Lot 46
BOBBIE BURGERS
Additional Images
Provenance:
Private Collection, Toronto
Literature:
Literature: Kelsey Klassen, - Westender. “BOBBIE BURGERS VENTURES INTO SCULPTURE, ABSTRACTION FOR LATEST EXHIBITION” 10 December 2014, Vancouver.
Note:
Despite the floral subject matter, Bobbie Burgers' large textured acrylic paintings cannot be compared to the traditional still-life. A child of Dutch immigrants, the Dutch masters were always an inspiration to Burgers; however, the intensity of her brush strokes, vibrancy of the colours, and emotion of her painting have turned the idea of a still-life on its head. Recently, Burgers has stated that she uses flowers as a starting point to enter into abstraction, and that the works represent the passage of time: “I love the subject matter, but what I love more is the feeling [the paintings] give me... I am walking backwards into the future, not really wanting to let go of the things that inspire me, I am still learning from them.” Her paintings are undeniably beautiful, but they also contain a hint of sorrow, fleetingness, and ephemerality; the flowers are metaphors for the delicate passage of time, and how quickly its beauty can fade. Burgers' flowers are not still-lifes, as we have come to think of them: they are the past, present, and future played out simultaneously, reminding the viewer that no one can hold onto euphoria.
Burgers received a B.A. In Art History from the University of Victoria after studying in Aix-en-Provence from 1991-92 and later studied at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. In addition to having done over 60 solo exhibitions around Canada, the United States, and Europe, Burgers' art can also be found in collections around the world.