Foxes
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For sheer descriptive power, Barry Oretsky’s paintings are hard to beat. More than that, their power of perception is in the service of acute social observation, verging on revelation.  His pictures have the force of a paradox.  He describes the physical reality of the work with such intensity and blazing clarity that it becomes peculiarly “metaphysical” – uncanny.  In other words, what seems like a coolly realized, casually observed, all too familiar scene, is subliminally charged- unexpectedly fraught with odd emotional significance, which, it turns out, was latent in the scene all along.  For all the apparent neutrality and detachment of his observation, Oretsky’s pictures communicate a sense of impacted desperation… Indeed, his work can be taken as contemporary emblematic illustrations of Thoreau’s famous observation that the mass of men live lives of quiet desperation.

By: Donald Kuspit

To my mind, a major distinction between realism and romance is the presentation of allegories of life.  A romantic sensibility lets an artist choose images that are filled with allegory.  I certainly am more than happy to have people see a romantic sensibility in my work.  That immediately separates my art from dry factuality.  But there are limitations to a romantic view of life and art.  Not all romantic art is filled with sweetness and light.

I pursue images.  I will shoot thousands of slides searching for those special images in terms of exploration and meditation.  They hold visual elements and metaphors inherent in the image.  I have found that I take pictures without consciously composing the subject matter.  When I get back to my studio, the selection process involves sitting down with a slide projector and spending time with each image to become acquainted with its obvious and less obvious details.

Once I have made the commitment to an image and decided upon my interpretation, the follow-through for me is craftsmanship.  A painting is the sum total of its elements.  The painter can subdue, enhance or eliminate. I maintain firm compositional control by relying on precise preliminary sketches.

You and I can see a great painting and come to feel truth expressed.  We may not have words to describe the achievement, but we sense it wordlessly.  Art lies outside the artist – approachable yet other.  With that humbling thought in mind, I revert in my daydreams and strategies to my own work.  Nevertheless, I’m in charge and I work with all the elements of that great otherness which is art.

I know I’m finished when I’m satisfied that I have resolved all the elements.  There is a sense of completion.  It’s done!  To overpaint and continue to make choices is an unwillingness to accept a finality.  I have learned intuitively that it is over.

By: Barry Oretsky

Barry Oretsky was born in Owen Sound, Ontario in 1946.  He received his early training at Toronto’s Central Technical School.  He furthered his studies at St. Martin’s School of Art, London, England, and later lived in Israel.  Barry has worked in advertising, as an art teacher, and has been a full-time professional artist since 1986.  He is now a permanent resident of Toronto, Ontario, but continues to travel internationally to further his art.

1970-72           College of Education, Permanent Teacher’s Certificate

1965-66           St. Martin’s School of Art, London, England

1965-1961       Central Technical School, Commercial Art Diploma

1965                Canadian Association for Education Through Art

1965                Eagle Pencil Classical Drawing Scholarship

2006    Plus One Gallery, London, England

2006    Gallery One, Toronto, Ontario

2005    Gallery One, Toronto, Ontario

2004    Gallery One, Toronto, Ontario

2003    Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, Vancouver, B.C.

2003    Buschlen Mowatt Gallert, Palm Desert, California

2001    Gallery One, Toronto Ontario

2000    Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, Vancouver BC

1998    Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, Vancouver BC

1996    Robert Langen Gallery, Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario

1995    Drabinsky & Friedland Galleries, Toronto, Ontario

1992    Drabinsky & Friedland Galleries, Toronto Ontario

1989    Schillay & Rehs, Inc., New York, New York

1987    Baux Xi Gallery Toronto Ontario

1986    Beth Tzedec Museum, Toronto, Ontario

1970    Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel

1968    Pollock Gallery, Toronto, Ontario

2007    Rehs Galleries, Inc., Los Angeles Art Show

2006    Rehs Galleries, Inc., Los Angeles Art Show

2005    Rehs Galleries, Inc., Los Angeles Art Show

2004    Gallerie De Bellefeulle Montreal

2004    Emma Butler Gallery St. John Newfoundland

2003    Toronto International Art Show

2001    Toronto International Art Show

1997    Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, Vancouver BC

1994    Drabinsky Gallery, Toronto ON

1994    Rehs Galleries, Inc., Fifth Avenue Art & Antique Show, New York

1993    Rehs Galleries, Inc., High Museum Art & Antique Show, Georgia

1993    Rehs Galleries, Inc., Fifth Avenue Art & Antique Show, New York

1993    Rehs Galleries, Inc., James M Haney Gallery, Amarillo TX

1992    Miami International ’92, Miami FL

1991    Rehs Galleries, Inc., Boston International ’91, Boston MA

1991    Odon Wagner Gallery, Scottsdale AZ

1986    Baux Xi Gallery, Toronto, Ontario

1983    Moos Gallery, Toronto, Ontario

1980    Nancy Poole Gallery, Toronto, Ontario

1967    Canadian Biennale, Winnipeg, MA

TSN, The Sports Network, Toronto Ontario

Quinn International, Argau, Switzerland

Child Help Fund, Washington, DC

Solomon & Solomon, Barristers, Toronto, Ontario

The Gordon Group, Toronto, Ontario

Tara Investments, Grand Cayman Islands

Fallbrook Holdings, Toronto, Ontario

Reliable Fur Company, Toronto, Ontario

Jason Meat Co., St. Louis, Missouri

Sanwa BGK, New York, NY