Charles Meanwell: Sightings

Charles Meanwell's latest body of work draws inspiration from Sudbury's unique terrain - flat and undramatic until it unexpectedly gives way to the iconic rock of the Canadian Shield. Growing up, Meanwell says that Sudbury was a place to pass through on the drive to his family cottage north of Manitoulin. Through his window the city receded into a moving background, distilled into blurred outlines and blocks of colour. Early experiences such as these had a profound influence on Meanwell’s approach to painting. Line and shape are what compel Meanwell to paint a landscape. He has always been less concerned with the specifics of a place.

Last fall, Meanwell revisited Sudbury, but this time as his end destination. He connected deeply with the unassuming beauty and the unexpected incidents of colour and form. He made two subsequent trips since then, the works made on location culminating in this remarkable exhibition, Sightings.

When asked if his practice is based on instinct, Meanwell replies that it is based on obedience. As he describes, “I am told where to place things by the elements in the landscape that I am painting." It is as though Meanwell slips into a near meditative state before painting in order to avoid any superfluous marks that might distract from the poetry of line, colour, and composition. The result is a series of minimal paintings composed of evocative, yet stripped back forms, which articulate only the essential qualities of the landscape.