Gregg Simpson

"My work is on the border between abstraction and surrealism, formal design and automatism. I begin a work very spontaneously, often with the canvas lying on the ground and soaked with water to make the colors flow. I then proceed to re-draw and mold the shapes, alternately adding and removing layers of paint to reveal imagery. Ultimately, the painting tells me how to resolve the final result, which may, or may not, correspond to anything in nature.

My paintings are usually improvised from the beginning, without a preliminary sketch. Their final form is arrived at through the direct application of paint. while elements of drawing are repeatedly allowed to appear and then are covered over again, until a final result emerges.

A work may evolve into a lyrical, atmospheric work, or one in which formal structures of design suggest the figure, the landscape, or even still life, but are re-interpreted into a purely imaginative realm. In my work, I aim to create a personal, yet universal, world of forms, whose meaning changes with each viewer.

1962: Private studies with Chicago painter, Charles Stegman, West Vancouver
1963: Night courses, Vancouver School of Art
1964: Extension Courses, University of B.C.: Painting (Don Jarvis), Life Drawing (Bruce Boyd), Sculpture (Gerhard Class)
1965: Summer session, Painting (Ron Stonier) Vancouver School of Art
1966-67: Vancouver School of Art - 1st year program with David Mayrs.

2021: A work was included in the book "Surrealism Beyond Borders", Yale University Press, that accompanied the "Surrealism Beyond Borders" exhibition at the Metropolitan Art Museum, New York and Tate Modern, London.
2003: Canada Council Travel Grant for exhibitions in France and Spain.
2001: Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs Grant for exhibitions in Austria, France and Italy
2000: Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs Grant for exhibitions in France and Italy
Made an Academicien Correspondant of the Accademia Internazionale Greci Marino, Accademia del Verbano, Vercelli, Italy
1993: North Shore Arts Commission: Public Art Project, Versatile Shipyard, North Vancouver
1976: Canada Council Short Term Grant for Video
1972: Canada Council Materials Grant: Painting
1971: Canada Council Arts Bursary for Research in Europe
1968: Canada Council Short Term Grant: Painting

2023
Captaloona Gallery, Madrid (solo)
Queen Art Gallery, Padua (solo)
Terra, Galeria Angelica, Rome (group)

2022
Dream Gardens, Gallerie Bredgade 22, Copenhagen (solo)
Dream Gardens, Galerie Azote, Paris (solo)
M.O. Ca Galleria, Rome (solo)
Inside and All Around Me, Carlo D'Orta Gallery, Rome (group)
Vernice, fiera d'arte di Forli, Forli, Italy (art fair)
Floating on the Water, ArteSpazioTempo, Venice (group)
Aniconic, ArteSpazioTempo, Venice (group)

2021
Small Format, Mega Art Gallery, Corchiano, Italy (group)
Arte Padova, Padua, Italy, (art fair)
Un Mondo di Colori, Pocket Art Studio, Rome (group)
Animal House, Valeria Tomasi Studio Gallery, Rivoli, Italy (group)

2020
Group Exhibition, Bellman Galleri, Stockholm, Sweden

2019
Dream Gardens, Salle du Couvent, Seillans, France
100 Años de Surrealismo, Centro Centro Culturel Espacio Matta, Santiago, Chile
Contemporary Summer in Assisi, Assinarte, Assissi, Italy (group)

2018
Shadow Talk, Artifact Gallery, New York (solo)
Lost Worlds,, Adelinda Allegretti Studio/Gallery, Gualdo Tadino, Italy (solo)

2017
The Colour of Dreams, Galeria Arte Borgo, Rome (solo)
The Colour of Dreams, Galerie Metanoia, Paris (solo)

2016
Spring in Rome, Flyer Art Gallery, Rome, Italy (group)
ARS in Milan, Spaziarti art ungallery, Milan, Italy (group)
Racconti di viaggio, Galleria Spazio 40, Rome, Italy (group)
Les Llaves del Deseo, Cameleonart Foundation, San Jose, Costa Rica (international survey show)
A Luz Dos Castelos Evidracados, Collage Exhibition, Figueira da Foz, Portugal (invitational show)

2015
Eye Candy, Loreta Larkina Gallery, Venice, Italy (two person)
Kunst 2015, Berlin (art fair)
Asemic Writing, International Survey Exhibition, The Spiral, Birgu, Malta

2014
Cornucopia (with Rik Lina and John Welson), Llianelli Library, Llianelli, Wales, UK

2013
The Atlantean Years, 1970-1975, Museo Granell, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (solo)
Sentinelles, Espace Kaméléon, Paris (with Guy Ducornet)
The Luminous Dance, Rouges-en-Verts, Normandy (solo)

2012
The Atlantean Years, 1970-1975, Museu Dom Dinis, Estremoz, Portugal
The Atlantean Years, 1970-1975, Museu Regional, Beja, Portugal (solo)
Surrealism 2012, Goggle Art Centre, Reading, PA (international survey show)

2011
Out of the Forest, Evergreen Cultural Centre Gallery, Coquitlam, BC (solo)

2010
Totems Personelles, Espace Kameleon, Paris (solo)
Dream Totems, Colorida Gallery, Lisbon, Portugal (solo)
Coast Art Trust: Momentum, Leighdon Gallery, Vancouver (group)
Cross Connections: Four Decades of Contemporary Art in the Pacific Northwest, University of Victoria Maltwood Gallery, Victoria, BC (regional survey show)

2009: El Umbral Secreto, Museo Salvador Allende, Santiago, also Valparaiso and Talca, Chile (international survey show)
Exposiçäo de Surrealismo actual Illuminaçöes Descontinuas, Lagoa, Portugal (touring international group show)
S.A.M. 2009 Chateau d’Auvers, Auvers-sur-l’Oise, France (art fair)

2008:
O contrário do Olhar, Casa de Cultura, Coimbra, Portugal (international survey show)
West Coast Mediterranean, The Gallery at Artisan Square, Bowen Island, BC (solo)
El Surrealismo como fenómeno colectivo, Museo Granell, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (group)

2007
Group exhibition, Montserrat Gallery, New York , USA
Um Postal Para Mario Cesariny, Museu Vermhelho, Estremoz, Portugal (international invitational show dedicated to the late Portugues artist, Mario Cesariny))

2006
Salzburg Art Fair (with Galeria d’arte Gaudi, Madrid), Salzburg, Austria
Abstractions (with Amy Ernst), Carteret Gallery, Morehead City, North Carolina
Selected Drawings 1976-2006, Seymour Art Gallery, North Vancouver, BC (solo)

2005
West Coast Surreal, Museo Granell, Santiago de Compostela, Spain (group)
Abstractions et Figurations, Château Grimaldi, Cagnes-sur-Mer, France (group)

2004
Contemporary Surrealism, Galeria Zero, Barcelona, Spain
Summer Group exhibition, Art-Domain Gallery, Port Andratx, Mallorca

2003
Euloge du petit format, Christiane Puegeot Cultural Center, Paris (international survey show)
Selected Works 1999-2003, Bfly Atelier, Vancouver, Canada (solo)
Une Nouvelle Arcadie Salle des Artistes, Colomars, France (solo)
Una Nuevo Arcadie, Galeria d’Art Zero, Barcelona, Spain (solo)
Convergency Art-Domain Gallery, Port Andratx, Mallorca, Spain (group)
Abstra, Akros Gallery, Bilbao, Spain (group)

2002
Europ’Art 2002 International Art Fair , Geneva, Switzerland
Inaugural Exhibition, Grupo Batik Art, Salona Barna, Barcelona, Spain (group)

2001
Une Nouvelle Arcadie, Aérport Nice-Côte d’Azur, Nice, France (solo)
Selected Drawings 1978-1999, Galleria Assioma, Prato, Italy (solo)
A New Arcadia, Lichthaus Gallery, Innsbruck, Austria (solo)

2000
Déssins Selectionées 1978-1999, Salle du Couvent, Seillans, France (solo)
A New Arcadia, paintings and pastels, Fortezza di Montalcino, Italy (solo)
Phantoms of Light, digital art/pastels/paintings, Studio 10, Vercelli, Italy (solo)
1999
Continental Drift, Simon Patrich Gallery, Vancouver (group)

1998
Binario Vivo: Ambiente E Creativita Sulla Strada Ferrata, Vercelli, Italy (touring show)
Electrica Mente (digital art), Studio 10, Vercelli, Italy (group)
Maldoror Park, Diversité Surréaliste, Université de Québec, Montréal (international survey)

1997
Selected Artists, Nicholas Joseph Fine Arts, New York, NY, USA (group)

1996
il Cielo Contaminato, Salone Dugentesco, Vercelli and Trento, Italy (group)
Aprés Miro, Bennett Gallery, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC (solo)
Dessin Automatique 1945-95 College Camille Claudel; St.Quay Portrieux
and Plœuc-sur-Lié, Brittany (organized by PHASES, Paris) (international survey show)
Phases of Desire, CASE Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY (group)

1995
Vancouver: 1965-75, Vancouver Art Gallery (group)
Constellations, Surrealism and Its Affinities Carleton University, Ottawa (donation of the collection of Michel P. Christensen)

1993
Lyric Landscapes, Richmond Art Gallery (solo)

1992
Lumière du Jour/Lumière Noir, Galerie Lumière Noir, Montreal/Quebec (group)

1991
Tribal Dynamics Gallery Alpha, West Vancouver (solo)

1986
Open Cages, Melmoth group, Pitt International Gallery, Vancouver (group)
Modern Ghosts, Richmond Art Gallery; Richmond, BC; (solo)
Exposicao Internacional Surrealismo e Pintura Fantástica, Teatro Iberico, Lisbon, Portugal (international survey show)

1985
West Coast Surrealists, Simon Fraser University Gallery, Burnaby, BC (group)

1984
Retrospective: 1972-1984, Art Gallery of Algoma: Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (solo)
New Art Gallery, Toronto (solo)

1982
Recent Works, Galerie Surrealiste, Toronto (solo)
Mixed Media Works, Forest City Gallery, London, Ontario (solo)
Arteder 82, Bilbao, Spain (international survey show)

1981
Associations, Galerie Surrealiste, Toronto (group)

1980
On Canvas, Robson Square Media Centre, Vancouver (regional survey show)
West Coast Surrealists, Gallery Move, Vancouver (solo)

1979
West Coast Surrealists & Paul Wunderlich, Bayard Gallery, Seattle (group)
West Coast Surrealist Group, Hindenberg Gallery, Bethesda, Maryland, USA (group)
WashArt ’79,Washington, D.C. (art fair)
Other Realities: The Legacy of Surrealism in Canadian Art, Agnes Etherington
Art Centre, Kingston, Ontario; Canada House, London, UK; Centre Culturel
Canadien, Paris; -Paperworks: B.C. Government Collection, Centre Culturel
Canadien, Paris; Canada House, London; Can. Cultural Centre, Brussels (national survey show)

1978
Surrealism Unlimited, Camden Arts Centre, London, UK, (international survey show)

1977
From This Point Of View, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver (local survey show)
West Coast Surrealist Group, Gallery Move, North Vancouver

1975
Pacific Rim Consciousness, SFU, Burnaby, BC ; University of Malaysia (group)

1973
Canadian West Coast Hermetics Fine Arts Gallery, UBC; Centree Culturel Canadien, Paris, Ste. Brieuc, Brittany; Canada House, London, UK; Palais des Beaux-Arts, Charleroi, Belgium; McMaster University; McIntosh Gallery, U. Western Ontario; (group)
Claw Series, Galerie Allen, Vancouver (solo)

1972
The Private Patron, Simon Fraser University Gallery, Burnaby (local survey show)
Paintings and Collages, Open Space Gallery, Victoria (solo)

1971
Vancouver School of Collage, Fine Arts Gallery, UBC (local survey show)

1970
Carmen Lamanna Gallery, Toronto, Ontario (group)
Colour Optics: Burnaby Art Gallery (local survey show)

1969
Normal Constants, Simon Fraser University (solo)
Intermedias, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (group)
Focus ’69, Bau-xi Gallery, Vancouver (group)
Three person exhibition, Bau-xi Gallery (with Pierre Coupey and Ron Wattier)

1968
Spectrum ’68 Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver (local survey show)

1967
Mandan Company Presents Western Supplies, Bau-xi Gallery, (group)

Picasso, Max Ernst, Miro, Roberto Matta, Willem deKooning, Jackson Pollock

abstract, surrealist, painter, drawings, modernist, canadian