Hans Wendt was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1973 and raised in Prince Edward Island. He currently lives and works in Millvale, PEI. He has been active as an artist in various mediums for most of his adult life, but began painting seriously following studies at the Ontario College of Art and Design in the 1990s. Since 1999 he has turned his focus to the creation of conceptually driven watercolour paintings.
Recent public gallery exhibitions include “Oh, Canada”, MASS MoCA, Massachusetts, Esker Foundation, Calgary and Gallerie d’Art Louise-et-Reuben-Cohen, Moncton NB; “Hans Wendt/Studio Painting”, Confederation Centre Art Gallery; and “In/Flux: Migrating Culture and Cultural Modernism in PEI”, Confederation Centre Art Gallery.
In 2013 he was long-listed for the Sobey Art Award. His work is in the public collections of the Confederation Centre Art Gallery, National Gallery of Canada and the Department of Global Affairs and many private collections across Canada and the United States.
He currently lives and works in Millvale, PEI.
View party pictures from Hans Wendt & Jenna Faye Powell’s Opening Reception
National Gallery of Canada has purchased three of Hans Wendt’s watercolours.
Watch a short walk-through video of Hans Wendt’s “Paint Samples” exhibition.
New Arrival: Two new conceptually driven watercolour paintings by PEI artist Hans Wendt.
1992-3 Ontario College of Art (completed foundation year) Mentors included Nobuo Kubota, Zoran Kataranovski
1987-92 Private painting and ceramic courses at School of Visual Arts, Charlottetown. Teachers included Barry Jeeves, Gordon Bellamy and Ron Arvidson
1991-5 Potter’s assistant, Dunes Studio Gallery, PEI
1993-9 Apprenticed as a finish carpenter, cabinetmaker and furniture builder under Robert McKann, Los Angeles, California
2019 Fugere (et Irrumabo Inveniet), Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
2017 Paint Samples, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
2017 Art Toronto, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
2017 Out of the Bush Garden: Contemporary Artists from Central-Eastern Canada Palazzo Loredan, for the Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy Curated by Francesca Valente for Imago Mundi: the Lucian Benetton Collection
2016 A Sidelong Glance: Painting after 1970, Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Charlottetown, P.E.I., Curated by Pan Wendt
2016 Art Toronto, Michael Gibson Gallery, London, ON
2015 Nada Miami, The Apartment, Vancouver, BC
2014 Recent Work, The Apartment, Vancouver, BC
2012-2014 Oh, Canada, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, Gallerie d’Art Louise et Reuben Cohen, Moncton NB, Esker Foundation, Calgary, Alberta (Curated by Denise Markonish)
2008 Hans Wendt: Studio Paintings, Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Charlottetown, P.E.I. (Solo exhibition curated by Lee Plested)
2006 In/Flux: Migrating Culture and Cultural Modernism in PEI, Confederation Centre Art Gallery, Charlottetown, P.E.I. (Group exhibition curated by Shauna McCabe)
2005 The Nose of the Beholder, Gallery in the Guild, Charlottetown, P.E.I. (Two-person exhibition)
2003 Hans Wendt: Recent Paintings, The Boiler Room, Port Townsend, Wash. (Solo exhibition)
2000 Darwin and the New Wilderness, Gallery in the Guild, Charlottetown, P.E.I. (Three-person exhibition)
Co-producer, event designer, costume-maker, set designer, graphic designer and music supervisor for over 20 large-scale events with Spacebaby Productions, mostly in Toronto and Charlottetown (1993-2001).
Spacebaby in Droid Trouble, animated film made with Hans Samuelson; presented at the Atlantic Film Festival, Halifax, 1995
2013 Long listed for the Sobey’s Art Award
1999-2011 Several production grants from the Prince Edward Island Council of the Arts
PEI Art Bank
Premier’s Office, Charlottetown, PEI
Confederation Centre Art Gallery
Department of Global Affairs
Luciano Benetton Collection
National Gallery of Canada
Private collections, including:
Lee Plested and Erik von Muller, Vancouver
Michael Devlin III, New York
Beth Rudin DeWoody, Board Member, Whitney Museum of American Art
Paul E. Bain, Toronto, Board Member, Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery
Various Private Collections in North America
October 27 - November 8 - 2020
We are proud to exhibit at the 21st Annual Art Toronto, which will be both online and in-person at a Pop-Up in Toronto.
October 28 - November 7 - 2020
Hans Wendt has painted for us 4 glorious new watercolours that pay homage to the history of minimalist abstraction.
January 14 - February 29 - 2020
“Chroma II” January 14 – February 29, 2020 Our winter group exhibition features paintings that are saturated with glorious colour. Artists included are Jack Bush, Mark Dicey, Jonathan Forrest, James Kirkpatrick, Ron Martin, William Perehudoff, Gordon Rayner, Jonathan Syme, David Urban and Hans Wendt. Chroma is the quality of a colour’s purity, intensity or saturation. […]
October 25 - October 28 - 2019
Art Toronto 2019 – October 25-27, 2019 Metro Toronto Convention Centre Booth #A29 www.arttoronto.ca From October 25-27, 2019 Michael Gibson Gallery exhibited at Art Toronto. We were one of six original galleries who have participated for all 20 years of the fairs history – Christopher Cutts Gallery (Toronto), Corkin Gallery (Toronto), Feheley Fine Arts […]
May 4 - May 23 - 2019
“Power of Placement II” – May 4-23, 2019 We have created vignettes of mid-century modern furniture paired with select artworks by gallery paintings. The seating areas, dining room and living room are all complimented by bold works of art that are enhanced by the furniture. Through the exhibition we show how specific installations can change […]
April 5 - April 27 - 2019
Hans Wendt “Fugere (et Irrumabo Inveniet)” – April 5-27, 2019 Our second solo exhibition for PEI artist Hans Wendt features 12 new trompe l’oeil still-life paintings that continue Wendt’s obsession with cut, ripped, torn and stacked paper samples. Wendt uses as his source material the paper colour swatches that art students use to study colour […]
December 8 - January 11 - 2019
Canadian Watercolours December 8, 2018 – January 11, 2019 In the middle gallery for the month of December we are featuring a curated exhibition of Canadian watercolour artists. Hung salon style, the artists include: Jack Bush, AJ Casson, Paterson Ewen, Franklin Carmichael, Greg Curnoe, Roly Fenwick, Brian Jones, Dorothy Knowles, Ron Martin, Doris McCarthy, […]
October 26 - October 29 - 2018
Art Toronto 2018 – October 26-29 Thank you to everyone who made our 19th year exhibiting at Art Toronto a resounding success. At the opening night gala we were pleased to place a rare Greg Curnoe painting in a Toronto area collection. “View from the Most Southerly Window on the East Wall” (1969-1970) was one […]
April 6 - April 28 - 2018
“The Power of Placement” April 6-28, 2018 For the month of April we have created vignettes of mid-century modern furniture paired with select artworks by gallery artists. The seating areas, dining room and living room are all complimented by bold works of art that are enhanced by the furniture. Through the exhibition we show how […]
January 23 - February 23 - 2018
A Tribute to Colour – January 23 – February 23, 2018 Our February exhibition celebrates colour through the paintings of Jonathan Forrest, William Perehudoff and Hans Wendt. It can be argued that colour is one of the most important elements in a work of art. There are so many different aspects to colour (the […]
November 2 - November 25 - 2017
Hans Wendt “Paint Samples” — November 3 – 25, 2017 This is our first solo exhibition for PEI artist Hans Wendt. Wendt is known for his large-scale photo-realistic watercolour paintings of common objects found in an artist’s studio. Our exhibition features 9 new watercolour paintings of carefully composed cut, ripped, folded and torn […]
October 27 - October 30 - 2017
ART TORONTO 2017 – Booth #A57 October 27-30 Thank you to everyone who attended Art Toronto and made our 18th consecutive year exhibiting a rewarding experience. We curated our booth around the theme of colour and the female figure. Greg Curnoe set the mood with the early rare 1962 “Woman and Mirror” painting, which […]
February 22 - March 31 - 2017
On Paper — February 21 – March 25, 2017 March group exhibition featuring a diverse selection of works “On Paper”. Artworks include colourful acrylic ink drawings by Jason McLean & James Kirkpatrick, watercolours by Ron Martin & Hans Wendt, photograph by Susan Dobson, drawing by Kim Moodie, mixed media wall sculpture by Ed Zelenak and […]
Video featuring new watercolours by PEI artist Hans Wendt featured in our Art Toronto 2020 booth. Hans Wendt uses as his source material the paper colour swatches that art students use to study colour theory. He creates intricate compositions with the samples, lights them dramatically and then paints large-scale watercolours in a photo-realistic manner.
Take a short 2 minute walk-through of Hans Wendt’s November 2017 exhibition “Paint Samples”.
Music: Six gnossiennes: No. 1, Lent by Erik Satie