Gradient studies by Donald Schenkel
Donald Schenkel (1991) creates subtle gradients with oil paints. He seeks for smoothness in color transitions that can lead the eye into the faraway. Sometimes these colors flash purely from the canvas, at other times they are diluted into darkening twilights. Diverse surfaces like glass or canvas carry layers of paint in distinctive ways, giving rise to an ever-greater sense of depth or translucent lightness.
The new artwork Gradient studies, composition No.1 is the outcome of Schenkel’s new and meticulous research into the behaviour of colour and oil paints. Consisting of 100 different colour gradients of 20 by 20 cm each, presented within a grid, the work sheds light on the endless potential of colours: “When working with paints you realise that colour is a material made of pigments, and each pigments behaves in its own particular way. I want to get to know those characteristics. By making a gradient you unearth the behaviour of colour in one swift move.”
The artworks will be a part of the group exhibition at Gortemaker Algra Feenstra, a multidisciplinary design firm based in Rotterdam. The opening will take place on the 24th of January from 17:00 until 19:00. GAF is located at the Wilhelminakade 310 in Rotterdam (Las Palmas).
