WATCH | THE EXHIBITION WALKTHROUGH
Nicholas Metivier Gallery is pleased to announce Current, an exhibition of new paintings by Linda Martinello. The exhibition will open on February 5th and run until February 26th, with an opening day reception on Saturday, February 5th. This is Martinello's second solo exhibition at the gallery.
Linda Martinello sees the world in layers. She researches the history of each location she selects as the subject for her paintings and once on site, records the geological features and ambient sounds using video and written observation. Her interests have taken her to locations including Matera, Italy; the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico; the Four Corners in the Southwestern United States and ancient historical sites in Turkey and Greece. Her work combines elements of painting, drawing and collage to convey a multitude of geographic perspectives experienced over time.
In 2020, Martinello moved from downtown Toronto to rural Caledon, Ontario. It marked a major shift in her practice, the most evident being that it was the first time her work was inspired by her immediate surroundings. While her initial interest began with a large-scale public art installation about the waterways feeding into Lake Ontario, the focus eventually led to walks and exploration closer to her home. The sites referenced in her most recent paintings include the Credit River Valley, the Niagara Escarpment, the Bruce Trail and Forks of the Credit Provincial Park. She revisited these places throughout the year, noting the changes with each season.
Cutting and overlapping large sections of drafting film, Martinello assembles her paintings on the floor of her studio like a puzzle. Once complete, they loosely suggest the landscape's unique characteristics while communicating spatial shifts and relationships in nature, specifically the powerful sounds and movement of the river's current.
While working in my new studio and environment, I am immersed in the powerful sounds and movement of the Credit River from the time I wake to when I sleep. Nestled in a valley alongside the watershed, I have experienced seasonal changes in an entirely new way.
In researching and creating this work, I am learning about this land and water as a source of life and shared responsibility for its stewardship. This land and the Credit River Watershed are part of the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. The watershed is also part of the traditional territory of the Huron-Wendat and Haudenosaunee and is home to many First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples today.
– Linda Martinello
