Lucky you if you happened to wander into Trepanier Baer gallery this April. The walls have been covered with the paintings of a Calgary icon, none other than Chris Cran. Cran has been living in Calgary since the 1970s when he came here to go to Art College. He loves the art community here, he loves to teach (he is a revered painting instructor at the Alberta College of Art and Design, ACAD), and of course, he loves to paint, so why live anywhere else?[1] His now more than three decades in this city have brought him no shortage of success, he is recognized nationally for his painting prowess. Yet despite his impressive achievements, Cran is not resting on his laurels, he maintains a fresh passion and excitement about painting that is clearly visible in his current work.

Chris Cran, Charts, 1985, as reproduced on www.calgary is awesome.com

This show, entitled, Diversions, somewhat of a mini-retrospective, includes works from Cran's various genres of painting; his self-portraits, his stripe paintings and his abstracts. Heavily weighted on the later, it reflects what has been the artist's primary focus for nearly two decades, abstraction. These works pull from the many different directions he has explored during his career, reflecting what he calls his painting vocabulary.[2] Elements of the vocabulary have become distinctly Cran; his use of the sharp taped edge, of metallic paint with a swirling brush stroke and his distinct colour palette.

Earlier this month I had the opportunity to interview the artist and when I commented on the strong aesthetic and sheer beauty of the paintings in Diversions he responded, "Thank you. I want to make them beautiful.... Even the Pop stuff, I still want the painting to look 'zing'. I just want it. So it is worth looking at. These newer ones that don't have the playful content of the more pop paintings, they are just about the pleasure of looking at them. That's it." They are most definitely a pleasure to look at. He revels in the effects he can manufacture in his work, the play with perception.[3] When he saw the show before the opening it was the first time he had seen some of these pieces in a gallery space. He was absolutely elated with the intriguing results in his "X", "Y", and "Z" paintings. It is impossible to tell what sits in front and what is behind. His use of fluorescent stripes and silver metallic brushstrokes in combination manipulate space and perception, they trick the eye.

Cran utilizes layers to achieve the result he wants. Some of the paintings even appear to have a printed background, "Lift Smoke", for example. When I asked Cran about this effect he explained, "What they are... I actually had a bedspread from my Great Grandma. An old ripped bedspread, in sections, all ripped up. And I just had this chunk with a raised pattern on it. I would say it probably came over from England in the early part of the 20th Century. I just take sludge...from my solvent bucket.... I paint it on quite loosely and then take this chunk of bedspread and just lay it down. Press it, lift it off, and there is an imprint of that pattern there." [4] Cran loves to play with paint but denies any nostalgic motivations here, he says any similar fabric would do. I'm not so convinced, but maybe I'm just seeing what I want to see. Not a bad result really, in Cran terms. Diversions will be at Trepanier Baer until May 1,2009.

[1] Cran, Chris. Interview. April 3,2009.
[2] ibid.
[3]Tousely, Nancy. "A Space Filled With Beauty: Abstract Paintings By Chris Cran". Chris Cran Paintings 1993-1996. Art Gallery of Peel: Caber Production Co. p.12.
[4] Cran ibid.