Made in America / Thomas Nozkowski @ National Gallery of Canada

Discover the work of one of the greatest abstract painters of his time
At the National Gallery of Canada

Thomas Nozkowski (b. 1944, Teaneck, New Jersey)

The most important retrospective exhibition ever devoted to New York artist Thomas Nozkowski recently opened at the National Gallery of Canada. Until September 20, some 60 works painted since 1980 by the internationally renowned artist will be on view in the Gallery’s Contemporary Art galleries. Although Nozkowski’s art career spans four decades, this is his first exhibition in Canada. One of the greatest and most influential artists of his generation, he has made a significant contribution to the field of abstract painting.

Thomas Nozkowski is the first exhibition organized at the National Gallery of Canada by the Gallery’s new director, Marc Mayer, since he arrived in January 2009. “He is daring, pushes his work to the limit, and reinvents himself in each painting. He is a true revolutionary,” Mayer commented.

Nozkowski’s work is distinct from that of his contemporaries in a number of ways, including the small size of his canvases – most measure 40.6 × 50.8 cm; and the diversity of his subjects – each painting is created in a unique style, and repetition from one image to another is avoided, although his format remains constant – small and horizontal. "Nozkowski’s imagination appears encyclopaedic," said Marc Mayer. "His pictures are eloquent and articulate, full of humour and pathos and close observation of things half remembered or entirely imagined."

Meet the curator, Marc Mayer
The director of the National Gallery of Canada and curator of the exhibition Thomas Nozkowski will talk about the exhibition on Friday, 26 June, at 12:15 pm in English and at 2 pm in French. Included with Gallery admission.

Catalogue
A bilingual catalogue accompanies the exhibition Thomas Nozkowski. Co-written by Marc Mayer, director of the NGC and curator of the exhibition, and Robert Storr, dean of the Yale University School of Art (New Haven, Connecticut), the 184-page book includes 70 colour illustrations. Hardcover. On sale at the NGC Bookstore for $60 (plus taxes) and at www.ShopNGC.ca, the Gallery’s online boutique.

To find out more about the artist and the exhibition, visit www.gallery.ca/nozkowski.