Booklyn Artist’s Book Fair

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I have been busy working on new series of limited edition Artist books with Purgatory Pie Press titled “Cartesian Lace Bricolage”. The five sculptural books will feature letterpress prints of my Cartesian Lace drawings in two size scales and a variety of overlapping configurations. The construction of these pieces incorporates a new syncopated intertwined double accordion structure that I have been developing over the past year. We will have this new work on display at the Booklyn Artist’s Book Fair in Manhattan next weekend.
You can find the location and opening hours of the fair here.
Susan Happersett

Finding Fibonacci

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Two Fibonacci Number sightings.
I am happy to report that the “Box of Growth” set of artist’s books published by Purgatory Pie Press in 1999 is on display at Connecticut College’s exhibition “Loose Leafs and Bindings: Book Arts and Prints”. This set of five small books feature my counted marking drawings that illustrate Fibonacci Sequence growth patterns.
Installed in the backroom at the Odetta gallery in Brooklyn. I found two cement Fibonacci Numbers from Patrick Gallagher and Chris Klapper’s “Exploring the Poetry of Numbers” series.
This number is F67, the 67th number in the Fibonacci Sequence
This number is F96, the 96th number in the Fibonacci Sequence.
Susan Happersett

“Falling into Place” at Odetta Gallery

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The Odetta Gallery in Brooklyn is currently presenting a group show titled “Falling into Space”. It explores how physical forces affect the position of objects the artists each utilized a distinct geometric language.
Mary Schiliro’s acrylic painting on Mylar “Cat’s Cradle 7” from 2006 incorporates two columns of circular cutouts. The vertical line of reflection symmetry resulting from the cutouts is subverted by the fluid veil of blue transparent paint.

Schiliro’s installment “Disembody” from 2017 continues the theme of a straight line of circular cutouts. The long Mylar ribbon is presented in loops hung from a plexiglass rod running through the center of the gallery. The forces of gravity creating the undulating curtain. The cutaways lined up to create a series of voids illustrating the concept of positive and negative space.

Daniel G Hill’s wire frame wall drawing “Dishtowel Fold” from 2018 is a construction using straight lines to present the basic outline and folds of a form effected by gravity. The two ends are isosceles right triangles. The left hand triangle flush against the wall and the right hand triangle falling forward off the plane.

All of the work in “Falling into Place” involves each artists’ geometric processes in a very personal way. The viewer can move through the gallery and interact with each piece on a very human level.

Susan Happersett

Josef Albers at David Zwirner 

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The David Zwirner gallery is presenting “Sonic Albers” an exhibition related to Alber’s interests in music and sonic phenomena. Albers is known for his his investigations  into color and geometric forms. His series of paintings “Homage to the Square” produced between 1950-1976 are an iconic contribution to the lexicon of 20th century Art. This current solo exhibition includes some work almost devoid of color, only using black and white.
“Structural Constellation M-9” from1954 is a line drawing created using machine-engraved plastic laminate that references the outlines of geometric solids in 3-D space. Two rectangular cubes share a segment of one side. The central figure is a rhombus depicting the shared section. It seems as though the two solids are sliding against each other on the same plane.
Here is another panel from the “Structural Constellation” series instead of featuring closed geometric solids this work depicts open forms that share edges in what looks like a precarious arrangement.
Susan Happersett

More Art at JMM Exhibition

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Here are two more great selections from the Art Exhibition at JMM.
Uyen Nguyen creates computer generated origami. Using precise Mathematical calculations, “Wiggle” presents a raised modeling of a non-linear curve. It can be folded up accordion style into a compact pattern.
“Symmetrical Studies 19” an Ink on acetate drawing by Olivia Bridget O’Mahoney has an interesting order 9 rotational symmetry. The artist incorporates both a curvilinear wave type of illustration as well as a straight edge cubic rendering. O’Mahoney states that this piece  was inspired by the work of both Leonardo Da Vinci and Stephen Hawking.
Susan Happersett

Exhibition of Mathematical Art at the 2019 Joint Mathematics Meetings in Baltimore

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Once again this year the most popular venue in the conference hall is the Art exhibition. There were dozens of exciting art works on display and here are just a few of my favorites.
Matt Enlow’s prints “Breaking The Ruled”  have been shaped to mimic the old school, student wide-ruled binder paper. In an interesting twist Enlow questions the confines of parallel lines. In this example the vertical red margin stays in its traditional location but the blue lines are no longer all horizontal instead the distance between them becomes smaller from left to write across the page. There is the perception that these might be parallel  lines going into the distance, utilizing rules of perspective.
Stephen Kenny explores the concept of nine point circles in his color pencil drawing “Nine Point Circle and Euler Line for an Acute Angle”. A Nine Point Circle is constructed in reference to a particular triangle. The nine points consist of : the midpoints of each of the three sides, the foot of each of the three altitudes, and the mid point between each vertex and the orthocenter (the point where the three altitudes intersect). Kenny incorporates these complex geometric constructions to define the abstract shapes and create straight-edge wedges of color.
Susan Happersett

Knitting Circle at Joint Mathematics Meeting – JMM Baltimore 2019

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This year the Joint Mathematics Meeting was held in Baltimore Maryland. There has been a lot of discussion into the mathematics involved in the patterns of knitting, crocheting and other needle crafts. One of the featured events at the conference was a Knitting Circle, where people could work on, and share, their fiber arts projects. Much of the work being produced had a mathematical component. Here are a few photos from the gathering.

Rebekah DuPont , Ted Ashton, Carolyn Yachel

Corrine Yap

Wendy Smith

Kim Plafker, Jeff Suzuki

Much more from JMM next week.

Susan Happersett

Julio Le Parc at the Met Breuer

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The MET Breuer is currently presenting a solo exhibition of the work of Julio Le Parc. Focusing predominantly on his work made around the year 1959, just at the time the Argentinian artist moved to Paris. Much of the work on display involves the use of sequences of geometric figures to create a sense of movement through space.

In “Rotation of Fractioned Circles” each of the unevenly divided circles remain the same. It the position of the dividing chord within each circle that changes as the circle rotates 10 degrees around it center point. The progression follows left to right then down to the next line then left to right again.

“Metamorphosis of a Line” is a series of nine panels beginning on the left with a horizontal line segment. This line segment seems to fold open becoming a rhombus with obtuse angles at the top and bottom vertices. These angles become smaller. On the fifth panel all vertices are 90 degree angles forming a square. The angles of the top and bottom vertices continue to decrease. The angles of the side vertices of become obtuse until the rhombus folds inward leaving a vertical line segment.

Le Parc’s elegant and precise gouaches illustrate geometric forms changing and moving through a series of consecutive images. These works are the precursor to his later Kinetic art in the 1960’s.

Susan Happersett

“Fallen Stars” at LUNA FETE

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LUNA FETE is New Orleans’ annual festival of light art and technology. One of the monumental installations this year was “Fallen Stars” presented by the design collective Raven PMG.


Each of the icosahedron star sculptures incorporate pulsing lines of lights to create ever changing 3-D drawings in the darkness.
The huge scale of the stars allow the viewer to walk through the collection of stars and be transported into the celestial theme.

More Math Art soon – Happy New Year!

Susan

Hilma af Klint at the Guggenheim Museum

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The Guggenheim museum is presenting the first major solo US exhibition of the groundbreaking work of Hilma af Klint, titled “Paintings of the Future”. Although created in the early part of 20th century, this work remained virtually unrecognized until 1986. These paintings made between 1906 and 1915 are now considered paradigm changing so the first non representational totally abstract work of the Western world. The artist felt her art was too radical for her contemporaries so she did  to want them shown until twenty years after her death.
Although her art was based and generated by af Klint’s spiritual practice, the paintings depict geometric phenomenon.
This large painting is “No.17 Group IX/SUW, The Swan ” from 1915. It shows a circle bifurcated through the vertical center line. The left hand side consists of two layers an outer white layer and an inner black core. The right hand side in contrast has three concentric layers of bright colors.
This concentric theme has been examined many artists years later.
“No 22 Group IX /SUW, The Swan” also from 1915, examines the concept of a cube projected on the 2-D plane. Dividing the square canvas with guide lines one through the center vertically, and two horizontal lines. These horizontal lines are located a distance away from the top and bottom of the canvas of 1/4 of the length of each side. This configuration creates two squares in the center of the work to build the isosceles triangles and rhombi to create the illusion of the cube and it’s interior space.
This exhibition is really a major development in the art world. The well deserved recognition of  Hilda af Klint is finally receiving, requires art history to make adjustments to both it’s time line and credit for the development of abstract painting. As someone interested in abstract geometric paintings for a long time, as I walked up the spirals of the Guggenheim Museum I kept thinking about these painting that I was seeing for the first time, “where have you been all of my life?”
Susan Happersett