FILTER RESULTS
Spatial Concept
17 x 16 3/4 in. (43.2 x 42.5 cm)Roy Ahlgren
American (Erie, PA, 1927 - 2011, Erie, PA)
Object Type:
Print
Medium and Support:
Serigraph
Credit Line:
The Charles Rand Penney Collection of the Memorial Art Gallery
Accession Number:
1975.150
Location: Not currently on view
Collection:
The Charles Rand Penney Collection
Edition: 7/100
When you first approach this print by Roy Ahlgren, you might see a hallway covered in a brightly colored pattern. A closer look might reveal a more complex environment in which different flat surfaces meet in improbable ways. How does the artist use color and form to suggest this unreal space?
Here, Ahlgren demonstrates how the human visual system prefers to interpret a complex shape as a regular shape perceived from a different angle or position. Look at the lower left corner of this print. Do you see a flat image of ovals and diamonds? Or a three-dimensional space where different flat surfaces, each covered in a pattern of circles and squares, meet?
When you look at this image, you are most likely picking up on these spatial cues, and interpreting a complex three-dimensional space, rather than a flat image composed of different shapes.
[Label copy from Seeing in Color and Black and White, 2018]
Here, Ahlgren demonstrates how the human visual system prefers to interpret a complex shape as a regular shape perceived from a different angle or position. Look at the lower left corner of this print. Do you see a flat image of ovals and diamonds? Or a three-dimensional space where different flat surfaces, each covered in a pattern of circles and squares, meet?
When you look at this image, you are most likely picking up on these spatial cues, and interpreting a complex three-dimensional space, rather than a flat image composed of different shapes.
[Label copy from Seeing in Color and Black and White, 2018]
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Additional Images
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Exhibition List
This object was included in the following exhibitions:
- Charles Rand Penney Collection Memorial Art Gallery 2/27/1976 - 3/28/1976
- Seeing in Color and Black-and-White 10/7/2018 - 1/6/2019
Bibliography
This object has the following bibliographic references:
- Article Title: Acquisition: The Charles Rand Penney Foundation Collection. Article Scope: article. Memorial Art Gallery. Gallery Notes. Rochester, New York: Memorial Art Gallery, 1935-1995. Volume Number: 41, Issue Number: 6. Issue Date: 27791.
- Article Scope: Mention. Elizabeth Brayer. Magnum Opus: The Story of the Memorial Art Gallery, 1913-1988. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 1988.
- The Charles Rand Penney Collection of the Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester. Rochester, NY: Memorial Art Gallery, 1976.
Portfolio List
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This object is a member of the following portfolios: