Dunkelman Gallery, Toronto
Private Collection, Toronto
Kenneth Lochhead moved to Regina in 1950 to teach art at the University of Saskatchewan. Because of his art, teaching and active role in the contemporary art world, Lochhead helped to give the Regina arts scene national status and inspired generations of artists across Canada in the second half of the twentieth century. The artist’s cubist path to abstraction resulted in a colourful geometric abstract style, with clean, straight lines and shapes, as well as a large scale, as exemplified in "Yellow Centre (AC-33)."
The early sixties were highly active and successful for the painter on a national and international level. Lochhead had been painting in an entirely non-representational manner since the beginning of the decade, and was included in the 1961 National Gallery exhibition, "Five Painters from Regina," who were considered to be at the forefront of Canada’s modern art movement. He had been participating in the Emma Lake Professional Artists’ Workshops since 1955, with guest workshop leaders including Abstract Expressionist painters and critic Clement Greenberg. Lochhead’s abstract work of the 1960s and 1970s, such as "Yellow Centre (AC-33)," bear resemblances to the Colour Field painting movement, which had recently established itself in New York.
The irregular blue, green and red rectangles hover and gently link around the central yellow square. The white column anchors the imagery to the edge of the canvas, suggesting the formation of a flower or tree, amid a blue-black background. The white area also brings attention to the fact that Lochhead has left the in-between areas of the canvas bare - a common trait of Color Field painting.
Toward the end of 1963, Lochhead had abandoned using masonite as a support in favour of adjustable rolls of cotton duck canvas. Lochhead also abandoned textural enamel paint for the new transparency of water-based acrylic, a preferred medium among Color Field painters. The artist corresponded frequently with Clement Greenberg during 1963-64, discussing formalism, the international art scene, and exhibition opportunities. Lochhead and Kenneth Noland were both featured in Clement Greenberg’s 1964 influential exhibition, "Post- Painterly Abstraction," curated for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and subsequently the Walker Art Center and the Art Gallery of Toronto.
