Doug Fraser doesn’t want you to think your memory is playing tricks with you. When you check out his new show at the VASA Studio and Gallery on Perron Street, there’s a good chance that you’ll feel like you’ve seen it before.
That’s probably why the show is called DĂ©jÄ‚Â vu, except it isn’t the most appropriate title. After all, there’s still a fair selection of brand new paintings. Either way, it still draws the masses in, even if things did start off a bit slow on opening night Thursday.
The resident member of the Visual Arts Studio Association knows how to stand out of the crowd with his thought-provoking works. He has come to explore spirituality, the meaning of life and other philosophical concepts in ways that don’t always make sense at first glance, but he includes his three-line poems to help shed a little light.
Looking at Adam’s Desire – a picture of a man reaching up with one arm, apple in hand but no tree in sight – one wonders what the artist is trying to say or show. It all started with his visit to the Devonian Botanic Garden with a few friends who started to help themselves to the fruit on the trees.
He writes: “Today, it makes no difference. The Tree is gone and I am clothed — I still pluck fruit!”
“I like to paint metaphoric stuff,” he explained about the seemingly Biblical interpretation and musing on human nature. “I thought this is modern day and this could be any one of us. The idea is that even today, we still pick fruit and are still tempted by certain ideas, certain things.”
This 12-piece exhibition doesn’t stick to any one theme or concept. There are pure landscapes, some abstracts, one that’s really just a bubble on a black background, plus the artist’s new figurative pieces. He has a great sense of colour and demonstrates really good balance and composition.
VASA founding member Pat Wagensveld really likes where Fraser is going with his work.
“He’s seriously studying the figure,” she remarked. “I think it’s a good direction.”
Where he excels is in his symbolic images. Exiting the Tattooed Bunker shows a very transparent woman and man standing at the entrance of a barren concrete structure, graffiti on the walls (representing business, religion and government) and sunlight streaming down the staircase in front of them. It represents psychological transition and change, he said. It’s the kind of image that leaves you standing there wondering and pondering.
It also shows the direction in which the artist is developing a strong voice. The future, like the staircase in the image, looks bright.
“Doug was busy all evening talking about his work which is always nice,” Wagensveld stated, obviously pleased.
The show runs until Aug. 27. The VASA Studio and Gallery is located at 11 Perron Street. Call 780-460-5993 or visit www.vasa.ca for more information.
To learn more about the artist, visit www.douglasfraser.ca.
