Camrose Ducote
paintings
Biography
As a visual artist I view my work as the result of an organic process, pursuing some ultimate truth which always seems to be elusive and just beyond my grasp. Therefore, I find it difficult to talk about my work in any definitive way. This is not made easier by the fact that the language I use is that of abstraction which relies upon sense impressions over the narrative. That being said, it seems that my work is a reflection of my ongoing preoccupation with the transient nature of life.
The result of this personal exploration has resulted in a developing iconography which has a history truly of its own making. It is a history which seeks to take into account both heart and spirit. I find that certain forms which carry some intrinsic meaning for me have, over the years, repeatedly asserted themselves upon the picture plane, but in different guises from one body of work to the next. For example, the more or less rectilinear shape which I find myself drawn to over and over again might, at one time, have symbolized for me a portal to the unknown. At another point in time it stood in for the figure. Perhaps now I am using it in a more abstract and less literal way, alluding to the notion of shielding, of becoming inviolable.
In the same vein, it seems that the juxtaposition of certain forms I have used repeatedly within the framework of each piece (for example dark vs. light, fragility vs. invulnerability, hidden vs. exposed) all acknowledge the paradoxical nature of life in its physical, emotional and spiritual manifestations. The work shows that structure eventually decays and what is left is a visceral quality, alluding to the idea that all is in transition.....a seeping out from.....a splitting up between.....a breaking away from.....all serving to remind one of the nature of life in its cycle of birth, decay, death and metamorphosis.
Finally, it is important to mention that the physical process by which I create each piece involves that of transformation which is the theme I am attempting to address subjectively. I begin with paper on to which I apply a spackle compound. The surface is then hand rubbed and several layers of acrylic medium and washes of paint are applied, later to be rubbed away, leaving only a residue of marks. These become the ground upon which I build further experience. Bits of paper are culled from the studio drawer, relics of their former incarnations often used unsuccessfully in earlier pieces but which now find new life. Shapes emerge, only later to be submerged, in part or altogether, all in the service of satisfying some newly formed impulse. And so it goes.
In the final analysis, it is as if there is a certain inevitability, a certain rightness, being played out within the confines of each individual piece. It is an expression of the personal within the universal, the cycle further completed when the viewer brings his or her piece of history to add to the heap.
EDUCATION
1974 University of Northern Colorado, B.A.
RESIDENCIES
1988 Banff Centre Leighton Artist Colony (scholarship)
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2016 New Work, Wallace Galleries, Calgary, AB (2 person)
2013 NEW WORK, Elissa Cristall Gallery, Vancouver BC
2011 Larger than Life, Wallace Galleries, Calgary, AB (group)
2011 Barrister’s Lounge, B.C Law Society, Vancouver, BC (solo)
2010 New Work, Wallace Galleries, Calgary, Alta. (2 person)
2010 Time Passages, Sopa Fine Arts, Kelowna, B.C. (2 person)
2009 Marking the Void, Sopa Fine Arts, Kelowna, B.C. (2 person)
2009 New Work, Wallace Galleries, Calgary, Alta. (2 person)
2008 Storyline, SOPA Fine Arts, Kelowna, B.C. (2 person)
2008 New Work, Atelier Gallery, Vancouver, B.C.
2008 New Work, Galerie St. Laurent + Hill, Ottawa, Ontario
2007 Acts of Light, Wallace Gallery, Calgary, Alta. (2 person)
2007 Galerie St. Laurent + Hill, Ottawa, Ontario (3 person)
2006 New Work, Galerie St. Laurent + Hill, Ottawa, Ontario
2006 New Work, Atelier Gallery, Vancouver, B.C.
2004 Split, Atelier Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2004 Wallace Gallery, Calgary, Alberta (2 person)
2002 Traces, Vancouver, BC
2001 Thin-skinned, John Ramsay Gallery, Vancouver, BC
2000 Thinly-veiled, John Ramsay Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1999 New Works, John Ramsay Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1998 Transience, John Ramsay Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1997 Departure, John Ramsay Gallery, Vancouver, BC.
1996 Recent Works, John Ramsay Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1996 Palimpsest, Richmond Art Gallery, Richmond, BC
1995 Capilano College Gallery, North Vancouver BC
1994 Crossing, John Ramsay Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1993 John Ramsay Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1991 Sanctum, Patrick Doheny Gallery, Vancouver BC
1989 Progressions, Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, BC
1989 Retreat, Simon Fraser Gallery, Burnaby, BC
Diane Farris Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1988 Diane Farris Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1987 Diane Farris Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1985 Diane Farris Gallery, Vancouver, BC
Lynn McAllister Fine Arts Gallery, Seattle, Washington
1984 Blackfish Gallery, Portland, Oregon
1983 Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby, BC
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2013 “Six Artists Exploring Abstraction,” Wallace Galleries, Calgary, AB
“What Painting Can Be,” Elissa Cristall Gallery, Vancouver, BC
“Technical Surfaces” Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver,BC
2012 “Larger than Life” Wallace Galleries, Calgary, AB
2004 “Abstracted” Atelier Gallery, Vancouver, BC2002 Wallace Galleries, Calgary AB
2002 Abstract, Seattle Art Museum Rental, Seattle, WA
2001 Agnes Bugera Gallery, Edmonton AB
1998 Introductions >98, Newzones Gallery, Calgary, AB
1997 Gallery Artists, John Ramsay Gallery, Vancouver, BC
1996 Surfaces, Evergreen Cultural Arts Centre, Coquitlam, BC
1993 Earthly Embraces, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC
Artropolis, Vancouver, BC
1988 Zoo Zone, Grand Forks Art Gallery and Castlegar National Exhibition Centre
1987 Artropolis, Vancouver, BC
Profiles of a Heritage,@ Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, BC
1985 12th International Biennial of Tapestry, Lausanne, Switzerland
Meanwhile.....Back at the Ranch, Kamloops Art Gallery, Kamloops, BC
Third Annual Wild West Show, Alberta College of Art Gallery, BC
1984 The Warehouse Show, Vancouver, BC
SELECTED BIOGRAPHY
Johnson, Mia. Camrose Ducote, Preview, February/March 2008
MacLean, Douglas, “Abstraction’s Bold New Face; Seven Western Canadian artists are leading a resurgence in abstract ideas,” Galleries West, Summer 2006
Bjornson, Harrill, Paintings that take a mental toll, The Vancouver Sun, February 12, 1993
Different Techniques at Evergreen Show, Now News, January 5, 1997
Constantine, Mildred and Reuter, Laurel, Whole Cloth, The Monacelli Press, 1997
Growth and decay theme of new show, Time Out, The Richmond News, , 1996
Ambiguous intentions show, Time Out, The Richmond News, March 6, 1996
Gustafson, Paula. Camrose Ducote at John Ramsay, Asian Art News, May/June 1999
Johnson, Mia. Camrose Ducote, Preview, February/March 2000
Neave, Dorinda. Reverie and Reality: The Art of Camrose Ducote, Artpost/35/36 1990
Rosenberg, Ann. Images of changing speeds and bare essentials, The Vancouver Sun, April 13, 1991
Perry, Art. Two shows build on architecture, The Province, April l6, 1991
Perry, Art. Emotions on line, The Province, June 19, 1998
Godley, Elizabeth, Positive tone to visions of horror, The Vancouver Sun, Jan. 22, 1987
Grace, Sherrill, Camrose Ducote at Diane Farris Gallery, Vanguard, April/May 1987
Godley, Elizabeth, Two dimensions reflect artists new approach, The Vancouver Sun, November l5, 1989
Kaplan, Joel. Judith Brackman-Sharp, Dale Dunning, Camrose Ducote at the Diane Farris Gallery, Vanguard, November 1985
Godley, Elizabeth. Sculpture breaks out of stolid mould at SFU show, The Vancouver Sun, November 24, 1987
Johnson, Eve. Images of birth and rebirth, The Vancouver Sun, Sept. 13, l985
SELECTED PUBLIC AND CORPORATE COLLECTIONS
B.C. Pavilion. Expo 86, Vancouver, B.C.
Canada Council Art Bank
Citibank, Vancouver, B.C.
Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver, B.C.
Delta Hotels, Vancouver, B.C.
Jewish Community Centre, Vancouver, B.C.
Marcorp Development Corporation, Vancouver, B.C.
Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C.
Vancouver Museum, Vancouver, B.C.
Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, B.C.
St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, B.C.
Senvest Collection of New Canadian Art, Montreal, QC
Fairmont Hotel, Montreal, Que.
Douglas Symes and Brissiden, Vancouver, B.C.
Clear Holdings, Calgary, B.C.
Cenovus Energy, Calgary, Alta.
Sid Dickens, Vancouver, B.C.
Westin Hotel, Whistler, B.C.
Broughton Peterson Yang Anderson, Vancouver, B.C.
Innoventure Holdings, Vancouver, B.C.
Star Boetticher Dallas, Vancouver, B.C.
Legacy, Vancouver, B.C.
KBSH Capitol Management
Artist
Price range: $780-$6400
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