‘Jagged Brutal Picturesque’ was a solo show of paintings and drawings by Toronto-based artist and landscape architect Camille Kauffman. It took place in August 2019 at independent art space 36 Claremont.
Camille Kauffman (Toronto b. 1994) has made a habit of creating highly emotive scenes using commonplace materials. Notebook pages, A4 paper, wooden boards and other scraps are all typical sites for her paintings and drawings which can often give her work a deceptive air of insignificance. However, despite their modest appearance with many drawings having frayed edges, rips and dents, her images manage to exude an energy and magnetism that compels us to spend time with them.
The strangeness of the work is its most powerful endowment. Caught between whimsical and foreboding Kauffman’s scenes churn with unease and one cannot help but speculate about her world of creatures. Some stare ahead with vacant eyes while others converse amongst themselves, meanwhile vast and roving landscapes spill out beyond their paper confines alluding to an entire world we cannot see. Jagged, Brutal Picturesque seeks to call attention to the capacity of humble works of art for conveying significant feeling through their objecthood as well as their content.
The strangeness of the work is its most powerful endowment. Caught between whimsical and foreboding Kauffman’s scenes churn with unease and one cannot help but speculate about her world of creatures. Some stare ahead with vacant eyes while others converse amongst themselves, meanwhile vast and roving landscapes spill out beyond their paper confines alluding to an entire world we cannot see. Jagged, Brutal Picturesque seeks to call attention to the capacity of humble works of art for conveying significant feeling through their objecthood as well as their content.
