Chris Flodberg: Paintings

Calgary artist Chris Flodberg is a virtuoso oil painter, a painter's painter. He became known for his landscapes but has since tackled a startling range of themes: World War II warships, intimate interiors, post-apocalyptic banquets, abstracts, guard dogs and, most recently, ninety-six self-portraits in ninety-six different styles. These are monumental paintings that grab the viewer by the throat and demand attention.Flodberg is inspired by art history, but the art he creates is his alone: visceral, intensely rendered, relentlessly probing, beautiful but often uncomfortable. An acutely self-aware painter, Flodberg places a high value on honesty. His art is a dazzling collection of self-portraits and statements on everything from war and greed to the blossoming trees on his street.Chris Flodberg: Paintings brings together 160 of Flodberg's paintings from his first two decades. It is accompanied by five essays by Monique Westra and short musings by the artist himself.