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Vertical Swoop Fold #2
2008
72 x 70 x 2 in. (182.88 x 177.8 x 5.08 cm)
Linda Besemer (South Bend, Indiana, 1957 - ) Primary
Local Color (2012-2013)
Linda Besemer’s paintings have neither canvas nor any traditional support. One way that Besemer playfully challenges the physicality of the medium is by creating what she calls “folds”: double-sided patterned sheets composed entirely of layers of acrylic paint. She drapes these sheets over affixed aluminum rods so that both sides of her complex designs are visible. Besemer is inspired by Color Field stain paintings of the mid-1950s: “I’m interested in color—in the ways it seems to permeate an object and to form its surface. I’m drawn to extreme colors because there’s always more there than can be translated in words.”
In Vertical Swoop Fold #2, Besemer used a quasi-grid that evokes the modernist practice of Piet Mondrian (1872 – 1944) and Agnes Martin (1912 – 2004). Besemer’s lines, however, are neither completely parallel nor entirely perpendicular; there are no right angles. Instead, her lines overlap and bend in toward the center to create an illusion of depth. The upper half of the folded work is an exact mirror of the lower half, which calls attention to the painting as a three-dimensional object.
Local Color, July 26, 2012 - January 13, 2013, New Wing, Second Floor, Central Skylight and South Metro A Galleries, San José Museum of Art.
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by Artist (54)
Vertical Swoop Fold #2
Painting
200872 x 70 x 2 in. (182.88 x 177.8 x 5.08 cm)
Linda Besemer (South Bend, Indiana, 1957 - ) Primary
Object Type: Painting
Medium and Support: Acrylic sheet of paint over aluminum rod
Credit Line: Museum purchase with funds contributed by the Acquisitions Committee, Toby and Barry Fernald, Susan Krane, the Lipman Family Foundation, Mary Mocas and Marv Tseu, Yvonne and Mike Nevens, and Susan and Sanjay Vaswani
Accession Number: 2012.02
SJMA Label Text
Local Color (2012-2013)
Linda Besemer’s paintings have neither canvas nor any traditional support. One way that Besemer playfully challenges the physicality of the medium is by creating what she calls “folds”: double-sided patterned sheets composed entirely of layers of acrylic paint. She drapes these sheets over affixed aluminum rods so that both sides of her complex designs are visible. Besemer is inspired by Color Field stain paintings of the mid-1950s: “I’m interested in color—in the ways it seems to permeate an object and to form its surface. I’m drawn to extreme colors because there’s always more there than can be translated in words.”
In Vertical Swoop Fold #2, Besemer used a quasi-grid that evokes the modernist practice of Piet Mondrian (1872 – 1944) and Agnes Martin (1912 – 2004). Besemer’s lines, however, are neither completely parallel nor entirely perpendicular; there are no right angles. Instead, her lines overlap and bend in toward the center to create an illusion of depth. The upper half of the folded work is an exact mirror of the lower half, which calls attention to the painting as a three-dimensional object.
Exhibition
Break + Bleed, June 4, 2021 - April 3, 2022, Gibson and Plaza Galleries, San José Museum of Art. Local Color, July 26, 2012 - January 13, 2013, New Wing, Second Floor, Central Skylight and South Metro A Galleries, San José Museum of Art.
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Dimensions
- Installed Dimensions: 72 x 70 x 2 in. (182.88 x 177.8 x 5.08 cm)
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