DEGRADATION OF NEO-PLASTICS
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DEGRADATION : RED |
DEGRADATION : BLUE |
DEGRADATION : YELLOW |
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MAN IN CHAIR : WHITE |
MAN IN CHAIR : RED |
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ROTATING TRAPEZOID TRIPTYCH |
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DEGRADATION + ILLUMINATION |
EYE OF THE TRAPEZOID |
WEIGHT |
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RED AND BLACK |
BLUE AND BLACK |
In 1917 a group of artists, architects, and writers formed a movement that would permanently change how art, and especially painting, would be criticized, contemplated, and created. The group's name : De Stijl.
Through the publication of a magazine under the same name, the artists discussed a philosophical movement in art with the intent to create completely non-objective work through the use of only the most simple forms and colors. Piet Mondrian, perhaps the most famous of the group, penned numerous articles describing the rules for leaving behind traditional painting using natural colors and recognizable imagery in favor of this new way to describe relationship and expression. Mondrian called it Nieuwe Beelding, or Neo-Plasticism.
The work in this show THE DEGRADATION OF NEO-PLASTICS is based on the rules Mondrian described and especially his interest in discussing relationship using those rules. I have called my work a degradation for two reasons. One, the aspect of time upon the relationships created by line and color will become apparent as the paper on which much of the work is done will fade to a much lighter tint of its original color. Two, despite Mondrian's insistence that only vertical and horizontal lines be used, I have taken sides with many of the other members of De Stijl and used the oblique line. Note also that this series of work describes a process of abstraction, as some of
the pieces contain representational imagery on the verge of neo-plastic ideals.
-Jack Bangerter