The Dia:Beacon

I went to the Dia:Beacon museum yesterday with fellow AIB classmate Rebecca Moran Brine. It was a long day of driving but SO worth the trip. For some reason this museum had been "calling" me since January. I wasn't sure why, I'd never been there before, but I couldn't get it out of my head. There is a Sol LeWitt show there and I knew that I needed to see that too, but not sure why.

Well, it all made sense once I got there. I think I can say that it was one of the most powerful museum exhibits I have seen to date. A large amount of the work there really moved me. Although an equal amount I felt completely disconnected from. It reinforced the influence and inspiration that minimalist work has on me. While my work is clearly not minimalist, I derive quite a bit of inspiration from minimalist work, especially sculptural work. Like the string installations of Fred Sanback! They can only be experienced in real life. They made my body zing. And Gerhard Richter's "Gray Mirrors" had such incredible presence in the room, and appealed to my sensitivity of seeing through and reflecting simultaneously. While you can't see through these pieces, something about the gray reflective quality gave them an illusion of transparency.

Then there was the minimalist paintings and drawings. The work of Agnes Martin, so simple yet incredibly meditative. And Sol LeWitt's obsessive compulsive serialistic work that filled entire walls with penciled marks - some random based on a simple set of instructions ("10,000 straight lines and 10,000 not straight lines") and some that were studies in serialistic combinations ("Wall Drawing #136: Arcs and lines). Like Sandback, these only can be experienced in person.

I'm still processing looking at LeWitt's work. I think the "systems" and repetitive aspect of the work, and how they fill the field is interesting. While it was in no way his intention to make these "meditative" they had that impact on me. When I wasn't laughing at his obsessive compulsive behavior, I was awed by the impact all these drawing series had. Then compared to Agnes Martin, who's work uses the same basic visual language but who's rendering of the work is and motivated from a completely different intent - one that is rooted in meditation.

Seeing the work at the Dia:Beacon reinforced that my work is driven from three very different areas of art history: abstract expressionism, minimalism and op art. It is because these three genre's of painting all have an aspect of them that makes the viewer present to either the materials, the space, or the visual field. They can become "meditative" because of the simplicity/focus of the application of the work, and I am interesting in combining all of these modalities to see if that same meditative/present quality can be achieved.

Work currently in progress....

All three of these pieces are at their early stages of development. I'm trying to incorporate new ways of mark making to see their effects.

39" x 24" Acrylic on paper. Just a new exploration in paint only. It looks a bit 'decorative' right now, but there is a lot of work to be done to it. It will become dense and compressed. Stay tuned on this one.



36" x 24" Acrylic and monotype print on paper. I'll be painting over this. I think the monotype printing has a lot of potential. A new process that I've never done before so will have a bit of exploring to do, as this literally is my first attempt at it...




36" x 24" Acrylic on paper with photo transfer on top. Not sure I like the photo transfer material. Sort of left a rubbery surface that I don't know how well it will paint over. I also think the photograph should have been different. This one is too detailed. I'm not sure what I want to do with it now that it's down...