Untitled
Artist
Thomas Nozkowski
(American, 1944 - 2019)
Date2007
MediumOil on linen on panel
DimensionsUnframed: 22 x 28 inches (55.88 x 71.12 cm)
Framed: 23 1/4 x 29 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches (59.06 x 74.3 x 3.81 cm)
Framed: 23 1/4 x 29 1/4 x 1 1/2 inches (59.06 x 74.3 x 3.81 cm)
Credit LinePurchase: acquired through the generosity of the William T. Kemper Foundation–Commerce Bank, Trustee
Object number2008.11
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionThe painting is abstract. At its center is an area of pale lavender-blue. To the right and left edges are three vertically stacked organic shapes painted in orange. The artist has surrounded this confiuration, above and below, with shades of green. Over the blue and orange forms, the artist has superimposed 24 circles, each divided roughtly in half, with one half painted in pal green and the other in bright red-orange.Gallery LabelThomas Nozkowski's paintings, such as Untitled, are colorful biomorphic abstractions of things found in the real world. In each work, as he paints and repaints the same subject, the origins become increasingly obscure. He says, "…each painting has a specific source in the physical world. One of the reasons I do this is to find extraordinary formal devices-colors, shapes, compositions-which I would not have discovered with a strictly formal way of painting."
Nozkowski makes intentionally small paintings. This choice originated as a form of protest in response to the Vietnam War. Since large-scale paintings were associated with the establishment-museums, banks and other institutions-he chose a domestic scale, intending his paintings for a different audience-his friends' homes.
Nozkowski makes intentionally small paintings. This choice originated as a form of protest in response to the Vietnam War. Since large-scale paintings were associated with the establishment-museums, banks and other institutions-he chose a domestic scale, intending his paintings for a different audience-his friends' homes.
Copyright© Estate of Thomas Nozkowski / Pace Gallery, New York
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