Jordan Dunlop is an independent artist who has been exhibiting work for over 25 years. Movement, play and aligning art practices with a natural, innate approach is a major theme for the artist. Places that have helped shape the artists’ foundations is NASCAD University in Halifax 2006 where Jordan earned a BFA. His education opened doors to experiences in various countries, and was a very auspicious time in the young artist’s life. Early art opportunities, such as exhibiting at the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition (2006-07) in London, England, provided opportunities to meet and exhibit alongside Jordan’s heroes, like David Hockney and Lucian Freud. A recent 2024 solo exhibition of abstract paintings on plexiglass was an opportunity to exhibit work from the last ten years in his home town of Peterborough, Ontario, at the Sadleir House.
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Which ’hood are you in?
Arthubs, Wychwood Barns at Christie and St.Clair Avenue, is my current place of residence, where I have been making art at my Live/work studio for the last 10 years.
What do you do?
I repurpose materials and plexiglass saved from either institutional waste or found, and transforms them into gestural abstract paintings. All paintings as well as drawings are made front to back and reversed, symbolic of his challenges with learning and Dyslexia/ADD, a method I coined “Dyslexic Alchemy”. My work is definitely a therapeutic way for me to express my own catharsises as well as the uncertainty of living in global instability.
What are you currently working on?
Currently I am building up a new body of paintings influenced impart by escalating world tensions and conflicts as well as anxiety felt at home, like the housing crisis and soaring costs of living. This will be a departure from abstraction, utilizing formal painting applications in favour of symbology used for myth-making and surreal interpretations.
Where can we find your work?
People can find my work by signing up to my mailing list for information relating to future exhibitions, studio visits and open studio events here.
