Gretta Gibney
Prices range from $2,000 to $10,000
Oil on Canvas
Artist Information:
Early Influences
Gretta’s fascination with the old masters has deeply influenced the nature of her art through her formal and personal studies in Canada and Europe, her early work as a copyist at the major museums of Europe; and her current work in portraiture and collage. Her favourite painters are Géricault, Delacroix, Sargent, Titian, Botticelli and Michelangelo.
Themes
With the collision of portraiture and mass media images, Gretta’s work examines the dichotomy between the real world and the manipulated world of media.
Through the intricacies of collage, she captures the variations of light and the vibration of colour to illuminate the interior complexities and contradictions of her subject matter.
Gretta’s series of portrait collages juxtapose the sterility of the world of media with the reality of the everyday world to help reveal the emotions of her subjects.
Current Theme
In 2004, Gretta got married, had a baby and had her first solo show. Since the birth of her first child, Gretta’s subject matter has followed a natural progression. After having spent so much time around the raw emotion of a child, Gretta projects this experience onto canvas. She has chosen dogs as her subject matter because, similar to children, dogs reveal their true emotions as they experience them. They are loving beings who need and deserve constant nurturing and attention. Gretta finds dogs to be truly expressive and strives to display their vast array of emotion within her portraits. It was “the dog” that drew her back to painting after focusing all of her attention on her child. Gretta has had another baby since this time but was able to get back into painting shortly after. She now lives in Whitby, Ontario, where she has built a studio in her garage.
These words of Edvard Munch capture the spirit and sensibility of Gretta’s art:
“No longer shall I paint interiors with men reading and women knitting, I will paint living people who breathe and feel and suffer and love.”
Collected Works
Gretta has completed numerous commissions for clients throughout North America and Europe. Her work has been exhibited in Canada and Europe, and can be found in private collections in Canada, the United States, Sweden, Spain, England, Ireland and France.
Credentials
Born in Dublin and raised in Vancouver, Gretta has completed formal studies in Fine Art in Canada (BFA, University of Concordia, Montreal) and Spain (MFA, Universidad de Barcelona) where she received her Masters. She has also studied fresco painting at the Universidad de Lleida in Spain and painting at the Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver. She has studied independently at the Prado in Madrid, Spain; the Louvre in Paris, France; and the British Museum in London, England.
The study of art through its creation is her lifelong passion and pursuit.
For more information regarding this artist, please contact us.