In the Galleries
Absolutely Nebulous
Margaux Williamson's universe is charmingly warped By David Balzer
Pittsburgh-born, Toronto-based Margaux Williamson is known for her flights of fancy. Last spring, she produced a stunning series of swirling, dreamy oil works that recast her Queen West neighbourhood as a mythical forest. Her latest offering is more terrestrial: isolated, mournful figures and delicate compositions are replaced by groups of people and a rough-and-ready style, reminiscent of expressionist portraitists such as Max Beckmann and Alice Neel. In Ryan and Marlena Sing the End of Poverty (all works in the show are titled like captions), she depicts a performance piece enacted at a local garage. Both figures are rendered quickly, their hands barely distinct. A starry universe hangs in the background, but even here paint travels in splotches, forming a messy, overtly handmade nebula that supports the goofy spontaneity of the scene. Real life, then, is Williamson’s new fantasy—and it’s a boisterous, awkward and utterly charmed trip.
Margaux Williamson. Artwork $2,000–$5,000. Dec. 1 to 24. Katharine Mulherin Contemporary Art Projects, 1086 Queen St. W., 416-537-8827, www.kmartprojects.com
TEST Originally published December 2006
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