Chris Duncan

Untitled (blue)

2010

Untitled (blue), 2010

Taken from the title of the incredibly influential punk/hardcore record I AGAINST I by the Bad Brains, Untitled (blue) is an acrylic painting on reflective paper by Chris Duncan is part of a larger body of work titled EYE AGAINST I. This title references Duncan’s early artistic influences from the punk and hardcore music communities in tandem with his conceptual interest in perception and optics. This small painting features a glowing cluster of colorful dots on a bright blue background, also created from an accumulation of blue dots in varying tones. Referred to as pointillism, this is a technique used in early impressionist painting, developed by artists Georges Seurat and Paul Signac in the 19th century. The technique relies on the ability of the eye and mind of the viewer to blend indidivual color spots into a cohesive, representational image. Building upon op-art, color theorist Josef Albers, and the craft movement of the early 70s, this work provides a platform for contemplation and questioning what is real. In flux between maximal and minimal, Duncan’s work is a constant balancing act between positive and negative, loud and quiet, solitary and participatory—dichotomies that provoke questions concerning perception, experience, and transcendence.

Chris Duncan employs repetition and accumulation as a basis for experiments in visual and sound-based media. Often instrumentalizing unconventional art making tools such as mirrors, string, light, and shadow, Duncan creates moments that at once challenge, overwhelm, and awe viewers. Time's physical and psychological effects have become paramount in the artist’s experimental endeavors. Relying on the passing of time and long term effects of ultraviolet light exposure, the artist exposes manufactured colored fabrics to the sun so that imagery emerges on the fabrics without the use of any chemical processes. An homage to the power of the sun, these process-oriented works also blur the distinction between painting and photography. In consideration of society at large’s reliance on the immediacy of technology, the concept of time takes precedence in Duncan’s practice; his work is made by honoring the passing of time, not the acceleration of it.

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Chris Duncan Untitled (blue)

Chris Duncan

Untitled (blue)