Charles Bierk

Michael (2013)

Second and third floor seating areas overlooking the Grand Hall.

Kar Yan (2013)

Rita (2013)

Jesse (2013)

At first it's hard to believe these black and white works are not photographs but in fact highly detailed, photorealistic oil paintings. Each of the portraits is rendered in such a way that both the individual personality as well as physical accuracy becomes apparent to the viewer.

Exhibition Information

Nicholas Metivier Gallery is pleased to present its first solo exhibition with Charles Bierk. The exhibition features eleven paintings from Bierk’s Portrait series made over the last year. The exhibition will open on November 13 and will be on view through December 13 with a reception for the artist on Thursday, November 13 from 6– 8 PM.

After studying at OCAD University in Toronto between 2007 and 2011, Charles Bierk has quickly emerged as one of Canada’s most exciting young talents. For the last five years Bierk has painted large-scale portraits of family, friends and acquaintances with astonishing photographic likeness and hyper-realistic detail. Restricting his palette to black and white, Bierk exaggerates contrast and accentuates every line, freckle, hair follicle and other unique characteristics.

In this exhibition, Bierk expands on the frontal perspective used in earlier works. His subjects are painted looking down, to side or from behind, implying a narrative or a particular emotion. The models are all similar in age to Bierk, now 27 years old. Isolating this demographic is an important part of Bierk’s practice - he regards each work as a self-portrait, documenting a specific moment in his subject’s life and consequently his own. Bierk plans to revisit the same subjects in several years to record the passage of time.

Biography

After studying at OCAD University in Toronto between 2007 and 2011, Charles Bierk has quickly emerged as one of Canada’s most exciting young talents. For the last five years Bierk has painted large-scale portraits of family, friends and acquaintances with astonishing photographic likeness and hyper-realistic detail. Restricting his palette to black and white, Bierk exaggerates contrast and accentuates every line, freckle, hair follicle and other unique characteristics.

Most of Bierk’s work is autobiographical, painting his family and close friends. His latest portraits begin with photography, capturing his subjects in a raw and uninhibited gaze. The resulting image is dramatic in its chiaroscuro lighting and frontal composition. Bierk then renders the image on canvas in highly realistic detail.

Exhibition information and biography courtesy of Nicholas Metivier Gallery