Montreal artist explores emotion, memory and landscape through textured oil paintings
Montreal visual artist Bob Venafro is returning to Galerie ERGA this summer with About Time, his sixth solo exhibition at the gallery, presenting a new collection of textured forest and seascape paintings that reflect on emotion, change and the passage of time.
The exhibition will run from June 30 to July 5 at the Montreal gallery, with an alcohol-free vernissage scheduled for July 2 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The showcase features new works created using Venafro’s signature palette knife and impasto techniques, styles that have earned the artist recognition among collectors across North America, Europe and Oceania.
At 75, Venafro continues to expand a career that began later in life but has steadily gained international attention for its sculptural surfaces and emotionally driven landscapes.
A career shaped by reinvention and reflection
The title About Time reflects both the subject matter and the personal evolution behind the exhibition. For Venafro, time is not measured through chronology, but through emotional experience and transformation.
“About Time is all about change. It is about being flexible. Time is a commodity that lives in us. And we choose how we spend it,” offered Venafro.
Before becoming a full-time artist, Venafro spent two decades working in health and social services as a social worker before advancing into leadership roles. He later entered the financial services sector, helping younger clients plan for the future. Those careers, he says, shaped the emotional foundation of his artistic approach.
He began painting in 2009, three years before retirement, viewing the practice as a deliberate transition into the next phase of his life.
“Retiring needs planning, and not just financial,” he says. “Many people do not think about replacing the time they spent at work. Reality hits, and then panic.”
Painting became that replacement, and nearly two decades later, it remains central to his daily life and creative identity.
Impasto landscapes designed to evoke feeling
Venafro works almost exclusively with a palette knife, applying thick layers of oil paint to create highly textured surfaces. The result is a form of impasto painting that gives each work a sculptural quality, with raised textures that extend outward from the canvas.
Rather than focusing on strict realism, Venafro says his paintings are intended to capture emotional responses to natural environments, particularly forests and oceans that have inspired him since childhood.
“Though I am creating art, I am evoking an emotion. I paint what a landscape feels like, not only what it looks like. I am asking the viewer to come and do the same.”
The artist credits his wife Carol, with whom he has shared 52 years of marriage, for introducing him to broader landscapes through travel beyond the dense Montreal neighbourhoods where he grew up. Experiences near coastlines and forests became recurring themes in his work, including inspiration drawn from Mount Royal.
Venafro’s paintings have drawn praise from critics, artists and viewers alike for their emotional depth and technical execution.
“A powerful work where texture and light intertwine to evoke a deep sense of stillness and underlying motion. The use of the palette knife doesn’t just build form, it sculpts atmosphere. It’s not just a seascape, but a moment suspended between thought and tide. Truly compelling.” – Anatoly Winston Miles, writer/digital artist/visual analyst
“Artist Bob Venafro’s impasto style of work is explored in the ‘I see through seasons’ series. Venafro evokes human characteristics into trees and creates a dramatic effect. These noble and courageous giants in nature are given the representation they deserve in Venafro’s work.” – Carrie Schiblinsky, ArtBomb
“Oil seems to love you! That is rare!” – Martin Blanchet, artist
“Beautiful colours. The more I stare at this painting the more I see and the more the colours seem to blend, bend, and morph creating almost a living landscape with new features.” – Brendan Jacobs
Community engagement remains central to artistic practice
Alongside his studio work, Venafro has spent the past three years volunteering as curator of the gallery at the Old Brewery Mission, one of Montreal’s leading shelters supporting people experiencing homelessness.
Every three months he organizes exhibitions focused on accessibility and inclusion, reflecting his belief that art should exist within everyday community spaces rather than exclusively within formal institutions.
That philosophy also shapes the presentation of About Time. The exhibition’s vernissage will be alcohol-free and open to all visitors, serving tea, coffee and pastries in an effort to create a more welcoming environment.
Venafro has also recently removed his signature from the front of his paintings to keep viewers fully immersed in the artwork itself.
“The richness of the surface leaves little room for a discreet signature,” he explained.
Each painting included in the exhibition will be accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity confirming its provenance.
Exhibition details
About Time – New paintings by Bob Venafro
Galerie ERGA
Tuesday, June 30 – Sunday, July 5
Vernissage
Thursday, July 2 at 5 p.m.
Alcohol-free and open to all
Gallery hours
Tuesday: 2 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Wednesday and Thursday: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Friday: 11 a.m. – 6:30 p.m.
Saturday and Sunday: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Location
6394 St. Laurent Blvd, Montreal
Online
www.venafrobob.com
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