Brian Harvey | Afterglow
Oct 4 – 25
Reception: Saturday, October 4 @ 3 – 5 pm
RSVP your attendance to responses@wallspacegallery.ca
Presales are open Saturday, Sept. 27 @ 10 am, online, in-person and via phone at 613-729-0003. If you would like to preview an artwork before collecting it, please contact the gallery at info@wallspacegallery.ca
Wall Space Gallery is proud to present Afterglow, a solo exhibition by Brian Harvey that meditates on the changing urban landscape of Ottawa through intimate portrayals of old diners, back alleys, and forgotten corners.
Harvey’s paintings capture the quiet pulse of a city in flux, spaces often dismissed as banal or overlooked become powerful vessels for memory, history, and the relentless passage of time. Ottawa is undergoing significant transformation: rapid development, gentrification, and shifts in community life are altering the city’s architectural and social fabric. Through his brush, Harvey preserves the afterglow of spaces on the brink of change, revealing what lingers even as the city moves forward.
Works like 24 Hour Glow and Checkered evoke the sensory richness of Ottawa’s old diners, cherished communal spaces that continue to offer warmth and connection amid the city’s ongoing transformation. In 24 Hour Glow, the shimmering reflection of a neon sign in a rain-soaked street captures a moment of quiet radiance, with its glowing light serving as a symbol of enduring presence and familiarity within a dynamic urban landscape. Meanwhile, Checkered invites viewers into a sunlit, timeworn diner, where the worn tile floors and the rustle of a newspaper evoke the intimate rhythms of daily life and social interaction that remain vital threads in Ottawa’s evolving story.
In Pigeons, Harvey subtly gestures to the coexistence of nature and the urban, and the traces of human presence etched into weathered walls. The work speaks to the resilience of place, even as it is transformed. The afterglow that gives the exhibition its name is not just about light or time but the lingering impressions that shape our experience of city life.
Afterglow invites viewers to reconsider what is often ignored in the rush toward progress. By focusing on the overlooked corners of Ottawa, Harvey’s paintings become acts of preservation and reflection, inviting us to pause and witness the fragile beauty in urban transition.
Curator
Haruka Toyoda
Featured work:
Solace, Oil on panel
Dimanche, Oil on panel
