Calgary painter Gary Ripley, who grew up in the Okanagan, opened a solo exhibition of his work on Saturday, April 27 at The Art Gallery Osoyoos (TAGO). There was a “soft opening” earlier in the week.
Most, but not all, Ripley’s paintings are large-sized watercolours, semi-abstract, and include still lifes and landscapes. There are a couple of oil paintings and a few smaller watercolours.
The show, titled Within & Without, runs until June 8, 2024.
The opening coincided with the ending of the previous show of work by the Osoyoos Photography Club and Artists On Main, which was held at the Okanagan Gallery, due to the temporary closure of TAGO. Asbestos remediation work is now complete at TAGO and Ripley’s exhibition is the first since TAGO reopened.
A graduate of Southern Okanagan Secondary School (SOSS) in Oliver, Ripley attended the Alberta College of Art in Calgary. He ended up teaching there for four years after attending classes in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico on a scholarship.
He then spent 25 years in the motion picture business as “Head Painter” and similar roles painting sceneries for some major films and several theatrical productions.
He now works on his own painting, which covers a range of techniques beyond the ones displayed in Osoyoos.
“My over-arching objective is to get ‘out of the box creatively speaking, and not define myself as working with only one particular form or medium,” he writes in his artist statement. “I have studied the techniques of the old masters, and often with my own paints, mediums, varnishes, glues and emulsions.”
The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
It is located at 8713 Main St. in Osoyoos, B.C., just west of Town Hall.
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Gary Ripley
