On the Blue Side— Included in Continuum: The Red Tree at 25
We’re in the last week of my annual exhibit at the Principle Gallery. This year’s edition marks my 25th solo show there and is aptly titled Continuum: The Red Tree at 25. Since the Red Tree has been a staple in my work for the past quarter century, you might assume a show celebrating it would have plenty of the Red Trees.
You’d be right in that assumption.
I have sometimes worried about a single element becoming so prevalent in my work. But when I examine the work of many other artists, including the greats, I find this same sort of repetition. In fact, this repetition is often what delineates the style for which they are known. I have mentioned here before that I believe that this repetition of form allows for greater emphasis on the actual expression contained in the painting.
Thinking about this repetition, I was reminded of the video below that I shared here about ten years ago. It’s a simple explanation of how we are affected by musical repetition based on the work and book, On Repeat: How Music Plays the Mind , of cognitive scientist Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis, and it instantly made me wonder if the type of repetition employed in music played the same part in visual art. As I said, I believe that the personal style of an artist is a form of repetition, that the more familiar a viewer is with the work of an artist, the easier they find themselves able to engage with it. The repeating nature of their style and the body of work reinforces and reassures.
Of course, I am talking off the top of my head right now and I might read this later and ask myself what the hell I was talking about. It’s a grain of a thought at the moment.
Anyway, take a few minutes to watch the video and think about it on your own. And if you’re in Old Town Alexandria in the next several days, please stop in at the Principle Gallery to see the show. And if you can’t do that, click here to see the show as it is hung in virtual form.
Redtree Times 