Anglim Gilbert Gallery is pleased to present Where Were We, an exhibition of paintings by Canan Tolon.

Referring to the point in which we loose our train of thought, Where Were We explores the moment we pause to mentally pivot toward the past in an attempt to reposition ourselves in time and place. It is a moment to find our bearings and regain or recreate perspective. We wonder, where were we before the picture broke into a kaleidoscopic discord of pieces, scattering our thoughts and making us momentarily amnesic of the present?

Canan Tolon captures this instant in her abstract works, composing each canvas with layers of repetitive marks, and creates a visual effect similar to photographic reproductions, as if a camera had snapped a picture just as we lost our way. This illusion is achieved by manipulating the liquidity of the paint by combining random, blurry strokes with sharp lines at varying speed and translucency. Working handson with straight edges and knives to produce an effect of “instant reality,” the superimposed perspectives of Tolon’s paintings allude to architectural spaces and the complexity of a memory. They also serve as a mechanism that triggers unexpected personal associations and subjective interpretations. Her intention is to recreate the moment we falter, the moment of uncertainty, and to ponder why we believe what we see when we lose ourselves in the details. Where Were We includes eleven new paintings and a series of small black and white drawings.

Born in Istanbul, Canan Tolon has lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 30 years. She has exhibited in New York, Los Angeles, London, and Berlin and in both Istanbul and Ankara, where she has a devoted following. Her work is included in the public collections of the British Museum in London and Istanbul Modern in Istanbul. Educated in Germany, England, and at UC Berkeley, Tolon has exhibited with the gallery since 1997.