Billboard 2007 – 2024
Billboard paintings began as an experiment in urban landscape art in 2007. Billboards towered over the city. Sentinels lining the streets. Many empty, blank and weathered. I took photographs from taxi's. I wanted to capture simplicity in form, but quickly moved towards a more representational landscape painting, adding social messages. I played with single words and simple phrases to draw emotional response from the viewer. Years earlier in Canada, my interest had been sparked.
The billboards added something to the cityscape I hadn't felt emotionally connected to since living in Vancouver B.C during the 1990's. During that time, I would spot a decrepit billboard perched atop a building from my seat on the skytrain each day. I imagined the peeling, worn out surface akin to a giant abstract painting hovering over Chinatown.