ROB BOS ~ lost & found

* english follows ~ Je viens juste de découvrir ROB BOS à son show « LOST & FOUND » avec MIKE PATTEN .. je dois avouer que j'ai été agréablement surpris .. j'ai regardé chacune des petites photographies de peintures bizarres prises dans des lieux bizarres - des non-lieux - et lu tous les extraits merveilleux qui les accompagnent .. contextualisant l'exposition déjà hyper-contextuelle et jouant-sur-idées de cet artiste qui est une sorte d'enfant prodigue des prairies (Regina) .. ici quelques images et textes de l'expo - quelque-chose-à-voir-sans-faute-et-maintenant. Les commentaires (en anglais) proviennent de sources parfois connues, parfois anonymes et reflètent notre perception de l'art et la vie quotidienne elle-même.

I just discovered ROB BOS at his current show « LOST & FOUND » with MIKE PATTEN .. I must say I was happily surprised .. I looked at every single small photographs of akward paintings shot in akward places - non-places - and read all of the wonderful excerpts that came along .. contextualizing the already hyper-contextual play-on-ideas exhibition from this artist who's some kind of a local prodigy in the prairies (Regina) .. here are some images and texts from the show - a feel-good-must-see-thing-of-the-moment. These commentaries come from well known sources as well as anonymous and reflect our perception of art as much as everyday life itself.

Um, I feel a bit sheepish for taking your painting down, I just wanted to look at the back to see who made it. I was having a ciggy break outside the back of Caesar's Palace (where I work), and I like to wander to the graffiti wall to look at it. I found your painting that says "right there". It made me look around. I thought it was a piece by my friend because it looks like something he would paint, colours, text and premise-wise. Thank you for a more interesting work break:) If you want it back, just message me back and let me know.
Charity Michelle Smith

blair and i were driving the van for the open engagement conference, and we had to pick something up at the mackenzie art gallery. as we were leaving the gallery, i noticed the "leave me" painting laying in the snow by the bike rack. i felt sorry for it, so i took it and installed it inside the van, where it remained for the rest of the conference. blair thought it was interesting that my first instinct upon finding a painting that said "leave me" was to take it. the painting now resides in my bathroom, next to my FM3 buddha machine. they look nice together . . .
Jason Cawood

The little paintings in my office
It was the weekend of the Open Engagement conference in Regina, organized by MA student Jennifer Delos Reyes. I had to come into the office on a Saturday to complete research. I was in the office, or just about to walk in/out of the office, when a Regina Public Library security guard approached me with a bundle of small canvases in his hands. He said to me he found them all over the Library, and he wasn't sure what they were doing there, but would I like them (as he knew I was the 'art person' on staff)? I looked at them and thought, Of course, they're great and it would be nice to brighten the space between my desk/phone and the Brenda Jean Pelkey cibachrome photograph hanging high up on that wall. I pinned them in a semi-grid fashion. It was not long after that – maybe a few days – that I found out that they were by local artist Rob Bos. When I realized that, it clicked. They were very much in his style. I offered to give them back to Rob – I felt a bit guilty 'stealing' them, even though they were there for the taking in the library. Still, I had ALL of them, instead of giving them away to the greater public which I imagine was the original artist intention – but I was secretly pleased he let me keep them. I look at them every day in my office, because I enjoy them. They are my caffeine in the mornings, and my sailboat in the afternoons.
Amanda Cachia ~ Curator, Dunlop Art Gallery

ROB BOS ~ BIO :
Rob Bos wants to be an Artist.  He has been trying real hard. He has tried to 'do' the right stuff all according to plan.  for example - He has often worn all black, he got 'arty' thick rimmed glasses, made paintings, went to school for art, he has tried to read many 'heavy art books', went to art lectures, and art shows, and has tried to 'understand' what it is all about. After university, starting an art gallery seemed like a good idea, so he did that and the gallery lasted three years hosting over 40 exhibitions.  Rob can be shy and awkward and the gallery gave him something to talk about, helping him be social.  After the gallery closed the best idea he could come up with was presenting five exhibitions at once.  Often plagued by depression and low self opinion, Rob has used these personal elements to push himself further - to do something.  Ultimately his goal is to find a responsible manner to exist in the world doing as much as he wants, and as little of what he doesn't.