Life Path May 26, 2010

Eastern Ontario painter Anne Barkley entices the viewer to experience her world of simple yet strong abstract shapes and figures, where her intuitive colourful images imply a road travelled or life choice made. Her solo show “Life Path” is on from May 26 until June 16, 2010 and the artist-attended opening reception is on Thursday, June 3 at 6:30 p.m. at Leonardo Galleries.

Anne Barkley states, “At present my interest is in finding freedom and complexity in simple shapes and beautiful colours that will engage and challenge the viewer’s imagination. For me the pleasure and satisfaction of painting is always in making the art, the physical and emotional intensity required to get to that place where thought stops and intuition can have free rein.”

Barkley, whose influences include Piet Mondrian's purposefully imbalanced Neo-Plasticism and Mark Rothko's gentle gradients, knows that the viewer's participation in her work is vital and endeavours to connect, to communicate, to capture something of the spirit of people and their environments. Serenity, determination, passion, harmony and freedom intuitively guide her work, and colour, shape, texture, value, movement and rhythm are some of the tools of her trade.

Barkley lives on a farm in Williamsburg, Ontario (near Ottawa) and is an internationally exhibited artist, recently showing in Ottawa, Toronto, New York City and by invitation at the Biennale International Contemporary Art Exhibition in Florence, Italy. She is an elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists and her award-winning work is held in public and private collections across Canada.

As a member of the Yorkville Art Galleries Collective, Leonardo Galleries participates in the free monthly Yorkville Art Gallery Walk, which is held the first Thursday of each month and coincides with exhibition openings.

Leonardo Galleries, Toronto is devoted to the promotion of contemporary art. The gallery represents local and international artists from established and emerging categories and has a significant collection of works of art in painting, print-media, sculpture and photography. Leonardo Galleries also specializes in conservation framing and expert art restoration.

Official Website: http://www.leonardogalleries.com