Arrows — c'est la vie!

A new series of paintings and works-on-paper to form up a series titled Arrows — c'est la vie!. The title is a play on Marcel Duchamp's Eros, c'est la vie.

This work came about because I wanted to do some fairly pure paintings, but needed something to "hang the paint on". I chose the arrows because they relate to the highway theme (see other work) and the many arrow signs that guide me along. Arrows represent direction, movement, route, course, bearing, orientation, trajectory and so on. I also felt that this very simple sign had inherent properties that could be played with conceptually. We have all become culturally conditioned to follow arrows, and they can be something that guides the eye around a painting or guides someone through a space.

Generally speaking, the (paper) arrows are embedded in the paint according to a preconceived design and then the painting can then be undertaken in a fairly free fashion. The arrows remain more or less obvious in the final painting, often seeming like fossils frozen in time.

Around the Block
acrylic on plywood
6 x 6 inches

Yellow Sign
6 x 6 inches
acrylic on plywood

Two Paintings That Can be
Viewed as a Sculpture

These two paintings sit side-by-side. When photographed — and viewed in stereo and at an appropriate size — the arrows will project outwards, making the paintings a sculpture. To achieve the 3-D effect on this page, try staring through the paintings and let your eyes "glaze" until you notice a third image between them — then focus on that third image and, with any luck, the stereo effect will lock in. Try doing this from about a foot away.

Stereo Arrow Drawings
Pencil on Paper
each square measures 2.25 inches
paper size varies

A series of stereo drawings in support of the above painting. Eventually I plan to do some in color and perhaps also some more stereo paintings. Any new paintings will be of this smaller size so the stereo effect can be easily viewed.

Around/About

acrylic on panel,
15 x 15 inches,
2001

“Naturally, there are between the signifier, the signified and the sign, functional implications (such as that of the part to the whole) which are so close that to analyse them may seem futile ....”
— Roland Barthes, Art and Modern Life.