DEVOTION

DEVOTION

Michael Bourque + Derrick Te Paske

What does it mean to give something your attention—not for a moment, but for years?

DEVOTION brings together Michael Bourque and Derrick Te Paske, two accomplished artists whose practices are dramatically different, yet connected by an enduring commitment to making. Both have occasionally been described as “obsessive.” They prefer another word: devoted.

Bourque builds vibrant abstract paintings through geometry, repetition, layered color and improvisation. Drawing on a distinguished career in art, photography and commercial interior design, his compositions explore how individual elements can coexist within a larger whole. Structure provides the foundation, but color, abundance and play continually disrupt the order.

Te Paske works slowly and physically with wood, creating sculptural forms that can feel ancient, contemporary, elegant and wonderfully strange. His practice celebrates the beauty of the handmade and his connection to generations of artists and artisans who made objects, in his words, “more carefully crafted and beautiful than they really needed to be.”

Despite their different visual languages, the artists meet in one essential place: time.

Every repeated mark, layer of paint, carved line and polished surface carries evidence of hours willingly spent. In a culture increasingly driven by speed and efficiency, DEVOTION celebrates the opposite—the pleasure of lingering, repeating, refining and caring deeply about something simply because it matters.

Ultimately, DEVOTION is about more than making art. It is about the things we return to throughout our lives: a person, a place, a craft, an idea, a passion.

Perhaps devotion is simply love measured in time. And in the work of Michael Bourque and Derrick Te Paske, time becomes visible.

Join us for the opening reception and meet the artist on Friday, October 2, from 5:00 to 9:00 PM.

TAG | The Art Gallery
Boston, Massachusetts

View the exhibition on ARTSY