Darrell Nettles: Geometry Lessons

Darrell Nettles Geometry Lessons

Darrell Nettles Geometry Lessons

2024

The description of right lines and circles, upon which geometry is founded, belongs to mechanics.

Geometry does not teach us to draw these lines, but requires them to be drawn.

Isaac Newton

The knowledge of which geometry aims is the knowledge of the eternal.

Plato

Geometry is the foundation of all painting.

Albrecht Durer

There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres.

Pythagoras

The mathematical sciences particularly exhibit order, symmetry and limitations; and these are the greatest forms of the beautiful.

Aristotle

A journey with geometry My new paintings leap back to early interests

The DNA of the painting dictates the finished

in architecture and design. After decades

work’s unique persona.

of exploring very diverse lines of inquiry with my art, I find myself happily back

The beauty of the painting is in its truth to

home, especially after wandering in the

itself. The work follows simple rules to arrive

world of lyric and narrative, expressionism

at a larger, complex but ordered world.

and gesture, it is good to be back with the physical directness of algorithms, logic and

I work within the dualistic checkerboard

rules.

patterns of the paintings wherein lies movement: the push-pull, and warp and

My recent work explores a myriad of

weave of lines battling in opposition,

geometric possibilities.

struggling to dictate and dominate the design.

I begin these works as drawings on small sheets of paper. The work emerges from a

I present to you a choreography

core shape. Its defining lines extend across

of kaleidoscopic dance of pure,

the sheet of paper from edge to edge where

beautiful geometry.

they connect to and birth more lines.

The shape, size and position of the inner core determines the embryonic and evolving lines, forming structures and creating shapes. Add, delete or move one line and the entire work changes.

The original shape that is cut out in the painting is the seed of the structure which then grows as a crystal from its core.

Geometry Lessons #1 acrylic on panel, 48” x 36” x .75”

Geometry Lessons #2 acrylic on panel, 48” x 36” x .75”

Geometry Lessons #3 acrylic on panel, 48” x 36” x .75”

Geometry Lessons #4 acrylic on panel, 48” x 36” x .75”

Geometry Lessons #5 acrylic on panel, 48” x 36” x .75”

Geometry Lessons #6 acrylic on panel, 48” x 36” x .75”

Geometry Lessons #7 acrylic on panel, 48” x 36” x .75”

Geometry Lessons #8 acrylic on panel, 48” x 36” x .75”

Geometry Lessons #9 acrylic on panel, 48” x 36” x .75”

Geometry Lessons #10 acrylic on panel, 48” x 36” x .75”

Geometry Lessons #11 acrylic on panel, 48” x 36” x .75”

Bio Born Richmond, Virginia, October 27, 1948 Education 1967-68 Architecture, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla. 1971-72 Printmaking, Art History, Psychology, BFA, U of F 1974-75 Painting, Master’s Program, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Ga.

Solo Exhibitions 1995 1996 1996 1998 1999 2000 2006 2015

Corriente Alterna, Lima, Peru, Tétradas Patterns, J. J. Brookings Gallery, San Francisco, California O. K. Harris Works of Art, New York, Woven Canvas O. K. Harris Works of Art, New York, The Endless Line La Segunda Iberoamericana Bienal de Lima (Instituto Cultural Peruano Norteamericano) Instalación de Tétradas O. K. Harris Works of Art, New York, Tetrads Robert Steele Gallery (The Project Room) New York, Standard Measure Paintings Thomas Jaeckel Gallery, New York, Broken Verse

Group Exhibitions 1978 1979 1980 1981

1982 1983

1984

1985 1986 1992 1993 1994 1995 1999 2000 2004 2005 2008 2014 2015 2016 2017

File 3/13, Hansen Gallery, New York Small Works, NYU Gallery (Juror: Ivan Karp), New York Inaugural Group Show, Semaphore Gallery, New York Four Painters, Soho Center for the Visual Arts, New York Sixteen Painters, Semaphore Gallery, New York The Working Process, Dept. of Cultural Affairs, Columbus Circle Gallery, New York The Fourth of July, Public Image Gallery, New York Recent Acquisitions, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Conn.

Painting in Photography, Daniel Wolf Gallery New York The Famous Show, Gracie Mansion Gallery, New York Beyond the American Standard, Gracie Mansion Gallery, New York Small Works, Amherst College, Mass.

Terminal New York, Brooklyn, NY Exposition Ete, Maximillien Guiol, Paris, France Gracie Mansion Presents..., Kamikaze, New York Lower East Side Polygon, Danceteria, New York Drawings into Paintings, Gallery 411/12, New York New Talent, Harm Bouckaert Gallery, New York Site-Specific Sculpture, Greathouse Gallery, New York Sculpture, Civilian Warfare Gallery, New York, Contemporary Triptychs, Bard College, Annandale-on Hudson, New York Painting into Photography, Thorpe Intermedia Gallery, New York New Summer, Pietrasanta Gallery, New York Abstraction, Greathouse Gallery, New York Group, D’Kada Gallery, Madrid, Spain Crosscurrents, Step Gallery, New York Salon, Tribeca 48 Gallery, New York Hospice, Cabrini Medical Center, New York Small Works, NYU Gallery (Juror: Jackie Littlejohn), New York Review, O. K. Harris Works of Art, New York Small Works, NYU Gallery (Juror: Tricia Collins), New York Selection, O. K. Harris Works of Art, New York Summer View, Robert Steele Gallery, New York O.K.Harris Works on Paper, Andrews University, Berrien, Michigan Artists’ Choice, Noho Gallery – M55 Art, New York Miami Basel, Thomas Jaeckel Gallery, Miami, Florida Winter Salon, Thomas Jaeckel Gallery, New York Winter Salon, Thomas Jaeckel Gallery, New York

Catalogues/ Newspapers/ Periodicals 1981 1982 1983 1984 1995

New York Times, “The working process”, Grace Glueck, April 17 The Working Process, Organization of Independent Artist Essay by Henry Geldzahler, New York Flash Art, Nicholas Moufarege, November Arts Magazine, Nicholas Moufarege, September Southern Accents, summer, p.48-49 New York Times, “The camera’s role as tool is growing”, William Zimmer, April 22 Contemporary Triptychs, Bard College, New York Small Works, University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, Ma. Caretas, “Tétradas”, Luis Lama, November 9, p.49, Lima Peru Gestión, “Geometría precolombiana en pintura de artista norteamericano”,

1998 1999

2000 2010 2014 2015

November 2, p.2/B El Comercio, “Darrell Nettles, la espiritualidad del pasado”, November 2, p.8/C Expreso, “Darrell Nettles, un artista norteamericano en Corriente Alterna”, November 2, p.3/B Darrell Nettles, The Continuous Line, with an Essay by Donald Kuspit O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York Expreso, “Darrell Nettles, El balance del blanco y negro”, Ketty Cadillo, October 30, p.4/B La Segunda Iberoamericana Bienal de Lima Municipalidad Metropolitana de Lima, Peru New American Paintings, #26, Juror: Terrie Sultan The Open Studios Press, Wellesley, Ma. New American Paintings, 15th Anniversary Edition The Open Studios Press, Wellesley, Ma. Artist’s Choice, Gallery artists choose guest artists Noho Gallery – M55 ART The Wall Street Journal, Peter Plagens, November 20, A18

Commissions/Projects/Grants 1982 1983 1990 1991

Egon Schiele, A play by Stephan Fechter, New York Windows, Art installation commissioned for Bergdorf Goodman, New York Faultline, Art commissioned for a play by Morgan Jennes, New York Adolph Gottlieb Foundation, New York

Collections - Museums Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, Connecticut Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, Arkansas Centro de Artes Visuales, Lima, Peru Museum of Modern Art (Národní Galerie), Prague, Czech Republic Marifí Plazas Gal Collection, Museo Regional de Arte Moderno, Cartagena, Spain Collections - Corporate, Miscellaneous Analysis Group, Chicago, Illinois Anderson-Cook, Inc., Detroit Michigan Bank of America, San Francisco, California Banque Nationale de Paris, Paris, France Cabrini Medical Center, New York City of Chesterfield, Missouri Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, Boston, Massachusetts Corriente Alterna, Lima, Peru Dean Witter Company, New York Escarpenter, Barcelona, Spain Exxon/Mobil Oil Collection, Hamburg, Germany Farer Fersko, Westfield, New Jersey Galetea’s Art Collection, St. Helena, California Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, PC, St. Louis, Missouri Harvard School of Business, Cambridge, Ma. Wynn Kramarsky Collection, New York KrasnePlows, New York Legorburu, Palma de Mallorca, Spain López-Mayordomo Collection, Valencia Marcus W. Stroh Collection, Mayorca Lewis, Rice Fingerush, Attorneys at Law, St. Louis, Missouri Missouri State Bank, St. Louis, Missouri National Reinsurance Corporation, Stamford, Connecticut Needham, Harper and Steers, New York Pfizer, New York Sunoco Oil Corporation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Swissre Corporation, New York University of Arkansas, Jonesboro, Arkansas Westwood Studios, Las Vegas, Nevada Wilmington Trust Company, Wilmington, Delaware

Darrell Nettles www.dnettles.com