Luke Ramsey: Real Cloud

MADRONA GALLERY, Victoria BC - Sep 12 - 26

by Christine Clark
In his fourth solo exhibition at Madrona Gallery, Luke Ramsey will be showing 20 new paintings and drawings. Ramsey says of the work: “I did a lot of experimenting the past couple of years working with wood carving, making moulds from beeswax, and creating dioramas to photograph and then collage on my iPad. Most paintings and drawings in this collection are inspired by some of these experiments and collages.”
Ramsey was Victoria’s first artist- in-residence from 2016 to 2018, a position that comes with a $42,000 salary, a $30,000 budget, and a mandate to create public artworks. During those two years, Ramsey designed and painted prolifically, transforming dark corners of the city with large-scale public murals. His most notable work from this period includes Mother Protector – Hawk and Home, an ingenious intervention on the Dallas Road waterfront, and Story Line, a collaborative mural with 11 artists painted in the North Park neighbourhood.
Ramsey is a co-founder of Islands Fold, an artist residency located on Pender Island. A freelance artist, illustrator and muralist, he has collaborated with over 100 artists and received a joint 2012 National Urban Design Award from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, among other honours. About his new work, Ramsey says, “The premise stems from considering dependencies on the digital cloud – uploading data, messages, photos and art, while considering that real clouds don’t store large amounts of data in the same way… Clouds change and evolve and don’t need servers. I like to approach my work like the flow of a cloud passing in the sky and how it can shape itself to its environment.”
Opening reception Sep 12, 1-3pm, artist in attendance
madronagallery.com