Number 3

Thoma Abts- Veeke 2005

This work by Thoma Abts entitled "Veeke" is a 2D painting made with acrylic and oil paint on canvas. It is a geometric, non-representational, abstract painting using colored lines on a field of grey-green. The artist uses overlapping line and color positioning to create a sense of depth and space. There is no shading in this painting, but there is a sense of drop shadow created by the darker green lines present in the lower half of the canvas.  The shapes are intentionally created to play with impossible perspectives. The overall effect is creating tension between the foreground and the background. The use of various shades of green accented by orange and rust brings to mind a creek or a pond, with overlapping water making these geometrically abstracted ripples on the surface.  The painting is almost monochromatic, with muted analogous colors. The warmer orange tones highlight the shapes and bring those planes closer to the foreground, while the darker rust and deep green push the plane backwards. The green hues create a sense of calm which is juxtaposed by the hotter orange as well as the relatively frenetic triangular pattern. There is motion here but it "feels" more like wind blowing through tall grass then anything hectic or mechanical. The uniform background color blurs the line between negative and positive space, drawing the eyes toward the center but also forcing the viewer to isolate certain elements of the painting to recognize the shapes in space and how they are related. I would say this painting is a little "bottom heavy" in terms of balance. The negative space at the top of the painting pushes the view downward echoed by the repeated diagonals which are lighter in color. I was surprised at how much information this painting conveyed. I found the image to be initially rather simple but upon further analysis and "close looking" it is actually very complex.