From Motion Stillness

About From Motion Stillness

This contemporary abstract landscape is by Otto Rogers.

Otto Rogers is considered one of Canada’s finest and most important artists whose beautiful, ethereal work explored light, colour and space. A masterful painter and sculptor, Rogers developed a singular visual language over decades, although his form echoed the bold cubist-constructivist shapes of work he admired--Pablo Picasso, Julio González and David Smith. That influence is evident in this dynamic piece as the canvas is divided into sections—each one displaying elegant brushwork in lyrical waves. Roger’s artwork is also known for his profound ability to convey both motion and stillness in his work, a quality that perhaps is a reflection of his deep faith as a devout Bahá'í. The rich, earthy colour palette of From Motion Stillness—burnt orange, rose, hues of green, black, gray, white and flashes of burgundy is inspired by nature.
Otto Rogers was one of the first to adopt acrylic paint in the late 1950s. Rogers also developed a unique technique of applying gesso (a ‘primer’ similar to white acrylic paint) to raw canvas and using brushes, rollers, rags, and spray paint to attain different effects. The recognized art critic, Clement Greenberg, was early to praise Roger’s talent as a ‘big attack painter’ and described his work as “having a fullness of inspiration.’

“I came to the conclusion that obviously the most important element was light…Without light, you have nothing…no colour, no texture, no definition, no form.” Otto Rogers

“He stands apart from much of Canadian abstract art, in which colourists working with a high-keyed palette so often held the lion’s share of critical attention. This preoccupation with shifts in values reflects Rogers’s love of light. It is tempting to credit that love merely to the vast, sunlit expanse of the prairies he was raised on. But light has a special meaning for him beyond that. He associates it with knowledge and wisdom, in part because of his Baha’i faith.” Ken Carpenter, Professor of Art History, York University

Otto Rogers (1935-2019) was born in Saskatchewan and acquired his MA in Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin. He later taught art at the University of Saskatchewan for 30 years. His work is included in more than 30 public collections across Canada, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the McMichael Canadian Collection, and the National Gallery of Canada. Roger’s work is also in the Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona and the National Gallery of Iceland, as well as numerous private and corporate collections. Rogers also helped sustain the Emma Lake Workshops, which provided a meeting place for many of North America's most respected visual artists and critics, including Clement Greenberg, Barnett Newman, Jules Olitski, Kenneth Noland, Jack Shadbolt, and Helen Frankenthaler. In 2007, a book of his work, Otto Donald Rogers, including a foreword by British sculptor Sir Anthony Caro, was published.