The Goods from Ian Tan Gallery

Vancouver, BC | In this monthly series, the Ian Tan Gallery highlights one exhibiting artist or artist they represent, by asking them to answer a short four-question interview designed to introduce them to Scout readers.

Meet Jeanette Jarville, Ian Tan Gallery’s feature artist for the month of April. Jarville’s new series of paintings, Better Than Chocolate will be showing in the gallery from April 1-30, with an opening reception on Saturday, April 1st from 2-4pm, where the artist will be in attendance.

Please introduce yourself. Who are you, where do you live, and what is your medium?

I am a Vancouver based artist and Emily Carr graduate, living and working from my studio in Crescent Beach. I work in acrylic and mixed mediums, oil paint and sculpture in all media.

We know it’s hard to pick a favourite, but if you had to choose one piece from the works you have at Ian Tan Gallery to best represent your style and practice overall, which would it be and why?

Better Than Chocolate [pictured above]. My favourite work always seems to be my latest piece that sparks a new series for me. The painting Better Than Chocolate encompasses all the magic I love in abstract painting: layering, organic shapes, expressive brushstrokes, rich colour and a fun title!

If you could display your art in any building, establishment, or other place in Vancouver (not a gallery), where would you choose?

I would have to say creating public art and displaying my work in public places for many people to see is always exciting. I am honoured to have my work in the Vancouver Hospital/UBC Public Art Collection, in the Easter Seals BC/Yukon collection, shown at YVR, The MacBride Museum, and have work in the collections of many corporate and retail establishments for the public to enjoy.

Art is a visual experience, but I’d like to challenge you to describe yours using the less obvious senses: sound, taste, smell and feeling.

My paintings can easily be described using musical terms: they have improvisation, tempo, harmony, tonality and rhythm. They integrate tranquil and contemplative spaces with rapid gestures and marks telling a story like the movements of a symphony or contemporary jazz. What would it taste like? I think I would have to say chocolate…lol. The smell, maybe Sandalwood; sweet and woody, like roses in a freshly mulched garden, balancing and representing the masculine and feminine.

My art is created with intense feelings and emotion and I hope that comes through for the viewer. I like to keep my work ambiguous so the viewer can interpret them and create their own conclusions.

View more of Jeanette Jarville’s artwork online here.

Ian Tan Gallery

Neighbourhood: South Granville

2655 Granville St.

604-738-1077

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