“Why Not?” March 2-30 2018 ProArts Oakland CA
“The only constant is change.” – Heraclitus
Gregory Montreuil’s installation/exhibition; titled “Why Not?” challenges the viewers to step outside of limitations and boundaries and embrace possibility and potential. The installation which speaks to the broader public though its central downtown Oakland, CA, placement will be a combination of paintings and text, creating an opportunity to question current perceptions both personal and political. Montreuil invites viewers to think big and outside the box. This questioning could lead to empowering and expansive ideas and a possible remedy and counter point to the contained contracting cycle Montreuil perceives prevalent at the moment.
As one whorls through life, it is obvious that there are windows of time, some more open, some less. Ones placement and position within these pockets of time are not necessarily obvious or visible within the continuums of perception and persistence of memory. The mirrored text facing outward toward the public and viewer is a paradox which contradicts the confines of the Gallery window, a metaphor for both limitation and infinite possibilities.
The paintings, considered the “exhibition” will be on display between the outer panels of text. The paintings embrace the history of abstraction, are process based and use serendipity, chance and decision to seek an active resolution. Though the use of color, line, movement and gesture, Montreuil maps the moves of the combined elements as they race toward determined resolve. Montreuil hopes to deliver to the viewers a sense of the moment. It is moments in time, traveling in cycles that in the end make up life.