Windsor artist Adele Duck accents abstract art
By Josh Kolm
Lance Writer
March 10, 2010
 Adèle Duck is a painter from Windsor whose work has been shown in the city, across the country, and around the world. After 20 years without an exhibit devoted entirely to her work, Duck brings representations of where she is currently at in her career with a self-titled show at the Art Gallery of Windsor.
The paintings exhibited are representations of the work Duck has done over the last four years. Done mostly in acrylic paint (there are a couple oils in the bunch) on paper, the most common observation about Duck’s recent art is the way in which defined shapes are played with in the abstract environment. She seems to revel in accenting every abstract burst with an intrusion of stripes and scratches of Xs and ovals into the paint.
The selections from the “Night Studios” series exemplify this pretty well. Deeply saturated and heavily shaded clouds containing the aforementioned scratches and stripes overpower the lighter coloured areas.
Contrast those pieces with the five-panel “Series 5,” which is very similar in its use of abstract washes and lines, but with much brighter, softer colours.
“Silhouette I” features a relatively more distinct figure, with a female body holding the centre of the picture. Paired with the colours—various dark shades of red—the painting sticks out from the others, but still features exploration of linear shapes in an abstract setting.
Duck’s work is displayed with selections from the work of other artists such as Paterson Ewen, Tom Burrows, Regan Morris, and Graham Coughtry. The works may not seem immediately similar to Duck’s paintings, but the ways that they complement the exhibit are best explained by the artist herself.
“I have chosen works that are big and bold. I respond to the sense of being engulfed or pushed away, which is often achieved through a grand scale,” Duck says in a statement accompanying the exhibit. Without it, it would be hard to see the relevance of the other paintings. They are abstracts, but utilize various forms and a different set of colours. “My choices possess the element of sustained gesture, giving a sense of oneness, or a comprehensive exploration of media and process.”
Hearing Duck talk about the other artists’ work in relation to the self compels one to think about her paintings in the same way. It’s a simple observation that is elementary when analyzing art, but one that is easy to lose sight of when caught up in the praise of Duck’s style. The conflict between different aspects is more than merely interesting—it creates meaning.
Distinct and familiar forms that are recognizable within the overpowering fields of paint. Opposition of colours on either end of the scales of saturation and shade. They create the feeling of constant chaos in order, of being overpowered but still present.
The same way her cohorts in this exhibit express being overwhelmed through scale, Duck conveys through her much-lauded over juxtaposition of form and colour
Adèle Duck’s eponymous exhibit runs until May 9 at the Art Gallery of Windsor. More information and gallery hours can be found at the AGW’s website, www.artgalleryofwindsor.com.
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