Canadian magic realist Rob Gonsalves likes to portray the juxtapsotion of two differing but related points of view.
These are often presented in scenes in which objects gradually morph through a series of similar shapes into something else entirely, and compositions in which two different aspects of the same scene are viewed at an entirely different scale, but are gradually joined into parts of a seemingly impossible whole.
Gonsalves plays with similar themes in a variety of compositions. There are also other repeated themes, such as scenes in which bodies of water in the distance gradually become something else in the foreground- stretches of mirrored tiles or a crowd with umbrellas.
I mentioned in my previous post about Gonsalves, that I see his work in a way as a collision between visual approaches to rearranging reality utilized by M.C. Escher and René Magritte.
Some of Gonsalves’ brain-teasing shifts in reality are more successful than others, but at their best they can give you that delightful “Ah-ha!” feeling as your perception slips from one level to another.
In all of them it’s fun to trace through his transitions and try to decide exactly where one view of the world transforms into the other.
Gonsalves works in acrylic, and in the short video you can see here on YouTube, shows the scale of his work and describes the time frame for painting an individual painting as about two months.
Gonsalves does not appear to have an official web presence. Since I last wrote about him, one of the resources I knew of has disappeared, but there is a new one that is even a bit more comprehensive.
You may find other resources by searching, but most of what I’ve found to date is redundant with the two gallery sites I’ve listed below.
Unfortunately, none of them have images that are very large.
There are books featuring Gonsalves’ work, though they’re not exactly collections, but combinations of his images with bits of text and aimed at children: Imagine a Day, Imagine a Night and Imagine a Place. Each contains about 16 or 17 pictures by the artist.
You can also find a 2012 Master of Illusion wall calendar featuring his work, and similar calendars from previous years if you just want them for the images.
Gonsalves’ work is also featured in, and highlighted on the cover of, Masters of Deception, a collection of work by 20 artists working in illusionistic styles that includes 16 pages on Gonsalves.
