The community gathered in great numbers to see the opening of the new exhibit at the Art Gallery of Bancroft on Friday.
This month’s exhibit is called Brief Encounters, and features paintings from local artist Ken Fraser.
Fraser said he was grateful to see the large turnout, many of whom were friends and fellow members of the local arts community.
“It’s humbling, of course. Nice to see everybody here and everyone complimenting your work and feeling good about being here. So, it’s a beautiful feeling,” Fraser said.
As the night progressed, a number of Fraser’s pieces had already been purchased.
“Some of them are old photographs, when people actually had photographs instead of stuff on their phone,” he said.
“They’re mostly from the 90s that I have and I look at sometimes. And sometimes I get inspired by one of them and try to recreate it in some other way,” he said.
Fraser said his friends have described his style as naive and innocent.
“It’s just a snapshot of things. It’s just a capturing of the moment, and nothing more. You know, make it interesting, make it so it’s kind of captivating,” he said.
He said a lot of his pieces remind him of when teachers in English classes show their students a picture of something and ask them to a write a story about what happened before or what’s going to happen after. He said his pieces show images of everyday things and make people remember things from their own lives.
Fraser said he also likes to draw inspiration from things he sees in the news. He said it’s become routine for him to draw while he has his morning coffee, and he enjoys creating pieces where it feels like the subject is looking out at the viewer.
The exhibit is being sponsored by Glenda and Jean Menard, Jocelyne and Michael Moran, and a newly-formed local organization called “Quota”, or Queers of the Area.
Fraser said a group of his friends wanted to help sponsor the exhibit, and they decided they wanted to form a group and give it a name. He said the group will likely be starting other things in the community now that they’ve formed an organization.
The exhibit is on at the gallery until November 1.
