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Color {space} Form
Cyclops
9” x 9.5” x 6.5”
oil, ink, latex, & enamel on canvas
Desert Flora and Fauna
18” x 12” x 5”
oil, ink, latex, & enamel on canvas
Postulates & Theorems
24” x 20” x 9”
oil, ink, latex, & enamel on canvas over gator board
Postulates & Theorems
(sideview)
Fortification
19” x 27” x 7”
oil, ink, latex, & enamel on canvas over gator board
Fortification
(sideview)
Sacred Geometry
24” x 26” x 6.5”
oil, ink, latex, & enamel on canvas over gator board
Sacred Geometry
(sideview)
Painting Towards Form
October 2008
Stacked
24" x 17"
oil, ink, latex, enamel on wood panel
Willy Wonka (detail)
54" x 48"
oil, ink, latex, enamel on woood panel
About to be Uttered
14" x 12"
oil, ink, latex, enamel on canvas
Intersection
54" x 48"
oil, ink, latex, enamel on woood panel
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Artist Statement
color {SPACE} form
INVESTIGATIONS IN AND AROUND THE STRUCTURE OF SPACE IN PAINTING, SCULPTURE AND ARCHITECTURE
“after all, the aim of art is to create space – space that is not compromised by decoration or illustration, space in which the subjects of painting can live. This is what painting has always been about” (Frank Stella 1986, 5; ‘Working Space’)
“Color {Space} Form” is a creative exploration into the depiction of pictorial, sculptural and architectural space. At its heart, it posits, through an act of making, a vision of contemporary space. Within Western thought there is a long tradition of spatial development & exploration. From the early middle ages, through the Renaissance and up to the modern time, each era’s depiction/construction of space becomes a world or window into how experience is perceived. In today’s global world, collapsed time, virtual reality, reality T.V. and the internet all weave a “new immediacy” where these developments act as cues in the shaping of contemporary space. My investigations into pictorial, cultural and physical space collectively seek an understanding of the effects, opportunities, and outcomes these and other cues have on contemporary spatial expression and its development.
“Color {Space} Form”, when considered in relation to my larger body of work as both and artist and architect, represents a further clarification and amplification of my interest in the SPACE of artistic and inspirational experience. The of the work of this project initially appears to be very similar to my previous work, “Painting Towards Form”, as it employ a similar language of color and form. Here however, there is a focused effort to explore and exploit a much more exaggerated experience of actual 3-dimensional physical space within the pieces. This actual or real pictorial space, acts in a contemporary since similar to the way other types of two dimensional pictorial space (flattened space, perspective space, etc.) did throughout the history of western painting, as a place for the “subject of painting to live.” This real pictorial space is achieved in two ways: first the physical construction and sculpting of the paint into organized spatial relationships (‘paint modeling’); and second, the manipulation of the painting panel itself. While explored to lesser degree in earlier works, these panel manipulations (recesses/protrusions/etc.) allow for the surface of the work to develop its own spatial cues and conditions and as a further consequence can start to be seen as potential sites for the building of paint. With these two developments a sort of game appears in which panel and paint engage each other in a dialogue or a spatial dance that defines the form of the work. The result is not wholly dissimilar to the way pre-perspective and perspective painting used various forms of mathematical and or other techniques (Giotto’s overlapping images, the creation of linear perspective, etc.) to structurally organize pictorial space.
“through one pictorial device or another the greatest percentage of the world’s painting has dealt with the representation of space” (William Seitz, from ‘Changing Images of Pictorial Space’ by William V. Dunning, 1991).
In addition to the spatial developments discussed above, the use of color, various paint types (oil, enamel, latex, latex enamel, Ink, etc.), states of drying, as well as various application techniques have also been explored in the work. These materials and techniques further the spatial development of the project by either enforcing conditions already in place or creating new unexpected color-relational opportunities. In particular, the relation between paint’s particular drying state, its level of viscosity (solidified, semi-solidified, gel/paste, liquid, watery, etc.) and its application method including timing and positioning within a work, has been examined at length. This has led to an understanding not only of different paint types, but of their particular properties in terms of quality of color rendition, adherence and the 3-dimentional/textural abilities under various dried and semi-dried states. The final positioning of paint; the act of painting, is based on the type, thickness, color, solidity and texture as well as spatial conditions already inherent/developed in the work. The intent being to uncover a spatial/color situation not previously apparent or expected that might provoke insight into a contemporary structure, organization, or pattern of spatial experience.
“Color {Space} Form” investigates the experience of contemporary spatial structure. It does so through a crossing of what are understood to be three different types of spatial traditions: Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. The belief is that although these three disciplines operate in different arena’s of life they actually reveal a similar spatial foundation, and it is through the overlapping of their similarities & differences, that this project unveils and explores opportunities as well as deficiencies in what we experience as contemporary space. Through this unveiling, it is further assumed that alternative conceptions concerning the myriad of contemporary life may be envisioned as well as more diverse and adaptable structures/patterns of contemporary space may be celebrated.
“ Measuring time and space through poetic mimesis was the original task of the architect, and it remained a prime concern for the Renaissance architects.” (Alberto Perez-Gomez, 1997, Page 40, ‘Architectural Representation and the Perspective Hinge’)
“Space as a mindless, wisdom less, lifeless void was not a common notion at any time before the scientific revolution,” (Owen Barfield, 1965, Page 149. ‘Saving Appearances; a study in Idolatry’)
“We live in an age of measurement,’ Hockney has said, “but the great achievement of modern art, of Picasso, and others of the Cubists, was to eliminate distance.” (David Hockney, Dallas Morning News, January 6, 1985 from Robert D. Romanyshyin, 1989, Page 59 ‘Technology as Symptom & Dream’)
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EDUCATION:
Southern California Institute of Architecture,
Master of Architecture, January 1991
Architecture Intermundium (Daniel Libeskind),
Milano, Italy, October 1987 - May 1988
Lawrence University, Southfield, Michigan
Bachelor of Science in Architecture, 1987
Solo Exhibits
Color {space} Form, Lawrence Asher, LA, CA
Two-person Exhibits
“Towards Form: New Works by Christopher Mercier & Joe Davidson”, Lawrence Asher Gallery, LA, CA
“Christopher Mercier: New Paintings” Fluxco, LA, CA
“Wesley Studios Show” Wesley Studios
Culver City , CA, 2002
Group Exhibits:
‘OZ: New Offerings from Angel City’
Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery & The Department of Cultural Affairs City of Los Angeles.
Regional Museum of Guadalajara, Mexico
Nov/Dec 2009
‘FRESH’ Silent Auction, MOCA
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA - Museum of Contemporary Art
Los Angeles
May 2009
‘OPEN SHOW’ , Los Angeles Art Association
juried show by David Pagel
Gallery 825, Los Angeles CA
Dec. 2008
“Abbott Kinney Art Walk – Group Show” EIS Studio
Abbott Kinney, Venice, CA
Dec. 2006
“Art, Furniture & Wine – Group Show” Giraffe Home, Los Angeles, CA
Oct. 2003
“Venice Group Show – An evening of Art & Architecture”, Los Angeles, CA
July 2003
“Italform”, West Hollywood, CA
2002
“Small Treasures” Don O’Melveny Gallery, West Hollywood, CA,
Dec. 2002
“Texture & Grain” 87th Annual Gensler Art Exhibition (3 person show),
Gensler Architects Offices, Santa Monica, CA, 2002
“2001 Juried Show” Gallery 57 Underground, Pomona, CA, 2001
“Suspending Detachment” The Hatch Gallery, Los Angeles, CA, 2001
“Sculpture/Collage/Mixed Media Exhibit” Long Beach Arts,
Long Beach, CA, 2000
LECTURES:
Southern California Institute of Architecture, Los Angeles, CA.
Final Lecture in the 2002 Lecture series, ‘Architecture/Computer/Design/Manufacturing’, April 2002
Museum of Architecture, San Juan Capistrano, Lecture
‘Architecture in the Digital Age’, Guest Speaker, Sept. 2001
Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden, KTH Lecture/Discussion ‘ Conde Nast in the Making’, Guest Speaker, March 2001
Technical Research Center of Finland(VTT) Dipoli, Espoo, Finland, VTT Symposium ‘Technologies in Architecture’, Guest Speaker, March 2001
Harvard University, Graduate School of Design, ‘New Technologies in Architecture Symposium’, Guest Speaker, Oct. 2000
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