Vertigo and Distance

When Leonardo  made his quick sketches of Tuscany and the Mountains North of Milan he recognized that mountains appeared more elevated if they stood beside a plain. Depth builds height.  He also saw that illusory panoramic  space demanded a feeling of infinity. From his studies of linear perspective he understood the value of vanishing points along the sight line in conjuring deep space.  That a flat sheet with a few scratched lines could summon a feeling of immensity, of vast and an varied space was a delight to both the artist and the viewer.( see example 1a).  This sensation of  infinite space has long been a principle attraction of both painting and drawing from the uncertain shadowy depths in a still-life to the uncertain edges of the horizon in a landscape.  Depth of space in the picture plane can not only extend  back but also, extend up and down. Sung Dynasty painters of 1000 years ago also created sensations of space from an  elevated perspective with infinite distance. The example I provide here is by a 12th century follower of Fan Kuan .( see example 1b).  When the sensation of depth is down and,  when through the vocabulary of foreshortening the downward aspect feels perilous  and nearby the viewer will experience a vertiginous thrill.  Wayne Thiebaud and Yvonne Jacquette are two contemporary artists pursuing these sensations manipulating our perceptions through distortions in mapping , linear perspective, and color and value contrasts( example 1c. of a painting by Wayne Thiebaud, “Ridge Valley Farm”, 1998).

example 1a.

example 1b.

example 1c.

Max Dunlop and I colluded again this week to discover the two forms of panoramic infinity, extraordinary depth below and extraordinary depth to the horizon.  As per the peculiar rules of our collaborations we each start on a painting then swap the painting we began  for one started by the other artist.  These examples are the result of this curious swapping.  We both pursued an aesthetic which intends for the viewer to experience these works as illusions of space as well as just the evidence the paint’s textured manipulations on a reflective metallic surface.  The viewer can alternate perceptions between the sensation of  the illusion of landscape with its perspectival performance and the sensation of variously manipulated gestures in the  paint. We use our hands, rags(paper towels), spray bottles of turpentine, various viscosities of oil paint, and a variety of brushes from 6″ to 1″ in width. The palette is limited to ultramarine blue, transparent red oxide and white. The photographs we manipulated were taken by Max on his honeymoon in the Badlands of South Dakota.

The first example shows my beginning on a 48×48″ sheet of aluminum. The Second example shows the eventual and final appearance of the painting after Max’s session with the piece.

example 1.

example 2.

The third example shows  Max’s beginning on a 48×48 sheet of aluminum.  The Fourth example shows the painting’s eventual and final appearance after my session with the piece. The 5th example is a detail from the second final work.

example 3.

example 4.                                                             example 5.

My final example is a painting currently in an exhibition at Susan Powell Fine in Madison, Ct. The painting  offers the perspective from an  airplane over Manhattan with the rhythms of Mondrian, the heightened palette of Bonnard and Thiebaud  and, with references  to 16th century ornamented map making.

example 6. .