Biography of
Paul Chester
Inspired by the horizons, water scenes, and rolling hills that surround his studio in southeastern Ontario, the contemporary landscapes of Paul Chester are in the tradition of Canada’s impressionists, though tempered by a modern sensibility.
The fleeting, translucent vision demonstrates Chester’s extraordinary relationship with nature. His paintings are hazy, almost dream-like as if they are dug-up afterthoughts of emotion.
With oil as his primary medium, Chester builds the surfaces of his wood panels and canvases with many layers of paint and glazes. The physicality in treating these canvases is closely connected to Chester’s sculptural experience and sustained relationship with his natural surroundings. Lines are often scratched and carved into the paint, exposing the ground beneath.
The luminosity that highlights the individual landscapes is the essential element that threads Chester’s works together. His paintings are not individually derived from specific locations but are rather suggested fragments of recollection, glimpses of memory. Chester notes, “The subjects of my oil paintings are restful places and retreats found in the natural landscape – country fields, flowers, forests, horizons, clouds and waterscapes. These impressions are painted from memory and the experience of that moment – they are my visual diaries; peaceful mementos celebrating beauty.”
He has had 37 Solo Exhibitions and over 45 Group Shows across Canada, the United States and London, England and is currently represented by 8 galleries.
CREDENTIALS:
RESIDES: Northeast of Toronto.
AWARDS & HONORS:
2017 Leadership in Arts and Culture in Peterborough County
1991 Best Sculpture: The Station Gallery, Whitby, Ontario.
1990 Loomis and Toles Award: Best Sculpture, Scarborough, Ontario.
1989 Best Sculpture: The Station Gallery, Whitby, Ontario.
EDUCATION & ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
1990/92 OCAD (Advanced Standing – 4yr. degree program)
Ontario College of Art, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
1982 Academy St. Roch, Paris, France.
1981/82 Arts Sake, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Member of the Society of Canadian Artists. (Life Member)
SOLO SHOWS & EXHIBITIONS:
2021 The Art Shop, The Palette of Fall, Lakefield, ON
2018 Art Gallery Of Bancroft, Landscape Reflections, Bancroft, ON
2016 Wallack Galleries, Landscape Poetry: Between the Real and Imagined , Ottawa, ON,
2011 Wallack Galleries, The Luminous Landscape, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
2010 Russell Gallery, Rural Paths, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Newbury Fine Arts, The Ephemeral Realm, Boston, MA
2009 Gallery Gevik, Miles Away, Toronto, Canada.
2008 The Russell Gallery, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Galerie le Royer, Montreal, Canada
2006 The Russell Gallery Of Fine Art, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Argyle Fine Art, Halifax, Nova Scotia
2005 Gallery Gevik, ‘Return’, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2004 The Russell Gallery,’ Rural Impressions’, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
West End Gallery, ‘Corina’s Garden’, Victoria, BC
Galerie Le Royer, Montreal, Quebec
2003 West End Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta…’ Seasons’
The Art Gallery Of Peterborough, ‘Beyond The Natural Landscape’ Peterborough, Ontario,
Canada.
Teodora Art Gallery, ‘Landscape Passages’, Toronto, Ontario, Canada…
2002 The Russell Gallery Of Fine Art, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Art and Soul Gallery, Pickering, Ontario, Canada
2001 Teodora Art Gallery, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
West End Gallery, Victoria, B.C., Canada
2000 The Russell Gallery Of Fine Art, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
JURIED AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS:
2023 Gallery Gevik, Highlands and Lowlands, Toronto.
Petroff Gallery, Expressive Landscapes, Toronto.
2022 Colborne Street Gallery, Year of the Garden, Fenelon Falls ON
2021 Petroff Gallery, Small painting group show, Toronto, ON
2020 Colborne Street Gallery, Close and Far, Fenelon Falls ON
Gallery Gevik, Painted Land, Toronto, ON
2010-2019 Gallery Gevik, Living in the Landscape, Toronto, ON
Colborne Street Gallery, Fenelon Falls ON, The Art Shop, Lakefield, ON
Gallery on the Lake, Buckhorn ON, Arts On Queen, Toronto, Wallack Galleries, Ottawa,
Kingston Glass Studio and Gallery, Kingston ON, Christensen Fine Art, Peterborough,
ON, Meta 4 Gallery, Port Perry and Peterborough, ON Frame of Mind, Toronto, ON
2012 Christensen Fine Art, New Paintings, Peterborough, ON. Canada
2010/11 Gallery Gevik, Autumn Landscapes, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Wallack Galleries, December Choice Exhibition, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
SCA Integration Show, Art Gallery Of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
2002-2009 The Russell Gallery, Peterborough, ON
Chameleon Nation, Kingston, ON. Canada
Wallack Galleries, Ottawa
Meta 4 Gallery, Port Perry, On
Newbury Fine Arts, Boston, MA USA
Argyle Fine Art, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Gallery Gevik, Toronto, Canada
Wynne/Falconer Gallery, Chatham, MA USA
The Whistler Art Galleries, Whistler, B.C. Canada
Galerie Le Royer, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Rendez-vous Art Gallery, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
2001 Opening Night Gallery, Minneapolis, MN, U.S.A.
2000 Trinity Galleries, St. John, New Brunswick, Canada
CATALOGUES, REVIEWS & PUBLICATIONS:
2019 The Artists Of Kawartha, Book.
2017 The Link, The Human Relationship with Nature, by Janet Jarrell
2010 Exhibition Catalogue, Newbury Fine Arts, Boston, MA
2005 Return, Exhibition Catalogue, Gallery Gevik, Toronto, Canada.
2003 Beyond The Natural Landscape, The Art Gallery Of Peterborough, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada.
2002 Parcours, L’Informateur des arts, Autumn Issue, Vol. 8, # 3
Peterborough Examiner, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, Sept. 12/02
2001/02 Recent Paintings (Catalogue Brochure)
1998 Luminous Skies: Recent Paintings by Paul Chester (Catalogue)
Peterborough Examiner, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, August/98
1996 Magazin’ Art, Fall Issue, Charting the Land: Recent Paintings by Paul Chester(Catalogue)