The Finer Details
Leah Sandals, The National Post, April 22nd 2011

With new galleries popping up as far west as the Junction, the east end seems more remote than ever to some art scenesters. But it’s still well worth a visit, as these three area exhibitions demonstrate.

Daniel Hutchinson at G Gallery
234 Queen St. E., to May 14

Looking at Daniel Hutchinson’s paintings is like seeing landscape through a glass, darkly. Created using a computer sketching program and snippets of blackish paint layered on to drafting film, the local artist’s images of trees and amphitheatres break down into expanses of triangles, rectangles and lines that evoke the digital wireframe craze of the first-run Tron era. As a bonus, Hutchinson’s paint surfaces are striated, resembling vinyl record grooves and catching the light in much the same manner. The result: landscapes that morph visually as you walk through the space, much as views of an actual landscape might. Best in show is Fort City Bandshell, which amps a sci-fi feel by contrasting a perfect half-shell structure and some ersatz trees. Still, much of the appeal of these paintings lies not in their scenes but in their surfaces — they’re oily, gooey and changeable while also being very neat and tidy, a nice mix. An adjacent room holds a video by Stockholm artist Cecilia Nygren that also touches on landscape, but Hutchinson’s cohesive, visually appealing work is the main draw here.