"Angela Leach: Shimmy"
2003-10-18 until 2003-11-23
Cambridge Galleries
Cambridge, ON, CA Canada

Since 1992, Toronto artist Angela Leach has been working on a project entitled Abstract Repeat – a series of acrylic paintings which investigate the optical and spatial transformation of the picture plane by using repetition in combination with colour and line. Random order is used to create a vibrating optical effect, while colour repeated at regular intervals creates the appearance of three-dimensional space.

Leach's meticulously crafted and visually magnetic paintings have been credited with single-handedly revitalizing Op Art, and comparisons have been made to the British painter Bridget Riley. Yet, Leach's work has developed less from the influence Op Art than from her own experience and according to her process's own internal logic. A significant influence is her background as a weaver, where the skilful application of the intersections of the warp and the weft, and the sympathetic knowledge of colour and tone, are part of the search to create an interesting and shimmering bolt of cloth.

In the Fall of 2001, Leach began a series of large scale paintings for this exhibition. Each of her new canvases measure over 6 feet square.  She has also produced a diptych measuring 78 x 156 inches.  People familiar with her work will understand the exciting implications of this development. The illusions created by her repeated and overlapping patterns of shifting colour and tone have transformed from being a purely optical experience to becoming a physical one. Leach's scaled up optical illusions will create a vibrating and intensely alive environment of the 1900 square foot Queen's Square gallery.

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