Out of Nowhere

            

                                                 Introduction

         A comet in ancient times appeared to come out of nowhere.  So also does talent or inventiveness -- or even accomplishment where it had not been seen before.  Out of Nowhere was the title of a show of the works of Jeremy Moon presented by the British artist Neil Clements at the Peer Gallery in East London in 2016.

        Inspiration in abstract art does not come from observation of a scene.  It comes from the artist's inventiveness, hence in a sense --- out of nowhere.  We modify that by admitting that abstract artists must do much experimenting.  Please see our first painting by Moon.  He is claimed to be an early designer (1960s) of large shaped canvases like the one shown.

               

 

        Is there something unexpected?   The dots (or holes) would be comfortable residing in the large disk.  But one is escaping -- or we could say it puts a bite in the perimeter of the disk.

        Next, see Moon's six pointed star.                     

      

        If it were of one uniform color it would serve as a Star of David.  As is, it almost looks like a green triangle on top of another triangle, but disrupted by the different colors of the underneath triangle.   The figure though, is actually all one piece.

                                               Some Color Theory

        What about the color scheme?  I trust you have heard of complementary colors like red and green which are opposite to each other on the color wheel.

         

        Opposite to green on the wheel you see the group of colors Violet, Red, and Orange.  Those three colors are also on Moon's star -- with the red represented by pink.  In the art world, violet and orange are called the split complementaries of green.

          Now see an installation photo from the Out of Nowhere exhibit.  Do you have a sense about the leftmost artwork?   With some imagination, the orange piece looks like a fence board that has fallen to the right and the turquoise piece is holding it from falling further.   Note that turquoise is the complementary color to orange.

                  

                                                  Poster Portraits

        Permit me a slight diversion, but relevant to color combinations.

See the portrait of an Indian called Strong Moon by Jeremy Salazar.

                

        Note the light green and light purple which are nearly complementary colors.  An adage applies here.  In a portrait, if the values (lights and darks) are right, the colors can be rather arbitrary and still work well and be read properly.  Matisse was a master of the use of false color especially in portraits of his wife. 

     There is a similar and by now a famous and popular example of false or arbitrary color.  It is the screen print portrait of Barak Obama by Shepard Fairy.  This was done when Obama first ran for the presidency.  What characteristics made it a hit?  Which direction is the light coming from?   Does the Obama portrait pack more punch than the Indian portrait?  Why?                

                                                   Exhibitions 

       Back to artworks by Jeremy Moon.  See the merging rectangles below.  Moon made many variations on two rectangles meeting or overlapping on a slant.  These go together but also they don't go together.   See our example from the Luhring Augustine Gallery  that was shown at Art Basel.           

     

          How is it out of the ordinary?  Is one rectangle covering the other?  Has one rotated and slipped down?  Is material missing? Do the rectangles look like they had been one and had matched in pattern?  Could they be made to match with some adjustment?  What about it gives it unity?  If it is just right to you, explain why?  If it is disturbing, explain.

          See one last Moon painting called wreath.  

                        

      Is there an underlying regular figure?  In exactly what ways has that regularity been varied upon?  If it started as a circle, has it improved, become more interesting?  Explain the nuance.  Would it be better with a different color in the center or away from the center?  It is hard to predict. It is better to try and see.  Compare Moon's wreath to a photo of a real wreath.  What are the merits of each?

        Jeremy Moon was born in England in 1934 and died after a motorcycle accident in 1973.  He made interesting drawings also.

                                                A Dividend

        We discussed principles of art in the context of abstract art.

Some of those are color, line, irregularity, center of interest, contrast, and surprise.  All the principles from the blog apply equally well and will serve you well in representative art --- portrait, still life, landscape, photography, architecture, interior design, and fashion.