aha...magic realism*

With the intrigue of an M.C. Escher drawing and the richness of a Chris Van Allsburg painting, renowned Canadian artist Rob Gonsalves depicts that time between sleep and wakefulness, creating a breathtaking, visual exploration of imagination and possibility that encourages us to think past the boundaries of everyday life, and see the possibilities beyond.

His imagery invites the viewer to move past reality into a somewhat surreal depiction of what fantasy and imagination could be. In each of his paintings, what appears to be becomes something else. The supports of a train bridge become acrobats balanced on shoulders. A stately home in autumn is also a tree house being constructed by children. A child playing with a toy train sees a real train coming through the archway in his living room. Children bouncing on beds take off in flight above a patchwork landscape. A violinist sitting on a porch plays music to tall sunflowers which, on closer look become leafy people whose faces are in a sleepy trance.

Artist Rob Gonsalves was born in Toronto in 1959. During his childhood, he developed an interest in drawing from imagination using various media. By age 12, his awareness of architecture grew as he learned perspective techniques and first began to paint renderings of imagined buildings.

After an introduction to artist Dali, Gonsalves began his first surrealist paintings. The "magic realism" approach of Magritte along with the precise perspective illusions of Escher came to be influences in his future work. In his post college years, Gonsalves worked full time as an architect, also painting trompe l'oeil murals and theatre sets.

Although Gonsalves' work may appear to be surrealistic, it differs in that the images are deliberately planned and result from conscious thought. Ideas are largely generated by the external world and involve recognizable human activities, using carefully planned illusionist devices. Gonsalves injects a sense of magic into realistic scenes. As a result, the term "magic realism" describes his work accurately. His work is an attempt to represent human beings' desire to believe in the impossible.