Landmark : The Paintings of Robert Houle and John Abrams

"John Abrams and Robert Houle have built their artistic practices around painting aspects of the Canadian imagination. For each, the landscape of Canada has been defined through political association. Issues of identity are solidified through place and history, yet the concepts have been altered. Rather than posting an objectified and legitimizing history, Abrams and Houle propose remembrance as the source of historical associations. Landmark includes five painting installations (two by Abrams, three by Houle) that are comprised of panels, canvases and graphic elements. Both Houle and Abrams mount their composite paintings in mappings on the museum wall. Houle uses colour-field abstraction and photographic elements in his eloquent compositions. Abrams paints iconic depictions of the landscape and pulls images from Canadian history books in his bill-board scale assemblies of paintings." -- Absolutearts website.