Kölner Domfenster und 4900 Farben_Gerhard Richter

Images courtesy melekalikimaka

I always seem to be trailing new discoveries but here is one that caught my eye recently by the artist Gerhard Richter. Clearly his art extends well beyond his photo-real paintings which appear to have taken root in the 1970's. His lifetime achievements touch on the everyday. This goes without saying for many artists however it is splendid color, reverence for time and experience which stand out for me in his work.

The Cologne Cathedral plays canvas to this recent project. A remarkable posit of time and place. It is such striking and questionable juxtapositions (objectionable to some) that shape great cities. We are tempted to critically examine history with present view. A side by side reasoning even if through unsettling methods that challenge complacent spirituality.

A few more inspiring Kölner Domfenster images courtesy of melekalikimaka on flickr.

Architects and Painting

Nature morte à la pile d’assiettes et au livre, 1920

Painting courtesy of '-46 The Paintings and Sculptures of Le Corbusier', Published Feb. 1988 in Architecture SA (Johannesburg)

Recently, I've been reading about Charles-Edouard Jeannerets double life as Painter and Architect. In fact many disciples of Architecture might be surprised to know that Jeanneret was a painter foremost and throughout his illustrious career dedicated at least one day per week to painting. As a 'student' of the highly acclaimed painter Ozenfant, Charles-Edouard Jeanneret began his career as artist and writer critic. He completed hundreds of works of both brush stroke and then later sculptures of various mediums. His painting had a profound impact on his career as Architect and his split identity prompted him to adopt the name Le Corbusier (his Architect alias) while maintaining his birth and painter name, Charles-Edouard Jeanneret.

Le Corbusier was at the forefront of the 'Purist' movement. The Purists proclaimed the potential and importance of geometric form. His painting (and that of other Purists) explored and even exploited everyday industrialized objects of early 20th century development. Many of his paintings are analytic dissections of basic instruments such as bottles, tools and other mass produced items of the day. There is clear objectification of formal, scale and functional qualities through an abstracted geometric analysis. It could be suggested that a profound intuition of formal manipulation, as observed in Le Corbusier's paintings, had tremendous influence on his designs as a practitioner of Architecture.



Why the significance of painting?



Today, there are a handful of architects who paint as exploratory component in their process as practitioners. This is an incredibly important thing in light of the trajectories in current digital practice as we see it unfolding now. The loss of tactile hands on work given way to the amorphous digital realm. To be certain, the possibilities and rigor of investigations through digital media can lead to exciting possibilities, but something remains missing; that highly personal investigation the artist brings in the physical actions of hands and at times intuitively free discovery.



History has shown it is commonly the artist at the forefront of idea, be it through chance or deliberation. Charles-Edouard Jeanneret as Painter is testament to this claim.

In_Memory

Rauschenberg was a master of making dense.

An assembler of life's 'things' transformed in historical collections of artifacts. For me his work is both simple and immensely complex. He inspired a generation of artists and will undoubtedly continue to do so for generations to come.

Gallery Opening

Currently on display at Gensler- San Francisco through July 25th 2008 are a few of my recent paintings alongside some impressive works by professional colleagues.

This 80th year the 25th of April_08

In honor of Cy Twombly

80 years of creating history
Thank you.