Opening Reception: Thursday, September 13, 6-8pm
Nicholas Metivier Gallery is pleased to announce Proximity, an exhibition of photographs by Ned Pratt. The exhibition will open on September 6th and run until September 29th with an opening reception on September 13th. This is Ned Pratt’s second solo exhibition at the gallery. It will coincide with Pratt’s first travelling survey museum exhibition, One Wave, opening at The Rooms in Newfoundland in September 2018, for which a fully illustrated book will be published.
Ned Pratt was born, raised and currently lives in Newfoundland. His innate understanding of the province’s beautiful but harsh landscape creates a foundation for his minimal, striking photographs. Pratt will often revisit a subject several times over the span of a few years before capturing an image that contains just the right balance of composition, colour and light. His playful use of perspective and vantage point transforms photographs of familiar landmarks into elegant abstractions.
This exhibition marks the release of a new body of work with a focus on colour and light. Pratt has introduced a number of seascapes, some of his most minimal compositions to date, that are devoid of man-made structures such as fishing sheds and sea walls. The seascapes are depicted with the same intentional “flatness” that defines all of his work, with no vanishing point. The land, sea and sky are stacked horizontally on top of each other, creating compositions that resemble flags. In other instances, Pratt uses architecture to frame the seascapes in unusual and unexpected ways. Subtle relationships exist between the form and texture of the structures and the naturally occurring shapes in the sky and water.
Ned Pratt holds a BFA in photography from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. His work has been exhibited at The Rooms, Newfoundland and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Ontario. He was selected to be included in Oh, Canada: Contemporary Art from North America, (2012 - 2016), a touring exhibition organized by the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. Pratt’s work is held in many prominent collections including the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Halifax and The Rooms, Newfoundland. Most recently, Pratt was awarded the 2017 Large Year Award for Excellence in the Visual Arts from the VANL (Visual Artists Newfoundland & Labrador) CARFAC.
