John Meredith
(1933–)
(–2000)
John Meredith
1933–2000
John Meredith Smith (1933–2000), known professionally as John Meredith, was a Canadian Abstract Expressionist painter from Brampton, ON. He is known for his colour-rich paintings that feature loose figurative elements, vertical lines, and elements of his personal language of forms and calligraphy that he developed over the course of his career.
Born in Fergus, ON, Meredith moved to Brampton as child where he grew up with his older brother William Ronald, co-founder of Canadian abstract painting group Painters Eleven. From 1950 to 1953, Meredith studied at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto under Jock Macdonald, who first sparked his interest in abstract art. After graduation, he worked as a cartoonist for Brampton’s local newspaper, the Brampton Conservator.
His early abstract work was somber, featuring dark colours interspersed with red and purple, with his signature loose figurative elements. The first exhibition of his work was held in 1958 at Toronto’s Gallery of Contemporary Art, followed by a solo show at the Issacs Gallery in Toronto in 1961. Throughout the late 1960s, Meredith’s work took on a brighter colour scheme and was included in numerous exhibitions. To create his more colourful works, Meredith began by creating small ink drawings which were then split into a grid before being transformed into largescale paintings. This method allowed for his work to become increasingly large and complex.
Meredith’s paintings and preparatory drawings have been exhibited in Canada and internationally. In 1986, a 30-year survey of his work was organized in his hometown at the Art Gallery of Peel. His work has also been collected by the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto; the Art Gallery of Vancouver; and the Musée des beaux-arts de Montreal, among others. Meredith was represented by the Isaacs Gallery from 1962 until the gallery closed in 1991.
