Chilliwack – The Chilliwack Visual Artist’s Association presents their next group show, Light and Shadow, to be held from March 12 to April 12 at the O’Connor Group Art Gallery, Chilliwack.
Artists throughout history have been fascinated with the play of light and shadow and the imagery implied by each. Renaissance artists such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci developed the style of chiaroscuro which used high contrast light and dark tones in their work. In the 17th century Rembrandt elevated the use of chiaroscuro to dramatic effect as did other artists including many contemporary artists today.
The language of chiaroscuro translates to both representative and abstract art.
The theme, Light and Shadow, also lends itself to wide interpretation
creatively. Light and dark can represent good and evil, day and night, Paradise vs the Underworld, a healthy mind vs mental illness.
The psychologist Carl Jung theorized that the mind can be divided into sections that include the healthy Ego ( the light) and a section of repressed unconscious thoughts and actions, called the Shadow. He believed that uncovering and working on this shadowy section of the personal psyche was beneficial to mental health.
