Terra Ercolana

I exhibited a single painting ‘Terra Ercolana’ in the context of an art research project initiated by the Mondriaanhuis Museum, Amersfoort. The project as a whole was based on an exploration of the relationship between Pythagoras and contemporary art practice. A number of artists were invited to make a work that focussed on the issues of geometry, Pythagoras and abstraction which were exhibited in the context of a series of seminars, theoretical presentations and discussions within 11 themes at the museum.

My contribution involved research into a range of concepts deriving from Pythagoras and their possible application to my concern with constructed three dimensional, rectilinear representation in two dimensions. In the construction of the resulting painting I developed a form that encompassed both possible and three-dimensionally ‘impossible apparent’ constructions.

One aspect of the project’s aim was to trace, through new work and debate, the relationship between the work of Piet Mondrian and Pythagorean geometry. This was pursued as an art historical examination, but also illuminated by the implicit reflection on geometric abstraction through the works exhibited by contemporary artists in the field. My own long term involvement in this area made this aspect of the project relevant to the development and contextualization of my own practice.

• http://www.math.leidenuniv.nl/~naw/serie...
• http://www.arsetmathesis.nl/bomen/mondpy...