When The Sun Hits Galerie Alain Gutharc is pleased to present When The Sun Hits, a solo show of new paintings by Canadian artist Kris Knight. For his third exhibition with the gallery, Knight continues to construct scenes of glimpsed beauty, slow-burn longing and quiet in-between moments that define his queer experience. His sensitive portraits and figurative works portray his friends and acquaintances in solitary contemplation, longstanding relationships and mildly elegiac scenes of leisure and selfcare. He imbues his contemporary subject matter with historical art references and colour palettes in both natural and domestic settings. When The Sun Hits is the second part of a body of work that references notions of Victorian wellness that the artist started during the pandemic lockdown – the first exhibition referenced European garden portraiture that was created during the height of Tuberculosis, the second part moves locations from the garden to the shore, referencing the medical fad of “sea cure”: the sun, air and sea trifecta that was promoted by 18th-century doctors as a “cure all” for all ailments. Knight’s subjects escape the noise and heaviness of contemporary life for the tranquility of the sea, finding ecstasy in quietness and the freedom in simplicity. However, the delicate calm of his work is often shadowed by a layer of introspective dread humming in the background of all of his paintings. With this series Knight presents an elegant, intimate world dominated by lyrical mood, desire and subtle melancholy.
