Geometry Lessons

 

Wednesday, September 12, 2012 – Geometry Lessons

Somewhere in time, many, many years ago – not as far back as when dinosaurs roamed the earth, but more like the days of flower children in bellbottoms and tie-dyed t-shirts – I took a geometry class.  This was when I lived on Long Island.  Now, I was never a math enthusiast.  In fact, I took as little math as possible, in both high school and college.  In fact, in college, I took absolutely no math – zero, nada. 

As far as I remember, I wasn’t bad at math; I just had no interest in it.  I couldn’t see the point of it.  The same was true for science, by the way, whereas history, literature, and foreign language were a different story.  I felt right at home in those disciplines.  But back to the matter at hand today, which is geometry. 

I pity my poor math teachers back in West Hempstead Junior and Senior High Schools, trying to teach such a reluctant student a subject dear to their hearts.  I have vague recollections of words such as function, equation, slope, angle, tangent.  But really, whatever math knowledge I acquired so long ago was buried deep in my brain, below the iambic pentameters. 

So it was a big challenge when I sat down a couple of days ago to work on Elliott’s idea for the next series of paintings and had to dredge up some of those long forgotten factoids.  Specifically, I had to recall what I’d learned about geometric forms.  Sitting at the drawing table, I studied his rough sketch of embedded cubes within cubes.  I even dug up some graph paper and a protractor.  And amazingly, I figured out how to generate a mathematically correct template for the image he wants to use.  I hereby offer humble and belated thanks to my math teachers of yore. 

After this accomplishment, we worked together in the studio yesterday, focusing on composition and color.  We’re now set to start the actual painting.  This will be my execution of Elliott’s vision.  (I already have several ideas of my own, but they can wait.)  

In celebration of geometry, I went into DC today to see an exhibition of geometric abstraction at the museum of the OAS (Organization of American States).  It was my first visit there, and the interior of the building was as impressive as the artwork in the exhibit.  Painters from across Central and South America were represented in the show.  A quotation attributed to the artist Omar Rayo of Colombia immediately struck me:  “Discovering geometry is to reconcile myself with life.  Unhappiness is the product of chaos.”  Elliott can probably identify with that sentiment.  I’m not so sure I would agree, however. 

The second exhibition I saw today was more in keeping with my own approach to art.  It was an exhibition of Richard Diebenkorn’s Ocean Park series at the Corcoran Gallery ofArt.  I’d been anticipating this one all summer, based only on the limited exposure I’ve had to Diebenkorn’s work.  In the light and airy galleries of the Corcoran, the large scale canvases found a perfect home.  (Unfortunately, no photography was allowed, but I doubt if I could have captured the special qualities of Diebenkorn’s paintings with my little camera anyway.) 

I simply loved these paintings – the drips, the scribbles, the translucent layers, the scrubbed over areas, all were evidence of the artist’s hand and the process of creation.  Geometric elements merged with organic elements.  Even straight lines weren’t hard-edged but had a hand-wrought quality.  Spontaneity, messiness, life, energy, dynamism – all came to mind when I looked at Diebenkorn’s work, which included prints, drawings, and cigar box lids in addition to the large-scale canvases.

Unlike Elliott’s work, these were not figured out ahead of time.  Rather, they incorporated the passage of time because the viewer could see how they evolved during the process of painting.  To quote from the description beside one of the paintings, Diebenkorn was involved in a “search for ‘rightness,’ an attempt to solve complex and often self-imposed compositional and spatial problems, to welcome mistakes, push through objections and self-doubt, and reach a balanced outcome.” 

How exciting, how liberating!  It made me want to rush back to the studio and get to work.  But first – lunch.  Although the Corcoran has a good café, I wanted to get outside and enjoy the glorious sunshine and the saturated colors of this September day.  The sidewalks surrounding Farragut Square were clogged with office workers lined up at the food carts.  Although the offerings looked tempting – Mexican, Afghan, and Korean specialities, to name just a few – I kept going.  Even Paul Bakery, with its French fare, didn’t tempt me.  I’d been dreaming of a simple bento box lunch, so I marched back down to Teaism on H Street.  I capped off a salmon bento box (teriyaki salmon, gingery cucumber salad, sesame broccoli, brown rice with seaweed) with Teaism’s signature dessert, their swoon-inducing salty oat cookie.  Believe me, that cookie was worth the major investment of calories.  I walked back to the Metro in a state of bliss.