Alex Bierk: A Thin Place

A string of plastic stars. A green car parked by the side of a road. A fragmented view of the Twelve Steps, seen from the perspective of someone looking up from their seat in a meeting room. Ordinary moments that most people would pass by without noticing.

Like that quiet, intriguing person at the party, these paintings don't give it all away. They’re painted with the restrained palette of Chardin and the flickering light of Corot. Each is small enough to carry off in a briefcase, and each carries the emotional intensity of a memory you can't quite shake.

At the center of the show is Wrecking Ball, slightly larger than the rest. A train rushes toward you through thick fog, headlights beaming. Is it a disaster bearing down? Or is it a path lighting up the way out of the darkness? It depends on how you look at it.

Which is precisely what these paintings are all about. Because what happens when you stop trying to figure everything out and surrender to the briefly gorgeous business of being alive is a deep sense of gratitude for not having missed it.

Alex Bierk (b. 1985 in Ontario, lives and works in Peterborough, just outside Toronto) is the son of a painter. He builds his paintings from photographs taken while moving through everyday life. Alongside his studio practice, he serves on Peterborough City Council, focusing on housing insecurity and addiction support. That commitment to helping people at life’s turning points runs straight through his paintings.