Beschreibung:

Wade Guyton Follow Untitled Epson Ultrachrome inkjet on linen 26 x 17 in. (66 x 43.2 cm.) Executed in 2005.
Provenance Artwalk Benefit Auction, New York, 2005 Private Collection (acquired at the above sale) Christie's, New York, March 6, 2014, lot 31 Acquired at the above sale by the present owner Exhibited New York, Nahmad Contemporary, Les Fleurs du Mal , March 3 - April 9, 2016, p. 49 (illustrated) Catalogue Essay Wade Guyton’s visual lexicon of computer generated motifs, including fiery flames and typed U s, have become artistic icons within contemporary art, as recognizable now as Barnett Newman’s zip. In Untitled from 2005, two overlapping U s dominate the composition and are threated from below by scanned fiery flames, the U s, one maroon and one light blue appear to be melting from the imposing heat. Guyton describes this U motif in much the same manner that Ed Ruscha pronounces his text based practice, as seeming “sufficiently abstract… It felt like it could slip out of being a letter.” (Wade Guyton quoted in Donna De Salvo, Wade Guyton OS , exh. cat., Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2012, p. 204). Guyton’s flame imagery was gleaned from Stephen King’s science fiction novel Firestarter ; he collected numerous editions of the book, one of which depicted flames on the cover, which he scanned and printed on a linen surface. By pulling the linen through his Epson printer, Guyton sought to capture every error, jam and smudge, contributing to the already unstable surface illustrated by the image of raging flames. As curator Scott Rothkopf explains, “We’re not really sure what the U s are doing in the fire, apart from serving as the hapless subjects on which Guyton can exact his painterly experiments.” (Scott Rothkopt, "Modern Pictures" in Color, Power & Style , exh. cat., Kunstverein Hamburg, 2006, p. 77) Read More