Sol LeWitt at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sol LeWitt’s ” Wall Drawing #370″ is currently on display in a long corridor on the first floor of the museum.

The directions for”Wall Drawing #370″ are: “Ten Geometric Figures (including right triangle cross X, diamond) with three-inch parallel bands of lines in two directions”. LeWitt wrote the conceptual plan for these drawings in 1968.

Each of the ten panels feature alternating black and white lines that run either vertically or horizontally. The shapes depicted, however, feature curves and non-right angles, and lines that cross do so in a perpendicular fashion.

Each shape also has some type of symmetry either reflective or rotational.

I have always been a huge fan of Sol Lewitt’s Wall Drawings. Besides the obvious geometric mathematical elements to the work LeWitts underlying conceptual process shares theoretical similarities with Mathematical Algorithms.

In 1967 Sol LeWitt published his “Paragraph’s on Conceptual Art” in Artforum magazine. Here is an excerpt:

“In Conceptual Art the idea or the concept is the most important aspect of the work….all planning and decisions are made beforehand and execution is a perfunctory affair. The idea is the machine that makes the art.”

As a comparison I want to look at what David Berlinski writes about algorithm in his book “The Advent of Algorithm”:

“As Algorithm is a finite procedure, written in a fixed symbolic vocabulary governed by precise instructions, moving in discreet steps,1,2,3…whose execution requires no insight, cleverness, intuition, intelligence, or perspicuity, and that sooner or later comes to an end.”

I feel there is definitely a relationship between Sol LeWitt’s description of Conceptual Art and the way that mathematical algorithms perform, I also see a connection in this early work of LeWitt and the birth of the computer age….. But I will leave that for another blog.
If you are going to be in NYC anytime in the next 14 months, go see the Wall Drawings at the Metropolitan. They are powerful and graceful and up until January 3, 2016!

— FibonacciSusan

Roman Opalka at Dominique Lévy Gallery

Posted by Susan Happersett

In 1965, Roman Opalka began his mission to paint the numbers from 1 to infinity consecutively. In that year, on a black canvas, he painted the number 1 in the upper left corner with a tiny brush and white paint. He continued this practice through 233 canvases over more than forty years. The title of this monumental work is “1965/1- ∞”. Each of the individual canvases is simply titled “Détails”. There are between 20,000 and 30,000 numbers on each canvas. In 1968 the artist switched to a gray background, then after counting to one million, he added 1 percent more white pigment to each new background until 2008 when the work became white on white.

The Dominique Lévy Gallery on the Upper East side of Manhattan is exhibiting a selection of paintings from “1965/1-∞”, as well photographs of the artist that he took everyday in front of the canvas on which he was currently working. This photo documentation of time passing and the artist aging, creates an especially poignant message. There was no way for Opalka to actually reach infinity in his paintings. It is the poetic nature of these canvases that relates the spirituality of counting. The artist addresses the importance of numbers in the human psyche to signify progression.The concentration required to physically paint this list of consecutive numerical digits seems like a meditation on both time and mortality.
Pictures courtesy of the gallery and the artist.

More MathArt next time,

FibonacciSusan

Two Perspectives: Kristen Schiele and Amanda Valdez

Posted by Susan Happersett

I have just see two different solo exhibitions where the artists had very different ways of using geometric patterns in their work.

Kristen Schiele at Lu Magnus Gallery

Spirit Girls – Kristen Schiele
Picture courtesy pf the artist and the gallery

At the Lu Magnus gallery Kristen Schiele has an exhibition titled “Spirit Girls”. This show is Schiele’s expression of the future world her young daughter will experience. There are layers of figurative illustrations and geometric patterning.

Here is a view of the gallery wall with a series of patterned parallel boards installed in a corner. This alludes to the layers of lines and patterns in the rest of the work. What interests me about this work is the silk screen overlays and underlays of mathematical lines and shapes. They created a disjointed quality to the work. Schiele seems to be using the parallel lines, radiating lines, and star and triangle grids as a metaphor for travel into the future.

Spirit Girls – Kristen Schiele
Picture courtesy pf the artist and the gallery

In “Spirit Girls”, an acrylic painting with silkscreen the sliver of a woman’s profile is at the center of the work, with an explosion of lines radiating from behind. There are also sections of geometric patterning. To me, the use of these mathematical patterns express the non-linear nature of Schiele’s projected future society. This is an excellent example of the use of mathematical forms being used to make art about sociology.

Amanda Valdez at Denny Gallery

Artist Amanda Valdez incorporates geometry into her work as a connection to Art History. At the Denny Gallery, Valdez is exhibiting paintings in her solo show titled “Thick as Thieves”, that incorporate quilt elements. These pieced fabric sections relate to the Bauhaus workshops, Islamic design, as well as traditional quilts.

Amanda Valdez – Wild Goose Chase (2014)
Picture courtesy of the artist and the gallery

In the work “Wild Goose Chase” 2014, fabric and gesso on canvas, there is a large central shape made out of fabric columns of isosceles triangles. The direction of the triangles’ points and bases alternate from one column to the next, creating a glide reflection symmetry. There are horizontal lines of reflection and then a horizontal translation.

Both Kristen Schiele and Amanda Valdez use geometric patterns in their work. Schiele”s work is inspired by the future, while Valdez has plumbed a wide scope of artistic traditions to connect with the present.

FibonacciSusan

James Siena Typewriter Drawings at Sargent’s Daughters Gallery

Posted by Susan Happersett

James Siena has had a successful career creating algorithmically created abstract paintings. Some of his most recent work involves using manual typewriters and are on display at the Sargent’s Daughters Gallery on The Lower East side. Using a typewriter to create art is not a new phenomenon. For over a century artists have been experimenting with typewriters. The Bauhaus artist H.N. Werkman and the poets of the Concrete Poetry Movement of the 1960’s are good examples.
Siena creates mathematical visual poetry, using algorithms to determine which typewriter keys are pushed, and in which order. Instead of a pen, pencil, or brush with ink, lead or paint, Siena uses the the depression of the type writer keys and red or black typewriter ribbons to execute his mark making.

James Siena – Untitled (0-9, ten, eight, six, four, three, two, one), 2014 – ink on paper
Picture courtesy of the artist and the gallery 11 x 8.5 inches

The drawing “Untitled (0-9, ten, eight, six, four, three, two, one)” features vertical zigzag pattern that is created by the visual variations of the digits. There are horizontal lines of reflection symmetry running through the chevron pattern.

James Siena – Untitled (flat helix), 2014 – ink on paper
Picture courtesy of the artist and the gallery 11 x 8.5 inches

In the work “Untitled (Flat Helix)” – a helix is a coil curve – the artist engages the viewer in an interesting counting exercise. The first row is all ones. The next ones and twos. the third row is ones, twos and threes. This continues until the digits go from one through nine and then zero. Below this solid section of text, the pattern changes with a row of all ones, then all twos, etc. Farther down the page spaces and shifts are introduced to the drawing adding zigzag elements.

I can only imagine the amount of planning and rule development required before Siena hit the first type writer key. The elegant patterns and poetry Siena coaxed from the manual printing process of these machines is amazing.

FibonacciSusan

Jacob Hashimoto at Mary Boone Gallery

Posted by Susan Happersett

The artist Jacob Hashimoto has created a breathtaking installation at the Mary Boone Gallery in Chelsea NYC. “Sky Farm Fortress” fills the entire main room of the gallery.

This huge 3-D grid environment is comprised of a multitude of kite-like square, circular, and hexagonal elements. These small elements consist of thin paper over bamboo support bars that cross in the center.

The paper panels are suspended from the ceiling with black thread. The arrangements of these panels are based on the structure of the cube. They hang in a series of rows and columns, sometimes with large gaps, where only the thread is visible so the viewer can see the next series of shapes in the background.

The ceiling of the gallery is completely filled with the paper grid, that trembles as the air circulates through the room.

Jacob Hashimoto has created two different dichotomies in his “Sky Farm Fortress” installation. The work incorporates the rigid structure of a 3-D Cartesian system grid, but the individual elements are not static, they move in response to air flow of the gallery. Hashimoto uses small ephemeral paper elements that appear fragile in nature to construct a monumental work of art. I have already visited the gallery twice to experience this exhibition and I plan to go again. It will be on display until October 25th.