Monochrome:Layout 1
10/21/14
12:50 PM
Page 55
Scherer & Ouporov, Celestial Tree, 2014, Gold leaf, Swarovski crystals on wood panel, 13 1/2 x 13 1/2 inches
Art in New York. For Malevich, who created this work one year after the Russian Revolution, aesthetics were about “the supremacy of pure feeling or perception in the pictorial arts.” While at first this work seems are stark, it’s not devoid of emotion. When viewing the work up close, the artist’s brushwork is evident as is texture and subtle variations in the shade of whites. The white canvas evokes a sense of infinite space, rather than containment. Part of the charm of monochrome art is precisely what Malevich demonstrates; when an artist works in just one color, the exploration can result in expressivity of texture and nuance, sometimes giving the surface of a work greater meaning than its content. While the starkness of singular color seems banal, monochrome works are also often meant to evoke an emotional response with their expressiveness being contained in elements apart from what is ordinarily associated with color, such as shape and form. For Boca Raton painter Mark Forman, whose work is included in the show, the monochromatic theme is a continuation of his oeuvre. “I always work in a monochromatic style or with some small amount of selected other color,” he explains. “My work is best defined by the search for truth utilizing reductive and profound concepts interpreted through minimally variable colorations and subtle textures. All traces of objectivity are absent. They are meant to be both intellectually stimulating and contemplative.” Hickey adds, “Forman’s large scale canvases are reminiscent of Mark Rothko but give their own personal, unique impression. His paintings are formulated with reductive and expressionistic techniques while painting with acrylic and other mixed media to create layers and textures that are unexpected until close inspection.”
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