Dan Flavin at David Zwirner

Posted by Susan Happersett

David Zwirner is presenting the exhibition “Corners, Barriers and Corridors” at the 20th street gallery. This show presents the work of Dan Flavin from the late 1960’s into the 1970’s. The artist is famous for his use of fluorescent light constructions to define geometry within a space.

“Untitled (to Sonja)”, 1969

Much of Flavin’s work involved the use of straight lines and grids. I was particularly happy to see a work that was all about circles.

“Untitled (to a man,George McGovern) 2” ,1972

Situated in the corner of the room “Untitled (to a man, George McGovern) 2” from 1972 is made up of a series of columns of circles of light. They descend in order from a height of ten circles to a single circle. The juxtaposition of the curves of the circles with the straight edges of the corner space and the placement of the circles with in a grid creates an interesting tension. The 45 degree angle produced by the descending columns gives the illusion that the circles are rolling down the construction. Dan Flavin is known as a minimalist and this work uses only the most basic elements, circles within an environment of straight lines, but the impact is impressive.

Susan Happersett

Mark Barrow and Sarah Parke at Elizabeth Dee Gallery

Posted by Susan Happersett

“wave, particle, string” is the title of the exhibition at the Elizabeth Dee gallery featuring the collaborative work of Sarah Parke and Mark Barrow.

I was walking across West 20th street when I spotted this great great mosaic in the front window of the gallery. Created by applying tiny squares of black, red, green, and blue vinyl directly to the glass, it forms a grid based on the Cartesian coordinate system. Inside the gallery there is a diverse selection of work consisting of woven textiles, painting and videos. I found the “Swipe paintings” particularly interesting.

Barrow and Parke are interested in the organization within systems of data. Taking small patterns of geometric information and repeating them through framework of the Cartesian grids, the results are both complex and ordered. In the “swipe” paintings the color changes are based on the finger swipes Barrow has made drawing on an iPad. This reinforces the link between the mathematical elements of the work and technology.

Susan Happersett

Terry Haggerty at Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

Posted by Susan Happersett

The Fall season is in full swing in the New York art world. All of the galleries have opened fresh shows and I am continuing my Math/Art treasure hunt. The Sikkema Jenkins & Co. gallery in Chelsea is exhibiting the brand new work of Terry Haggerty. A virtuoso of parallel lines, Haggerty is able to create an illusion of depth without the use of shading.

“Detatched” – 2015 – Acrylic on wood panel

Although the paintings are on flat panels of wood, the ribbons of line seem to bend and fold. Haggerty’s technique of using hard edge lines creates an optical paradox as his forms seem to loop through space.

“Torque” – 2015 – Acrylic on wood

The painting “Torque” depicts a closed loop that appears to be twisting around itself.

“Easily Lost” – 2015- Acrylic on wood panel

Image 3 x.

“Easily Lost” is one of the most complex structure in the exhibition.The ribbon of parallel lines is thinner than in other paintings and the loop is arranged in a circuit three overlapping rings.

Haggerty uses the vocabulary of Hard Edge and Minimalist painters from years ago, but by incorporating parallel lines he has allowed his geometric forms to optically leave the 2-dimensional plane.

Susan Happersett

Pathmakers at MAD (Museum of Art and Design – New York City)

Posted by Susan Happersett

The Museum of Art and Design is currently showing the exhibition “Pathmakers: Women in Art, Craft and Design, Midcentury and Today”. It showcases the work of women who were pioneers in Modernist design, as well as the work of contemporary female artists who continue the modernist aesthetic tradition. There is a broad selection of materials represented, fibers, textiles, ceramics, and metal work. One of the most interesting materials used was soap bubbles. The “Surface Tension Lamp” (2014) designed by Swedish FRONT (Sofia Lagervist, Charlotte van der Lancken and Anna Lindgren) for Booo B.V is a lighting fixture that blows bubbles. Soap bubbles play an important role in Mathematics. The problem of minimal surfaces shows us that the way to enclose a specific volume of air with the least amount of surface area is to create a spherical soap bubble. When you have two bubbles sharing a soap film wall things get even more interesting.