SHAW'S LAKE
oil on canvas
20 x 20 in.
unframed
$975

FALL LANDSCAPE IV
oil on canvas
15 x 16 in.
unframed
$780

SELF PORTRAIT
chalk pastel
6.5 x 4.5 in.
$300

Gerard Collins was born in Saint John; and studied art at St. Martin's School of Art (London, Eng.), then at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Halifax, as well as a year at Dusseldorf Staatliche Kunstakademie in Germany, studying with Gerhard Richter.

While attracted to urban centres for brief periods - he has worked and lived in Montreal and Toronto - Saint John has grounded his life and art-making. Groomed at the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design during its conceptual heydays, he focused on painting against the prevailing ideology that proclaimed "painting is dead." Contrary to the trend, Collins persevered to paint, choosing the conventional subjects of portraiture, landscape and still life. Nevertheless, in his interpretation of such common themes in Western art, critics have noted a "neo-conceptual" sensibility in his populist, grab-bag approach in which random fragments of places, objects, scenes, and atmospheres are materialized in seductive paint and color. The resulting images allude to fleeting impressions and memories that are often mixed-up and juxtaposed into captivating relationships of ideas, images and objects that shift meaning over time. The artist is fascinated with the notion of "fake memories" in which the original impetus for an image disappears altogether and attempts to recreate it becomes a question of pure form, rather than concern with content.

Gerard Collins has had numerous exhibitions during the past twenty years. His work can be found in many important collections including The National Gallery of Canada, the New Brunswick Museum, the Beaverbrook Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, University of New Brunswick, Mount St. Vincent University and the Owens Art Gallery. Gerard Collins was the 2001 winner of the prestigious Strathbutler Award.