Phil Irish. A Modest Ostentation. Oil on panel, digital print, 2007.
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This painting just won 2nd Prize in the Shirley Dilworth Jaychuk Painting Competition, at the Elora Centre for the Arts. It was a great evening of festivities, with jurors I respect: Doug Kirton, Will Gorlitz, and Judith Nasby.
Did you know that an "ostentation" is a name for a group of peacocks? A murder of crows... an ostentation of peacocks. The word seemed fitting for this work: the wild opulence of the peacock feathers and postures, set amid the cedar beams and humble window of an Ontario barn. At the left edge, all remains quiet and muted. As your eyes explore further to the right, the colours and spatial tensions increase their strength and freedom.
The textures of fencing interrupt the surface, fading in and out of focus.