Purgatorio, A Drinkingbout (Series of Drinkers – Smokey The Bar, No. 2), (detail) 1981.

Sandra Meigs’ work is at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art in Ottawa through August, part of an exhibit of holdings from the National Gallery of Canada called This is Paradise.  For more than three decades, her work has received accolades for contemporary ingenuity. In Purgatorio, which includes dioramas, the bar  “captures the angst and sociability of the ’80s, and how the club and art scenes converged.”

-Purgatorio, a Drinkingbout, view 3 of 5

About her work, in the artist’s words:

“I anticipate … an explosion of color, at first the colors will look ungainly, like blobby forms coughed onto the wall: minty green, cerulean blue, milk chocolate brown … within the ground there are hidden figures and things: a toe, a dog head, a breast, etc. The viewer’s exploration of these comes to fruition when close to the canvas. When stepping away to a distance, they are lost. ” –Sandra Meigs