Materials and Process

In his work Writing Lessons, at the center of this gallery, Dennis Evans
plays with ideas about what kinds of materials can be used to create
art. By taking some common art-making tools—paint brushes and jars
of pigment—and using them instead as part of the building blocks for his
mixed-media work, he challenges the viewer to consider how artworks
are made.

The works in this part of the gallery continue that dialogue, offering
other ways of thinking about materials or the process behind an object’s
creation. In some, an aspect of a material, such as color or texture, is
the focus. Other works play with our perceptions by using unusual sub-
stances—perhaps found objects or industrial products—or working
with familiar media, like bronze or paper, in a new way. Also among this
group are paintings and prints that focus primarily on the process used
to make them.
What Is a Painting?

Ideas about what a painting should look like have shifted dramatically
over the past 150 years. Like the mixed-media construction by Dennis
Evans at the center of this gallery, the artworks in this group reference
some of those changes.

Two 19th-century paintings represent the traditional format that was

popular for several hundred years: realistic and detailed, with careful-
ly balanced compositions that create the illusion of three-dimensional
space. Other works in this section reveal how that standard began to
change in the mid-1800s as art movements such as impressionism, and
later cubism, expressionism, and surrealism among others, experiment-
ed with color, space, technique, and subject. During the 20th century,
the definition of painting expanded further to include supports other
than canvas, works that focus solely on the properties of paint, and
constructions that mix painting with other media such as photography,
sculpture, and prints.
Texts and Symbols

Visual art has its own language that includes such elements as color,
shape, line, material, and texture, but artists often incorporate letters,
words, texts, and a variety of other symbol systems into their works.
These components can function as design elements, be integral to the
understanding of a work, or alternatively, reveal meaning only to those
who know how to decode them.

Dennis Evans uses all these aspects in Writing Lessons, employing num-
bers, letters, words, and geometric shapes throughout the composition.
His use of texts and symbols provides another connection to a number
of artworks from the permanent collection. In the works grouped here,
the symbols reference a variety of cultures and take forms ranging from
geometric shapes to animals. Writing, whether real or invented, also
plays an important role in a number of the artworks on view.