In a special career retrospective, the work of the late Trinidadian-Canadian artist Denyse Thomasos is on show in Canada
Abstract-style paintings that convey architectural structures — including housing blocks, harbours, scaffolding and more — are hallmarks of the late Trinidadian-Canadian artist Denyse Thomasos’ (1964–2012) work. Thomasos won numerous prestigious awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Canada Council Millennium Grant, a Pew Fellowship, and a Joan Mitchell Foundation Award in painting. And, in Denyse Thomasos: Just Beyond — a career retrospective at Canada’s Art Gallery of Ontario, running until 20 February — more than 70 paintings and works on paper show how she challenged the limits of abstraction, saturating her canvases with issues that were in turn personal and socio-political. Many pieces are being debuted for the first time, and the curators are supplementing the exhibition with sketches, photographs, and newly uncovered documentary footage of her working in studio. A fully illustrated catalogue accompanies the showcase.