Paradox: The Gospel of Shadows - Art Exhibition

Following the critical success of Flamboyant (2021), his award-winning abstract series celebrated across Canada and beyond, Olivier Salvas returns to his signature bold style with a new body of work that is both visually arresting and conceptually charged. In PARADOX – The Gospel of Shadows, Olivier Salvas blends acrylic, aerosol, and pastel to create vibrant, emotionally layered paintings that anchor the exhibition’s central theme, contradiction. These new works mark a powerful return to colour for the artist, dynamic, saturated, and deeply expressive, yet now adapted to the darker, more symbolic universe of PARADOX. The paintings speak to internal conflict and fractured identity, using shadow as a motif for all we conceal, carry, and confront.
Surrounding and informing the paintings is a narrative-driven photographic series, shot in a grainy, vintage style that contrasts sharply with the explosive energy of the painted works. Rather than serve as mere companions, the photographs deepen the tension, adding a nostalgic stillness that intensifies the emotional friction. Together, the two mediums create a world where light and darkness, colour and grayscale, clarity and distortion all coexist, yet never quite align.
EXHIBITION DETAILS:
Title: PARADOX – The Gospel of Shadows by Olivier Salvas Artiste
Venue: Bean Hastings Gallery, 175 W Hastings St, Vancouver, BC
Starting May 22nd, 2025
Admission: Free, All are welcome

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