Artist (and mountaineer) David Pirrie takes a traditional landscape subject and fits it into a contemporary framework by “codifying topographies.” Detailed oil paintings are combined with dot grids and bottom bleeds. Canadian mountains are given a new edge, as Pirrie removes them from the context of their surrounding ranges. The viewer can step back and assess the mountain as an individual entity and feel slightly less overpowered, knowing that the dots, lines and drips can also serve to take away some of the mountain’s force.

Artist: David Pirrie
+ davidpirrie.com
+ madeinthewest.ca

Tiedmann Valley, The Waddington Range Tantalus Massif