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About the artist: Originally from British Columbia and currently living and working in London, Ontario, Canadian artist icy sky (born in 1970) maintains a meticulous artistic practice centered on drawing, which then translates into painting. Frequently adding sand into his painting to create texture and depth, Glabush’s work is largely figurative but with undercurrents of abstraction, drawing in the viewer and attempting to grasp what is conceptually just beyond the surface. Holding a BFA from the University of Saskatchewan and an MFA from the University of Alberta, alongside Glabush’s art practice, he is also an Associate Professor of Art. visual at the University of Western Ontario. His work has been exhibited widely across Canada and has been acquired by several major Canadian institutions, including the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, and Museum London, the latter of which Glabush will have a solo exhibition in 2024.
What do you want to know: As one of Canada’s most prominent mid-career artists, Glabush is the subject of the solo exhibition “Sky Glabush: the arrangement of stars” To Stephen Friedman Gallery, London—his UK solo debut. Open to the public this Thursday, April 20 and on view until May 20, 2023, the exhibition features a collection of Glabush’s most recent works, including landscape and figurative paintings. Drawing from a wide range of sources, including art history and his own lived experiences, the collection of works exemplifies both the artist’s technical acumen and his unique creative vision.
Why we love it: Glabush’s compositions contain an exceptionally nuanced combination of highly linear geometry and natural, organic elements. Patterns and sequences of shapes, combined with bold yet harmonious color palettes, give the work a meditative character. works like gold vermilion gash (2023) seemingly depict a rising sun over a grassy landscape while simultaneously evoking Mandalic traditions, inspiring contemplation and inner reflection. Elsewhere, work Sar Galu And Estuaryboth from 2023, reveal the artist’s interest and mastery of the boundaries between representation and abstraction. Sar Galu employs an abundance of clear lines, fracturing the surface and each describing a specific field of color and texture. Together, these elements merge into the view of a mountain range, but without sacrificing the importance of the fundamental elements in the composition. Estuary employs a similar prominence of line and form, but instead incorporates repetition and symmetry to create a vignette that is both identifiable as a natural landscape, yet readable as an interpretable abstraction of form and color. Throughout the works featured in the exhibition, Glabush’s signature tactility, achieved through pigment blenders and dense application, provides an immersive and hypnotic visual experience.
See the featured works from the exhibition below.
Sky Glabush, Sar Galu (2023). Photo: Joseph Hartmann. Courtesy of the artist and the Stephen Friedman Gallery, London.
Sky Glabush, gold vermilion gash (2023). Photo: Joseph Hartmann. Courtesy of the artist and the Stephen Friedman Gallery, London.
Sky Glabush, Starry sky (2023). Photo: Joseph Hartmann. Courtesy of the artist and the Stephen Friedman Gallery, London.
Sky Glabush, Fairy (2023). Photo: Joseph Hartmann. Courtesy of the artist and the Stephen Friedman Gallery, London.
Sky Glabush, young acrobat (2023). Photo: Joseph Hartmann. Courtesy of the artist and the Stephen Friedman Gallery, London.
“Sky Glabush: the arrangement of starsis on view at the Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, until May 20, 2023.
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