Yellow Grid Play (2015)

About Yellow Grid Play (2015)

Precise squares in orange, rust red, green, grey, maroon and white dance, overlap and swirl on a washed canary yellow ground in this intimate canvas by Milly Ristvedt. Colour and the grid are the focus of Ristvedt's paintings that through one's lens of experience will reveal a narrative. "Painting is my freedom 'to be' in the world, to transform what I think and feel about life, to express the essence of things that matter. Colour is the magical sensation and substance, the 'philosopher's stone,' that for me represents hope in a time of great challenge for us all." Milly Ristvedt

Early in her career in Toronto in the late 1960s, Ristvedt shared a studio with Canadian painter Jack Bush, met art critic Clement Greenberg and was inspired by American painters Jules Olitiski and Frank Stella. Ristvedt's work can be found in major public collections including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, The Musée d'art contemporain in Montreal, Harvard University, Vancouver Art Gallery, Canada Council Art Bank, Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Agnes Etherington Art Centre and more. Her work has been included in many publications, including Nasgaard's Abstract Painting in Canada (2014). Ristvedt was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts in 2004 and honoured with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. Since 1968, Ristvedt has won seven Canada Council awards and two Ontario Arts Council awards. She has had over 50 solo exhibitions and been part of countless group shows.