Billy McCarroll lives in Lethbridge, AB and maintains both a visual art and music practice. It is no surprise that he has found his way to John Cage’s 1969 book NOTATIONS. In McCarroll’s hands Cage’s ideas are newly discovered.
In these works a rigid order is employed with his familiar use of the grid and yet loose experimental pops of colour and intricate patterns become by-‐chance arrangements. Black text on white paper surrounded by solid geometric shapes of intense chroma give way to small windows of what could be described as complete works within the whole of the larger canvas. Intuitive, lyrical and rhythmic it makes one wonder if there isn’t a McCarroll musical composition lurking in these paintings?
McCarroll centres his paintings around procedural systems, endless layers of gesso and paint applied in an automatic fashion creating a silky ground dancing with text and colour. McCarroll compositions are masterful and his ability to express and experiment with text, colour and form invite the viewer to pause, take note, and question your observations.
