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Toroids and Plaids
Paintings by Robert Straight
May 10 – October 13, 2006
Open weekdays, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Artist’s Lecture and Reception: Sunday, September 24, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
National Academy of Sciences
2100 C St NW, Upstairs Gallery
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Mathematical precision is central to Robert Straight’s work. He uses prime numbers to construct forms and establish color placement on the canvas. In “Toroids and Plaids,” Straight superimposes grids onto toroids, curved lines that never meet.
For Straight, toroid shapes and grid patterns act in opposition to one another on the canvas. The grids are stable, flat, architectural, and structural. They reflect the shape of the perimeter of the painting. The toroids create a sense of movement, suggesting depth, a vortex, sound, and infinite space.
Straight’s “Toroids and Plaids” exhibition evokes the Optical Art movement of the 1960s. He uses repetition of simple forms and bold colors to create vibrating effects, foreground-background confusion, and an exaggerated sense of depth.
In a sense, any painting that tries to create three dimensions on a two dimensional plane relies on optical illusions. In “Toroids and Plaids,” optical illusions are created by tension between two simple forms, and the resolution of that tension becomes the subject of the viewer’s experience of the paintings.
Robert Straight is a painting professor at the University of Delaware. He received his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. His work has been exhibited at numerous art venues, including the High Museum of Art, the Delaware Art Museum, and the Arlington Arts Center.
Image: Robert Straight, P-377, 2002, acrylic on canvas, 27 x 24 ¼ inches
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