
25 x 20 1/4 inches (63.5 x 51.4 cm) each
Edition of 50
In 12 Colors, Donald Sultan presents twelve variations of the same poppy form in bright colors against black backdrops. The
ps. The black is made from nine different layers of color, that are sanded to mimic the ‘feel’ of tar. The poppies’ petals are also made of multiple layers of color with an enamel center. With this work, Sultan flattens the poppy into its essential form, and further uses impossibly vivid colors that could never be found in nature, giving his poppies a plastic, synthetic feel. The artist worked on this portfolio of prints for over two years.
By reducing the subject to its basic form, using new materials and processes, flattening pictorial space and challenging preconceived notions of the subject, Sultan questions the art historical eye cast upon everyday objects. Throughout his career, Sultan has revisited and reinvented the still life with images of lemons, poppies, playing cards, fruits, and flowers. Interested in contrast, he explores such dichotomies as beauty and roughness, nature and artificiality, and realism and abstraction, often using industrial materials such as tar, spackle and enamel to render basic geometric and organic elements with a formal minimalism.
By reducing the subject to its basic form, using new materials and processes, flattening pictorial space and challenging preconceived notions of the subject, Sultan questions the art historical eye cast upon everyday objects. Throughout his career, Sultan has revisited and reinvented the still life with images of lemons, poppies, playing cards, fruits, and flowers. Interested in contrast, he explores such dichotomies as beauty and roughness, nature and artificiality, and realism and abstraction, often using industrial materials such as tar, spackle and enamel to render basic geometric and organic elements with a formal minimalism.
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25 x 20 1/4 inches (63.5 x 51.4 cm) each
Edition of 50