Sean Yelland
/The Long Way Home
February 24 - March 8
Opening Reception: February 24, 1-3 PM
Artist in Attendance
SEAN YELLAND - Top of the valley - 36 x 48 - OIL ON canvas - SOLD
Sean Yelland brings a contemporary lens to high realism. Building on leading artists of previous generations such as Andrew Wyeth, Jack Chambers, Christopher Pratt, and Alexander Colville, Yelland fills his works with a cinematic tension. There is an electric feeling that something is just about to happen.
In The Dive a poolside patio is empty except for a flipped over book and drink on a table. In Top of the Valley, one of Yelland’s most surreal paintings in this collection, part of a figure is shown walking up stairs; but to where? In No Exit, a shadowy figure looms behind a door set in a back alley.
The distinctness of Yelland’s practice is that he finds remarkable beauty in these places. He is able to observe what most people glaze over and express it with a precision that few artists possess. Each composition has a story or raises a question. These are paintings that go far beyond documenting places, they are symbols of society as Yelland sees them.
A failed business was once someone’s dream. In a snowy street, footprints walk into a mural of an idealized green field with trees playfully confronting the viewer with the question what is better? A cold reality or a lush fiction? These are only a few of the many suggested narratives woven through this collection.
Pick up Joint perfectly captures Yelland’s interest in the beauty of decay. This composition is a symphony of colour. Rich oranges and blues in the foreground balance the fiery maple trees in the background. However, the scene itself is a run down, rural gas station. The pumps are gone. The wall has been replaced with plywood. Paint is peeling off the building. But Yelland presents this decay with such beauty that it knocks the viewer off balance, pulling them into the scene to consider the people that were once there.
Sean Yelland is a graduate of Ontario College of Art & Design. He has exhibited across Canada and was shortlisted for the Kingston Prize in 2011. His works are found in numerous private and corporate collections around the globe. This is his fourth solo exhibition with Madrona Gallery.
