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DIL HILDEBRAND 10 YEAR SURVEY

April 19 - May 28, 2022 Introductory Essay by Tatum Dooley

M I C H A E L G I B S O N G A L L E RY

Gallery Installation View

e first became aware of Dil Hildebrand’s artwork in 2006 when he won the RBC

National Painting Competition. As both owners and fans of his work since that time, we have watched with admiration how his abstraction has constantly developed and evolved over the years. We knew that a survey exhibition beginning in 2011 through to 2020 would be the best way to introduce our clients to Hildebrand’s painting. This is the first time such an exhibition has been curated. Regardless of the date or particular series, what is consistent in Hildebrand’s painting is a constant searching for something new to express within his unique visual language. Through the paintings he creates physical spaces that invite us to step into, seducing us with colours and layering structures that unfold as we explore each work. From the visual complexity of each painting we can imagine Hildebrand intervening and reacting to the images that emerge - scraping, layering, weaving, adding and subtracting - creating surfaces and spaces that evoke stage sets, city architecture and complex buildings. The illusions are effective and the paintings adventuresome, a perceptual place for us to delight in. Thank you to Pierre-Francois Ouellette art contemporain and to Dil Hildebrand for collaborating with us for this exhibit and to Tatum Dooley for her insightful introductory essay. To show the development of Hildebrand’s abstraction, this catalogue is organized chronologically, beginning in 2011. Michael Gibson Gallery

Towering Formation, Acrylic on canvas, 2013, 76 x 58 1/4 in.

Introductory Essay by Tatum Dooley

il Hildebrand’s paintings from the last ten years, on view at Michael Gibson Gallery

as part of a survey exhibition, unravel and unfold in surprising ways. The theoretical paths the viewer can take are on par with the visual depth that the layers of abstraction afford. Hildebrand’s distinct language of abstraction oscillates between architecture, art history, and materiality. After Hildebrand took a multi-year sabbatical from landscape oil paintings, asking what would happen if he let go of the architectural and natural motifs that he was known for, he shifted to abstractions rooted in tactility. The result is abstractions that are grounded in realism due to Hildebrand’s use of light and shadow. In Towering Formation, 2013, Hildebrand constructs what looks like a blueprint for imagined architecture: a structure that would be impossible to realize, yet invokes the familiar form and connotations of a skyscraper. On a brown and white grid, the structural figure remains canvas-white with a textured grid in relief. Hildebrand uses trompe l’oeil techniques to make the scaffolding appear as if it’s on a different plane than the rest of the painting. Hildebrand pursues the nature of architecture through condensed and conceptual abstractions. A constant throughout the exhibition is the grid. A staple of modernism, Hildebrand’s disruption of the static device becomes a symbolic journey of art’s shift from modernism to post-modernism; a narrative of art history condensed within a single canvas. The background of a green cutting mat makes for a fascinating metaphor: it’s as if Hildebrand has cut through layers of paint to give the viewer a look at the origin of the painting. The ever-present grid grounds the paintings through repetition, while the creative manipulations add tension and play. In other words, Hildebrand introduces rules only to break them. This act of play throughout the exhibit both showcases Hildebrand’s technical painting skills and adds immediacy to art historical tropes.

Gallery Installation View with 3 And So On (2013) paintings and Blinds (2020) Alongside the metaphor of the gridded green cutting mat, other narrative devices surface in Hildebrand’s abstractions. Pattern, repetition, depth, progression, revision. All are present, allowing the viewer to read Hildebrand’s paintings like a piece of sound poetry: the poem spiraling around a page like abstract musical notation meets Dada art. In the paintings And So On, 2013, and And So Forth, 2013, a sculpture moves from the right side of the canvas to the left—ebbing and flowing in a process of revisions that echoes the process of writing. A parade of shapes and sub buildings work to communicate something about space and language to the viewer (sub reader). The repetition and slight variation in Hildebrand’s Untitled and Untitled collage series likewise introduce a language that uses movement as a way to communicate.

*** 10 Year Survey, in many ways, is a study in planes. Looking at Hildebrand’s paintings, there’s the sense of looking through something. The process remains visible, a window on the canvas that acts as a dimension to another part of the work. Not unlike Gordon Matta Clark’s architectural cuttings in the 1970s—in which the artist used chainsaws to cut into buildings set for demolition—Hildebrand deconstructs architectural shapes and, in doing so, pushes the viewer to become aware of the space they occupy. Hildebrand’s use of spherical cut-out shapes allows a look at the interior wall of the canvas, which challenges the rules and forms of the medium. For Hildebrand, deconstructionism exists not only in architecture but in art. In Blinds, 2020, a window covering appears to be carved into the paint, uncovering a layer of orange paint below the bruise-like black and green, all the way down to the canvas. In Alignment, 2012, it appears as if the cutting—rectangles and half-circles precariously stacked on top of each other—make way for scaffolding. In Blow-Up, 2012, spheres are added, not eliminated, on top of a grid. The addition and subtraction of shapes within Hildebrand’s paintings echo and inhale and exhale, mirroring the viewer’s body as well as the spatial world they live in. Hildebrand’s abstractions are as deep as the layers of planes on the canvas, using painting as a tool for spatial revelation.

Tatum Dooley, April 2022

Blow Up, Oil on canvas, 2012, 11 3/4 x 9 in.

detail of Tracing, Oil on canvas, 2011, 10 x 12 in.

2011 - 2013 Paintings

Alignment Oil & collage on board 2012 27 x 21 in.

And So On (01-01), Acrylic on linen, 2013, 15 1/4 x 57 in. And So On (01-06), Acrylic on linen, 2013, 15 1/4 x 57 in.

And So On (01-02), Acrylic on linen, 2013, 15 1/4 x 57 in. And So Forth (02-05), Acrylic on linen, 2013, 15 1/4 x 57 in.

Left - detail of And So On (01_01), Oil on linen, 2013, 15 1/4 x 57 in. Right - And So On (01_01), And So On (01_02) & And So On (01_06) Installed

Untitled (02_01), Graphite on paper, 2013, 11 x 8 1/4 in. Untitled (02_02), Graphite on paper, 2013, 11 x 8 1/4 in. Untitled (02_03), Graphite on paper, 2013, 11 x 8 1/4 in.

detail of Cross Fade, Oil on canvas, 2016, 12 x 10 1/4 in.

2015 - 2016 Paintings

Palace Acrylic & ink on canvas 2015 20 x 16 in.

Cross Fade Oil on canvas 2016 12 x 10 1/4 in.

Correspondence Oil & acrylic on canvas 2016 82 1/2 x 57 in.

Left - Gallery Installation View Right - detail of Correspondence, Oil on canvas, 2016, 82 1/2 x 57 in.

detail of Nothing Half So Much Worth Doing Acrylic, nylon fibre, epoxy and paper on acrylic panel, 2018, 70 x 49 in.

2017 - 2018 Collages & Paintings

Untitled Collage 02, Acrylic, ink, marker and nylon fibre on paper, 2017, 11 x 8 1/2 in. Untitled Collage 05, Acrylic, ink, marker and nylon fibre on paper, 2017, 11 x 8 1/2 in. Untitled Collage 07, Acrylic, ink, marker and nylon fibre on paper, 2017, 11 x 8 1/2 in.

Untitled Collage 02, Acrylic, ink, wood, plastic, fabric on paper, 2017, 30 x 20 in.

Untitled Collage 01, Acrylic, ink, wood, plastic, fabric on paper, 2017, 30 x 20 in.

Left - detail of The Wind Bloweth, Acrylic, nylon fibre and sand on acrylic panel, 2017, 71 x 50 in. Right - Gallery Installation View

The Wind Bloweth Acrylic, nylon fibre and sand on acrylic panel 2017 71 x 50 in.

Nothing Half So Much Worth Doing Acrylic, nylon fibre, epoxy and paper on acrylic panel 2018 70 x 49 in.

The Abbot Acrylic, nylon fibre, epoxy and paper on acrylic panel 2018 70 x 49 1/4 in.

Left - Gallery Installation View Right - detail of The Abbot, Acrylic, nylon fibre, epoxy and paper on acrylic panel, 2018, 70 x 49 1/4 in.

detail of Blinds, Oil on canvas on panel, 2020, 27 x 21 in.

2020 Painting

Blinds Oil on canvas on panel 2020 27 x 21 in.

Dil Hildebrand in his Montreal Studio Photo by Ryan Van Der Hout

il Hildebrand (born in Winnipeg in 1974) is an artist living and working in Montreal, Canada. Hildebrand’s work has been shown internationally in such venues as the the National Art Museum of China, Beijing (2010); the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2012); Herron Galleries at University of Indiana, Indianapolis (2013); Choi&Lager Gallery, Cologne (2013); Union Gallery, London UK (2012&13); University of Manitoba School of Art Gallery, Winnipeg (2013); YYZ, Toronto (2011); Galerie de l’UQAM, Montreal (2013); Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (2014); AUT University Gallery, Auckland NZ (2007); and Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art in Toronto (2006). Hildebrand is an MFA graduate of Concordia University, Montreal and has been awarded a number of distinguished grants and awards including the International Residency at Acme Studios, London UK (2013); the Canada Council for the Arts (2010, 2014); the Banff Centre Thematic Residency (2009); Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (2009) and was winner of the RBC National Painting Competition (2006). His work has been collected by major public institutions throughout Canada, including the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, the National Gallery of Canada and the Art Bank of the Canada Council, as well as numerous private and corporate collections throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. He is represented by Pierre-Francois Ouellette art contemporain, Montreal.

DIL HILDEBRAND 10 YEAR SURVEY

Online catalogue of an exhibition held at Michael Gibson Gallery April 19 - May 28, 2022

The gallery would like to thank Tatum Dooley for her thoughtful and insightful introductory essay. Tatum Dooley is a writer and curator living in Toronto who writes for Artforum, Canadian Art, Border Crossings, Garage Magazine, the Globe & Mail, Editorial Magazine, Lapham’s Quarterly, SSENSE, and The Walrus. She runs the Instagram account @cdnartforecast and has curated shows at Dianna Witte Gallery and General Hardware.

For Dil Hildebrand’s complete Curriculum Vitae and images of available paintings please visit www.gibsongallery.com

Front Cover Image: detail of “Alignment”, Oil & Collage on Board, 2012, 27 x 21 in. Back Cover Image: detail of “Blinds”, Oil on Canvas on Panel, 2020, 27 x 21 in.