrealist theory and methods, and is fertilized by his contacts with practitioners of the movement in Europe. But against the broader context of the art of the last twenty years I, it is an anomaly. It is undeniably of its time, yet uncomfortably so. Simpson has kept to the sixties’ idea of art as a process that springs naturally from the process of living without abandoning the medium of paint.

Simpson’ career has intersected some of the most important artistic movements in Vancouver’s history: he was in on the beginnings of the Sound Gallery, Intermedia and The New Era Social Club; he played in the seminal Al Neil Trio; he made collages and video in the early seventies. And yet, unlike many a conceptualist, he has not ‘returned to the object’ for he never left it. He continues to paint and painting and improvised music remain the two media to which he is equally dedicated.

His painting has historical roots in the “abstract surrealism” of Ernst, Paalen, Dominguez and Matta. In this kind of work the painting is a model and demonstration of the process of creation in the natural world. Germinating from a technical idea, a specific operation on the paint, forms proliferate and spread organically across the canvas to build a cosmic or mental landscape. The seed is often an automatism such as frottage or fumage, and Simpson is a master of surrealist techniques. But he doesn’t have to rely on a method for forcing inspiration. In fact Simpson’s output over the last ten years has been large and never ceasing, always branching and dividing into new areas with a momentum of its own.

The works in the current show are divided into two groups. According to the exhibition statement, the oils in the larger gallery are…”a daylight world of substantial phantoms.” In the smaller gallery are a number of acrylics in black and white which “represent a grey, spectral world…of totemic beings.” Expression in these works means animation of the materials. Presences emerge from the generative swirl of the paint. Like living beings from the ground of nature, to confront us with their own gaze.

One can also detect here the proliferating energy of the rainforest, and a distinctly regional attitude toward content. Like Al Neil, bill bissett, Jack Wise, and other friends from the sixties, Simpson combines a sophisticated understanding of modern methodology with a down-home spirituality. There is a sincerity about content in all the artists I’ve mentioned that is definitely not “cool”, but very much west coast. Simpson’s cellular images not only unite the micro and macro cosmic, but also bring forward once again the west coast artist’s desire in front of nature not to represent it, but to become like it in a spirit of affirmation.

Open-ended, spontaneous, somatic, danceable, ephemeral, informal, free-improvised music was really the art form of the sixties, the logical end point of a drive toward an art that happens rather than merely is. To hold this attitude in balance with painting, as Simpson has done, is a rare accomplishment. And now one can see the product of this contradictory activity in paintings that represent in their imagery and demonstrate through their process many of those values associated with the sister art. The motive behind the performance and media-based art of the halcyon era was to break out of the confines of the static object, with its weight of associations, and thereby to let more life into art. Today the object once more reigns supreme. But Simpson has achieved a reconciliation of art and life in a way that was not sought during the sixties, namely within the space of painting.”

Robert Linsley
Vanguard
Dec. Jan. 1987

My work involves an evolution through aspects of surrealism and abstraction. I began in the 60s as a hard-edge Pop-influenced painter, who also did collages, drawings and multi-media.

My work developed into a sort of neo-surrealism which eventually worked its way to a form of lyric abstraction.

I often try to invoke a sense of place, whether the west coast of British Columbia, or more recently, the Mediterranean landscapes of Provence and Tuscany.

I trace the evolution of my work back to the paleolithic artists who also used a mark making process to stimulate a magical or visionary state of mind.

Solo exhibition of large sale abstract landscape paintings.

November 18 to December 10, 2011

Evergreen Cultural Centre Gallery,
1205 Pinetree Way
Coquitlam, BC
Canada

"My work is on the border between abstraction and surrealism, formal design and automatism. I begin a work very spontaneously, often with the canvas lying on the ground and soaked with water to make the colors flow.

Then I proceed to re-draw and mould the shapes, alternately adding and removing layers of paint to reveal the implicit imagery. Ultimately, the painting tells me how to resolve the final result, which may, or may not, correspond to anything in nature.

My paintings are usually improvised from the beginning, without a preliminary sketch. Their final form is arrived at through the direct application of paint. while elements of drawing are repeatedly allowed to appear and then are covered over again, until a final result emerges.

A work may evolve into a lyrical, atmospheric work, or one where formal structures of design suggest the figure, the landscape, or even still life, but re-interpreted into a purely imaginative realm, creating a personal, yet universal, world of forms, whose meaning changes with each viewer."

Gregg Simpson, 2007

My work has evolved from the collages and Pop-influenced paintings of the 1960s, through the neo-Surrealism of the 1970s to an organic abstraction in the last twenty five years.

The west coast rainforest where I grew up has always been an underlying factor in my work, especially since moving to Bowen Island in 2005.

But I also am greatly influenced by European art, especially surrealism and lyric abstraction.

I have contributed two canvases and two collective works done with John Welson and Rik Lina to:
Surrealism 2012, Toward the World of the Fifth Sun, Jan 6- Feb. 19th at the Goggle Art Centre, Reading Pennsylvania.

"Totems Personelles"
oils, acrylics, pastels, mixed media
Espace Kameleon 185 Ave. du Maine, Paris (Montparnasse)
Sept. 20-24, 2010, Vernissage: Tuesday, Sept. 21, 18:00-21:00hr.
Open hours: 11:00-19:00hr. The artist will be in attendance daily.

"Dream Figures"
oils, acrylics, pastels, mixed media
Galeria Colorida
Costa do Castelo 63, Lisbon, Portugal
Oct. 9-22, 2010
Opening: evening, Oct. 9th.

Canada Council Grants; 1968, 1971, 1972, 1976.
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Assistance: 2000, 2001.
Canada Council Travel Grant: 2003

Gregg Simpson is an internationally known artist, who has links to the post- war Surrealists though contact with
the Parisian historians, Jose Pierre and Sarane Alexandrian. His work has been published and exhibited in France and other European countries since 1973.

His work has been studied at the Sorbonne and also the Accademia Tiberina di Roma
in Italy.

Simpson exhibits regularly in Europe including France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, Switzerland and also in the U.S. and South America.

He has his own extensive web site: and a studio on Bowen Island.

Selected Exhibitions:

2010: Totems Personelles, Espace Kameleon, Paris (solo)
Dream Totems, Colorida Gallery, Lisbon,Portugal (solo)
Momentum, Leighdon Gallery, Vancouver (group)
-Cross Connections: Four Decades of Contemporary Art in the Pacific Northwest
University of Victoria Maltwood Gallery, Victoria, BC (group)
2009: El Umbral Secreto, Museo Solidad de Salvador Allende, Santiago, Chile (group)
Exposiçäo de Surrealismo actual Illuminaçöes Descontinuas, Lagoa, Portugal (group)
S.A.M. 2009 Chateau d’Auvers, Auvers-sur-l’Oise, France (group)
2008: O contrário do Olhar, Casa de Cultura, Coimbra, Portugal (group)
West Coast Mediterranean, The Gallery at Artisan Square, Bowen Island, BC (solo)
El Surrealismo como fenómeno colectivo, Museo Granell, Santiago de
Compostela, Spain (group)
2007: Group exhibition, Montserrat Gallery, New York , USA
Um Postal Para Mario Cesariny, Museu Vermhelho, Estremoz, Portugal (group)
2006: Salzburg Art Fair (with Galeria d’arte Gaudi, Madrid), Salzburg, Austria
Abstractions (with Amy Ernst) Carteret Gallery, Morehead City, North Carolina
Selected Drawings 1976-2006, Seymour Art Gallery, North Vancouver, BC (solo)
2005: West Coast Surreal, Museo Granell, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (group)
Abstractions et Figurations, Château Grimaldi, Cagnes-sur-Mer, France (group)
2003: Euloge du petit format, Christiane Puegeot Cultural Center, Paris (group)
Selected Works 1999-2003, Bfly Atelier, Vancouver, Canada (solo)
Une Nouvelle Arcadie Salle des Artistes, Colomars, France (solo)
Una Nuevo Arcadie, Galeria d’Art Zero, Barcelona, Spain (solo)
Convergency Gallery, Port Andratx, Mallorca, Spain (group)
Abstra Akros Gallery, Bilbao, Spain (group)
2002: Europ’Art 2002 International Art Fair , Geneva, Switzerland
Inaugural Exhibition, Grupo Batik Art, Salona Barna, Barcelona, Spain (group)
2001: A New Arcadia, Ontario Light and Art Gallery, Innsbruck, Austria (solo)
Une Nouvelle Arcadie, Centre d'Affaires, Aéroport Nice-Côte d'Azur (solo)
Selected Drawings, 1978-1999, Galleria Assioma, Prato, Italy (solo)
2000: Dessins Selectionées, 1978-1999, Salle du Couvent, Seillans, France (solo)
A New Arcadia, paintings and pastels, The Fortezza di Montalcino, Italy (solo)
Phantoms of Light, digital art/pastels/paintings, Studio 10, Vercelli, Italy (solo)
1999: Recent Abstract Paintings, MacPherson Playhouse, Victoria, BC (solo)
- Land of Light, Plaskett Gallery, New Westminster, BC (solo)
- Continental Drift, Simon Patrich Gallery, Vancouver (group)
1998: Binario Vivo: Ambiente E Creativita Sulla Strada Ferrata - toured to Treno
-Verde, Messina, Regio Calabria, Taranto, Potenza, Avellino, Roma, Imola,
-Monza, Belluno, Porenone, Macerata, Foligno, Orario. (group )
-Art 98, International Art Fair Vancouver (group)
-Electrica Mente (digital art), Studio 10, Vercelli, Italy (group)
-Maldoror Park, Diversité Surréaliste: 1935-1995, Université de Montréal (group)
1997: Nicholas Joseph Fine Arts, New York (group)
-A New Arcadia, Oktavia Gallery, Vancouver (solo)
1996:-il Cielo Contaminato, Salone Dugentesco, Vercelli and Trento, Italy (group)
-Aprés Miro, Bennett Gallery, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC (solo)
-Artist as Photographer, Photographer as Artist, TECK Gallery, SFU (2 person)
-Dessin Automatiste 1945-95 ,College Camille Claudel, St.Quay Portrieux, France;
toured to Plœuc-sur-Lié, Brittany (group)
-Phases of Desire, CASE Gallery, Skidmore College, Saritoga Springs, NY (group)
1995: Figurations, Torres Gallery, Vancouver (solo)
-Currents L'Atelier, Vancouver (group)
-Vancouver: 1965-75, Vancouver Art Gallery (group)
-Constellations, Surrealism and Its Affinities Carleton University, Ottawa (group)
1994: Permanent Collection, Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond (group)
-Classic Mode (photography) Montgomery Fine Arts, Vancouver (solo)
1993: Lyric Landscapes, Richmond Art Gallery (solo)
1992: Lumière du Jour/Lumière Noir, Galerie Lumière Noir, Montreal/Quebec (group)
1991: Tribal Dynamics Gallery Alpha, West Vancouver (solo)
1990: Artropolis 90, The Roundhouse, Vancouver (group)
1987: Savage, NeoArtism Gallery, Vancouver (group)
1986: Open Cages, Pitt International Gallery, Vancouver (group)
-Modern Ghosts, Richmond Art Gallery; Richmond, BC; (solo)
-Exposicao Internacional Surrealismo e Pintura Fantástica, Teatro Iberico,
Lisbon , Portugal (group)
1985:West Coast Surrealists, Simon Fraser University Gallery, Burnaby, BC (group)
1984: Retrospective: 1972-1984, Art Gallery of Algoma: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
-New Art Gallery, Toronto (solo)
1982: Galerie Surrealiste, Toronto (solo)
-Forest City Gallery, London, Ontario (solo)
-Arteder 82, Bilbao, Spain (group)
1981: Paintings and Mixed Media Works Music Gallery, Toronto (solo)
-Associations , Galerie Surrealiste, Toronto (group)
1980:-On Canvas, Robson Square Media Centre, Vancouver (group)
-Insights, Simon Fraser University (group)
1979:-West Coast Surrealists & Paul Wunderlich, Bayard Gallery, Seattle (group)
-Hindenberg Gallery, Bethesda, Maryland, USA (group)
-WashArt '79,Washington, D.C. (group)
-Other Realities: The Legacy of Surrealism in Canadian Art, Agnes Etherington
Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario; Canada House, London, UK; Centre Culturel
Canadien, Paris, (group, curated by Natalie Luckyj)
-Paperworks: B.C. Government Collection, toured to Centre Culturel Canadien,
Paris, Canada House, London; Canadian Cultural Centre, Brussels (group)
1978:-Surrealism Unlimited Camden Arts Centre, London, England (group)
1977:-From This Point Of View, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver (group)
-West Coast Surrealists, Gallery Move, North Vancouver (group)
1976:-Pacific Rim Consciousness, University of Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur; (group)-
-Student Union Gallery, UBC, Vancouver (with Ted Kingan)
1975:-Pacific Rim Consciousness, Simon Fraser University Gallery (group)
1974:-Canadian West Coast Hermetics: McMaster University, Hamilton,
McIntosh Gallery, University of Western Ontario; (group)
1973:-Canadian West Coast Hermetics, (also curator); Fine Arts Gallery, UBC
-B.C.; Centre Culturel Canadien, Paris Office Action Culturel, St.Brieuc, Brittany;
-Canada House, London; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Charleroi, Belgium
-Claw Series, Galerie Allen,Vancouver (solo)
1972: The Private Patron, Simon Fraser University Gallery, Burnaby (group)
-Paintings and Collages, Open Space Gallery, Victoria (solo)
-A City Collects, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver (group)
-Divine Order of the Lodge Salon Avelles Gallery, Vancouver (group)
1971: Vancouver School of Collage, Fine Arts Gallery, UBC (group)
1970: Carmen Lamanna Gallery, Toronto, Ontario (group)
-Colour Optics: Burnaby Art Gallery (group)
1969: Normal Constants, Simon Fraser University (solo)
-Kinetic & Light Sculpture, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (group)
-Focus '69, Bau-xi Gallery, Vancouver (group)
-Bau-xi Gallery (three person with Pierre Coupey and Ron Wattier)
1968: Mandan Ghetto Gallery, Vancouver; (Group shows)
-UBC Graduate Centre (with Pierre Coupey & Ken Christopher)
-Spectrum '68 Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver (group)
1967: Mandan Company Presents Western Supplies: Bau-xi Gallery (group)

Feature articles, Academic Studies Catalogues and Anthologies:
2001:Academic monograph on the recent work of Gregg Simpson by Prof. A. Malmo,
Academia Tiberina, Rome
1999:Superiore Inconnu feature page (edited by Sarane Alexandrian), Paris
-Master Painters Showcase, International Artist magazine, Sydney, Australia
-Dizionario Antologico e Critico Di Poeti, scrittori e artisti italiani contemporanei,
edizioni Tigullio- Bacherontius, Turin, Italy
1997:-Il Volo Di Icaro Utopia, tra sogno e realta quotidiana, Edizioni Tigullio-
Bacherontius, Turin, Italy
-The Idea of Surrealism in English Canada, Yves Laroque, PhD thesis, Sorbonne,
1995:-José Pierre: In the Beginning -introductory monograph written in Paris for colour
brochure: Recent Work 1990-1995
-Feature article for Figurations at the Torres Gallery, Peter Wilson, Vancouver Sun
1994:-Constellations, Surrealism and Its Affinities, Carleton University (catalogue)
1990:-Ann Rosenberg: Feature and review: Tribal Dynamics, Vancouver Sun
1988:-Alex Varty: Other Worlds, feature article, Vancouver Magazine
1986:-Rob Linsley, review of Modern Ghosts, Vanguard Magazine,
1985:-Carol M. Cram: Gregg Simpson: Works of Excavation & Transference: Feature
article in Terzoochio Magazine, Bologna, Italy.
-Carol M. Cram: New Mythologies/Inner Landscapes: West Coast Surrealists
Revisited, feature article: Vie Des Arts Magazine, Montreal
1983:-José Pierre: L'Univers Surréaliste: Editions Somogy, Paris, France