WINTERGARDEN 冬李花園: Brush-less Floral Landscapes is the first solo exhibition of A01’s large-format floral paintings created outdoors, en plein air with the artist’s original and innovative “brush-less” process.

The paintings are informed by study and practice of Chinese, Japanese and Korean artistic and philosophical principles, including 禪 (Chan/Zen), 道 (Dao), and 空 (kong/emptiness) while immersed in the respective cultures and languages for decades. However, the paintings are produced with entirely original and innovative processes employing a Western art materiality of aerosol paint on canvas, thereby becoming a hybrid of classical and contemporary Eastern and Western art and thought.

This exhibition will include PACIFIC SPIRIT FERNS, a massive 5 x 7 ft remarkably life-like painting created in Vancouver with ferns and flora of Pacific Spirit Regional Park.

FIVE TOXIC WEEDS was painted outdoors at Toronto’s Humber River while protected in full hazmat suit and respirator to directly handle the actual poisonous plants, including the frightening Giant Hog Weed, whose sap can cause 3rd degree burns!

FOUR SEASONS AT ONCE are massive 5 x 12 foot paintings painted outdoors, en plein air, the same riverside locations in 4 sections over 4 seasons, presenting the flora of spring, summer, autumn and winter simultaneously.

BREAK THE BRUSH vertical monochromes are the most recent series from 2023 look remarkably like classical Eastern ink on paper paintings but are actually created entirely with only black and white aerosol paint on canvas without using any paint brushes.

About the Artist:
Montreal-born Andrew Owen A01’s artwork involves multiple extensive and ongoing programs of work that hybridize classical and contemporary Eastern and Western art and thought. A01 studied and operated in the Pacific Rim for 17 years, including Seoul & Pusan South Korea; Tokyo, Osaka & Kyoto Japan; Taipei Taiwan, Vancouver Canada, and returned to establish SEVEN STREAMS STUDIO 七溪工坊 in Toronto's Geary Art District in 2012.