Robert Youds

Originally positioned as a painter, by the mid-nineties Victoria-based artist Robert Youds shifted his practice of translating light and colour to what he describes as “light paintings.” His large three-dimensional works, while maintaining a playful edge, absorb the viewer into meditative ruminations. Aglow with colour, they are assemblages on a human scale that take an initial attraction and hold it until it becomes an extended philosophic moment. The artist layers light and matter to create experiments in perception and transparency. Robert Youds completed his MFA from York University and he holds a BFA from the University of Victoria. Recent solo shows include: beautifulbeautiful artificial field, at The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria; and small artificial fields, at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery. Selected group shows include: PAINT: a psychedelic primer, at the Vancouver Art Gallery; UnNatural Wonders, at Kinemacolor Bldg, Victoria; and The Shape of Colour: Excursions in Colour Field Art 1950-2005, at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Youds is a professor at the University of Victoria.