Exhibition: ‘More dimensions that you know’ by Jack Whitten (1979-1989)

The single exhibit that I am focusing on is “Ode to Andy: For Andy Warhol”.

When I first came across Jack Whitten’s work in the flesh I was especially intrigued by his acrylic on canvas, mixed media painting which was designed for Andy Warhol. I was absorbed by the bright bold colours emerging through the dark rough surfaces and textures, that are incorporated with various lines and shapes.

The sheer size of the work is one of the first aspects that captivated me, as the large-scale piece controlled most of the white wall space, meaning when you stand back from a distance you can focus on Whitten’s conceived idea of his painting as ‘skin’ and observe the surfaces and textures that he has created through the use of brushes and scalpels, associating these marks with keloids (scarring after skin is cut).

When I studied this design, I was aware that he was trying to recreate an urban landscape, which captivated me because I loved his techniques of using moulds of man-made everyday objects including man-hole covers and car tires to destroy his recreation of a wall. “The matrix of lines and shapes incorporate, and figuratively recover, lived experiences and histories of the urban environment”.

Also, this piece caught my eye because in comparison to the rest of exhibition Whitten’s work is very symmetrical and he uses monochrome colours as he uses his work to design ‘a nuanced language of painting that hovers between mechanical automation and spiritual expression’, therefore the use of bold colours stood out as a powerful piece of work.