• Exploring the word as image and the image as word, Graham Gillmore’s work balances between treacherous antipodes: pathos and wit, defiance and charm, and more basically, the anguish of experience and the rapture of its aesthetic expression. The twisting knife of a smartass remark, the threatening anonymity of a clinical evaluation, and the famous-last-words potential of pillow talk are articulated in his oeuvre with a chromaticism their ruthlessness seems to beg. Employing puns and punch lines both lewd and mawkish, and referencing cliches, board games, rebuses, barroom banter, and graffiti, his paintings are by subtle turns playful, earnest, and caustic. At times surrounded by bubbles that are interlinked via intestinal networks of lines, the letters and syllables he depicts take on lives of their own, as though reverberating in the mind suggestively, or suspiciously, connoting an overwhelming variety of possible meanings that appear to jostle for recognition. Expressive of a charged synthesis between distinct types of mark- letter and stroke- his works appear as the visual equivalents of utterances, whether poignant or pointed… or of how we receive and interpret these. Many paintings seem to emphasize tone ( as it denotes both voice and color ), implying at once the intensity of the experience a given message or phrase insinuates, and the private stamina required to endure its meaning on the one hand, or its ambiguity on the other. Thus while rage, disgust and disillusionment seem to propel it, his art is also tempered by a humor that is all the more expansive, even forgiving for this, and which acts as the grace note essential to beauty.

    Visually, Gillmore’s paintings vacillate between a sleek neon intensity bordering on the lurid, and a bumbling home spun quality recalling a troubled adolescent’s secret notebook. At times broadcasting the artificial vibrancy of candy or cosmetics, his palette suggests how the moth might see the flame. The quasi-confessional quality of certain paintings, meanwhile, intimates any urban sophisticate’s biography, suggesting the universality of both our humiliations and our kneejerk laughter at those of others. With that intinctual excoriation turned on himself, it appears that the artist achieves a pervasive sympathy with the human quandary, one that in its lacerating irony is all the more sincere.

    -Thomas Breidenbach

    Gillmore lived in New York for over 25 years and has positioned himself internationally. His reputation extends across Canada, the United States and in Europe with recent exhibitions held in Toronto, Vancouver, Mexico City, San Francisco, New York, Miami Beach, Madrid and Berlin. Earlier exhibitions include “Learn to Read” at the TATE Modern alongside John Baldessari and Carol Bove. His work is collected by the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Audain Art Museum, British Columbia, the Ghent Museum, Belgium, Gian Enzo Sperone, Rome, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Toronto, RCA Records, New York, The Royal Bank of Canada, The Bank of Montreal, The Vancouver Art Gallery, and numerous other institutions and private collections worldwide. He has been featured in publications such as Canadian Art, Border Crossings, W Magazine, Art News, ArtForum, L.A. Weekly, C Magazine, and the New York Times Magazine.

     

  • Selected Solo Exhibitions

    2022 - Arts Umbrella Splash 2022 Auction, Vancouver BC

    2022 - Unfounded Objects, Monte Clark, Vancouver BC

    2021 - 2022 - Oceanica, General Hardware Contemporary, Toronto ON

    2021 - The End of Eloquence, General Hardware Contemporary, Toronto ON

    2018 - Selfless Help Books, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    2016 - Mastery of Life, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    2014 - Great Expectations, Division Gallery, Toronto ON

    2013 - Lov Sic, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    2013 - Sketch Book Drawings: A Twenty Year Survey, Fred Dorfman Projects, New York NY

    2013 - I Love You, In Theory, Touchstone Nelson Museum of Art and History, Nelson BC

    2013 - Submersions, Gallery 16, San Francisco CA

    2012 - Willing to Learn, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    2011 - Expectations, Monte Clark Gallery, Toronto ON

    2011 - La practica de la textulldad, Galeria OMR, Mexico City

    2010 - The Winner Often Wept and was Kissed by the Loser, Galeria OMR, Mexico City

    2010 - So The Band Broke Up and it Looks Like We Will Never Play Again, Monte Clark Gallery, Toronto ON

    2009 - Refusalon, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    2009 - Drop Dead, Gorgeous, Mike Weiss Gallery, New York NY

    2008 - Galería Fúcares, Madrid

    2007 - Cattleships and Bruisers, Vanina Holasek Gallery, New York NY

    2007 - It’s Over You Win, Kevin Bruk Gallery, Miami Beach FL

    2007 - Monte Clark Gallery,Toronto ON

    2006 - Misguided by Invoices, Pierogi, Leitzig Germany

    2006 - Galeria OMR, Mexico City

    2006 - Galeria Cardi, Milan IT

    2006 - Kidder Smith, Boston MA

    2006 - Linc Art, San Francisco CA

    2005 - Winlaw / The Lost Works, Monte Clark Gallery, Toronto ON

    2004 - Ploy, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    2004 - Sperone, Rome IT

    2003 - Monte Clark Gallery,Toronto ON

    2003 - ConTEMPorary, New York NY

    2003 - LINCREALART,San Fran, CA

    2003 - Kidder Smith, Boston MA

    2003 - Galeria OMR, Mexico City

    2002 - One Hundred Aker Woody, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    2002 - Galería Fúcares, Madrid

    2002 - Mary Boone Gallery,New York NY

    2001 - Galeria Cardi, Milan

    2001 - Dogen Haus, Leipsig Germany

    2000 - Nicolo Sprovieri, London UK

    1999 - Not Finished, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    1999 - Finishes I’ve Never Booked, Linda Kirkland Gallery, New York NY

    1998 - My Influenza, Gian Enzo Sperone Gallery, Rome, Italy

    1998 - Growth Stunts, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    1998 - Paintings, Linda Kirkland Gallery, New York NY

    1996 - Hi Infidelity, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    1995 - You Ruined Me With Your Experiments, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    1994 - Spleen, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    1994 - Breeders, White Columns Gallery, New York NY

    Selected Group Exhibitions

    2019 - Basel Miami Art Fair, Pierogi Gallery, Miami FL

    2019 - Armory Art Fair,Pierogi Gallery, New York, NY

    2018 - Untitled Art Fair, Pierogi Gallery, Miami Beach, FL

    2014 - Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    2014 - Out of Sight: New Acquisitions, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver BC

    2014 - TOWER, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    2014 - Homecoming, Division Gallery, Toronto ON

    2014 - Group show, Jochen Hempel Gallery, Leipzig

    2014 - Pierogi XX: Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition, Pierogi Brooklyn NY

    2013 - Joe Amrhein, Reed Anderson, Graham Gillmore, Ati Mair, Jochen Hempel Gallery, Berlin

    2013 - Shape Shifter, Division Gallery, Toronto ON

    2013 - The Myth of the Given, Ashok Jain Gallery, New York NY

    2013 - The Painting Project, A Shapshot of Painting in Canada, Galerie l’QAM, University of Quebec, Montreal QC

    2012 - 20 YEARS, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    2012 - Text as Image, Senior & Shopmaker Gallery, New York NY

    2011 - Shore, Forest and Beyond, Art from the Audain Collection,Vancouver Art Gallery BC

    2010 - Six Degrees of Separation: A New Generation of Canadian Artists, Claire Oliver Gallery, NY

    2010 - Reality Check, Monte Clark Gallery, Toronto ON

    2010 - PASTED, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    2009 - Assembly, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver, BC

    2009 - Clark & Faria Presents:, Clark & Faria, Toronto ON

    2008 - Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection Museum of Modern Art, New York NY

    2007 - Learn to Read, Tate Modern, London, England

    2006 - Painting Show, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    2003 - Futura Bold, Vancouver BC

    2003 - Perogi, Brooklyn NY

    2003 - Baechler-Colson-Gillmore, Galeria Cardi, Milan

    2001 - Galería Fúcares, Almagro Spain

    2001 - Ironical Instinct, Galleria Cardi, Milan Italy

    2001 - Arte Americana, Ultimo Decennio, Ravenna Italy

    2001 - Da Warhol 2000 – 35 Anni di Mostre fra Europa e America, Gian Enzo Sperone, Torino, Italy

    2001 - New Words, Sprovieri Gallery, London, England

    2000 - Full Serve, Kenny Schachter/Rove, New York NY

    2000 - Pink, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco CA

    1998 - Cinco Continentas a Una Ciudad, International Salon of Painting, Mexico City

    1998 - Tongues and Ashes, Kitchener-Waterloo Gallery, Kitchener ON

    1998 - Les Peintures, Galerie René Blouin / Galerie Lilian Rodriguez, Montreal, QC

    1998 - Futura Bold, Diane Farris Gallery, Vancouver BC

    1998 - The High Life, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    1998 - Refusalon Gallery, San Francisco CA

    1998 - Whose Words, Dorsky Gallery, New York, NY (curated by Debra Bricker Balken)

    1998 - Cambio, New York, Sandra Gering Gallery, New York NY (curated by Kenny Schachter)

    1998 - Cambio, Mexico City, OMR Gallery, Mexico City

    1998 - Pop Surrealism, The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Aldrich CT

    1998 - South Carolina Museum

    1998 - Adopt A Highway, Dogenhaus Gallerie, Leipsig Germany

    1998 - Group Show, Pari Nadimi Gallery, Toronto ON

    1998 - Group Show, Catherine Clark Gallery, San Francisco CA

    1997 - Greg Kucera Gallery, Seattle WA

    1997 - Lombard Fried Gallery, New York NY (curated by Kenny Schachter)

    1997 - Below the Border / Above the Border, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco CA

    1997 - Canadian Artists in the Big Apple, New York NY (curated by Glen Cumming)

    1996 - Sex, Drugs and Explosives, London ArtForms, London England (curated by Kenny Schachter)

    1996 - Temps Perdu, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    1996 - Taking Stock, 25 Broad Street New York NY (curated by Kenny Schachter)

    1996 - Lombard Fried Gallery, New York NY (curated by Kenny Schachter)

    1996 - Facing the Millennium; The Song Remains The Same, Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington TX (curated by Kenny Schachter)

    1996 - X – Sightings, Anderson Gallery, Buffalo NY

    1996 - Field Days, Cerulean Embankments, Geoffery Young Gallery, Great Barrington MA

    1996 - Refusalon Gallery, San Francisco CA (curated by B. Geoffery Young)

    1995 - The Beauty Salon, Barbara Braathen Gallery, New York NY

    1995 - OY!, 121 Greene Street, New York NY (curated by Kenny Schachter)

    1995 - Group Show, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    1995 - Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington MA

    1995 - Way Cool, Exit Art/The First World, New York NY

    1995 - High Anxiety, New York NY (curated by Kenny Schachter)

    1995 - Group Show, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver BC

    1995 - High Anxiety, 66 Crosby St., New York NY (curated by Kenny Schachter)

    1995 - David Greenberg and Diego Cortez Present…, Taste Venue, New York NY

    1994 - Update, White Columns Gallery, New York NY

    1994 - The Entropy Show, 510 Gallery, New York NY

    1994 - Group Show, Pat Hearn Gallery, New York NY

    1994 - Group Show, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Barrington MA

    1993 - For Sale, Flamingo East, New York NY

    1993 - Urban Analysis, Barbara Braathen Gallery, New York NY

    1992 - Soup to Nuts; Popart, its legacy in the age of consumption, Works Festival, Alberta College of Art, Edmonton AB

    1991 - Lyrical Uses of Beauty, White Columns Gallery, New York NY

    1990 - Art LA/90, (Diane Farris Gallery), Los Angeles CA

    1990 - Artropolis ‘90, The Roundhouse, Vancouvers BC

    1990 - Group Show, Bess Cutler Gallery, New York NY

    1989 - Phrenology, The Art Gallery, New York NY

    1989 - Gillmore, Grossman, Root, 49th. Parallel, New York NY

    1989 - 4th International Triennial of Drawing, Kunsthalle, Nuremberg, West Germany

    1988 - London Life Young Contemporaries, London Regional Art Gallery, London ON (toured nationally throughout 1988)

    1987 - Art Cologne 87, (Diane Farris Gallery), Cologne, West Germany

    1987 - Vancouver Painters, Paul Kuhn Fine Arts, Calgary AB

    1986 - West Coast Painting: New Directions, Canada House, London, England

    1986 - Four Vancouver Young Romantic Painters, Canadian Cultural Centre, Paris, France

    1986 - Vancouver Now, Walter Phillips Gallery Banff V / London Regional Gallery, London ON / The Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg MB

    1986 - Gillmore, Root, Totino, Diane Farris Gallery, Vancouver BC

    1985 - The Young Romantics, Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver BC

    1985 - Canadian Painters, Thomas Barry Fine Arts, Minneapolis, MN

    1985 - Drawing Show, Pitt International Galleries, Vancouver BC

    1985 - Futura Bold, Pitt International Galleries, Vancouver BC

    1984 - Warehouse Show,Vancouver BC

  • Selected Bibliography

    2017 — Meet our Artists, Audain Art Museum, September 2 2017 (talk)

    2014 — Moe, Karen. “Excavations, A Feminist Resistance Artist Dialogues with

    Graham Gillmore’s Lov Sic” Border Crossings Magazine, Vol 33 no 4 December

    2012 — Corsano, Ortino. “Graham Gillmore” ArtUS

    2011 — Rhodes, Richard. “Family Matters” Canadian Art Online, August

    2010 — Wiener, Mike and DiGusta, Linda. “The Commonwealth Strikes Back – New

    Canadian Art in Chelsea” The Huffington Post, October 14

    2009 — Canadian Art Online, “Graham Gillmore: Rejection Letters Redux”

    September

    2007 — Graham Gillmore, with text by Douglas Coupland, Monte Clark Gallery

    2004 — Breidenbach, Tom. “Graham Gillmore: Review of Kenny Schachter

    ConTEMPorary show” Artforum, February

    2004 — Henderson, Lee. “Gillmore’s Ploy Tremendous” The Vancouver Sun, March

    10

    2003 — Adler, Dan. “Graham Gillmore” Artforum, March pg. 371

    2003 — Balzer, David. “Language Arts” Eye.net, November

    2003 — Henderson, Lee. “Gut Instinct” Toro Magazine, Winter

    2003 — Henderson, Lee. “Graham Gillmore” Contemporary Magazine, No. 58

    2003 — Dault, Gary Michael. “Seduced by Gillmore’s Cheeky Word-Paintings” The

    Globe & Mail, November

    2003 — Osbourne, Catherine. “Mars – Venus Painting” The National Post,

    December 13

    2000 — Turner, Grady. “Beautiful Dreamers, Emerging American Painters, Circa

    2000” Flash Art, January / February

    1999 — “Gillmore’s ideas evolve in works that are never really finished” The

    Vancouver Sun, April 19

    1998 — Pincione, Tomasso. “My Influenza”, exhibition catalogue, Gian Enzo

    Sperone Gallery, Rome IT

    1998 — Balken, Debra Bricker. “Graham Gillmore and Kenneth Goldsmith: Whose

    Words?” exhibition catalogue, Dorsky Gallery, New York NY

    1998 — MacKay, Gillian. “Graham Gillmore, Carter Kuster and Medrie MacPhee at

    Pari Nadimi Gallery” The Globe and Mail, March 14

    1998 — Klein, Richard. “The Popular Corpse: A Brief History” Pop Surrealism,

    exhibition catalogue, The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Aldrich, CT

    1997 — Laurence, Robin. “Deep Down Under”, Canadian Art, Winter

    1997 — Rosenberg, Ann and Maria Porges. Below the Border / Above the Border,

    exhibition catalogue, Monte Clark Gallery, Vancouver; Catherine Clark Gallery, San

    Francisco

    1996 — Barrett, David. “Sex and Drugs and Explosives” Art Monthly

    1996 — Thomas, Katrin. “The Do-It-Yourself Dealers” The New York Times

    Magazine, September 1

    1996 — Gustafson, Paula. “Painter Exploits Texts and Tension” The Georgia

    Straight, December 28

    1995 — Frank, Peter. “L.A. International: Canadian and French Artists”, L.A. Weekly,

    August 18

    1995 — Absolut L.A. International Biennial Invitational, exhibition catalogue, Monte

    Clark Gallery, Los Angeles, pp. 69

    1995 — “Spleen”, Parachute, Issue 77

    1995 — Scott, Michael. “Paint By Letter” The Vancouver Sun, December 21

    1995 — Paris Review, Illustration, Summer, 135

    1995 — “Manhattan galleries vie for work of young artist” The Vancouver Sun,

    November 16

    1991 — Rosenberg, Ann, “Saturday Review” The Vancouver Sun, June 1

    1988 — Grace, Sherrill. “Painting on the Edge, 1987” American Book Review, Spring

    1987 — Godfrey, Stephen. “Hits and Misses on the West Coast Scene” The Globe

    and Mail, April 18

    1987 — Godfrey, Elizabeth. The Vancouver Sun, February

    1987 — “Drawings” The Vancouver Sun, February

    1986 — Thomas, Gilda. “Four Young Painters of Vancouver” Vie Des Arts,

    December

    1986 — Canada Today, “New Era of Painting on Show at Canada House”

    November, No. 13

    1985 — “Review of The Young Romantics” The Globe and Mail, August

    1985 — Watson, Scott. “Flesh and Void” C Magazine, Spring

    1985 — Templeman-Kluit, Anne. “The Young Romantics” Vancouver Magazine,

    June

    1985 — Johnson, Eve. “Painting Wild and Noisy” The Vancouver Sun, December 13