Claire's Summary of Terry Winters—Linking Graphics, Prints 2000-2010 (Cooley Gallery at Reed College)

I thought the exhibit was interesting because Terry Winters uses math and science in his art, unlike other artists. Everyone saw different objects and meanings in Terry Winters prints, whereas the nude art from hundreds of years ago that we saw at the Cooley Gallery is recognizable to people and the meaning is clear (if you know things like Greek mythology like Gregory did). I liked watching people from our class look at a piece and move on, but then take another glance and come back to it to scrutinize a color almost completely hidden under other layers of the print or contemplate the meaning of the print after hearing someone else say, “I see a water slide!” or “Look! It’s a irrigated farm through a wet camera lens!” I think this exhibit was more engaging to everyone in our class because the art was like a series of puzzles. People were drawn to a piece because of what they thought they sawvbut when the student next to them said, “No, look it’s a (blank),” they continued to examine the piece instead of moving on through the gallery.

I liked “Process Color.” What drew me to this one is the vivid colors that seemed like if the print was on a block of paper pulp that was five hundred feet tall the color would still continue to the bottom. The knots that so often occurred in Terry Winter’s art and were plentiful in this piece reminded me of a garden of cabbage roses growing abundantly on the prints. The effect the colors had, some lying on top of each other, others blending together in a fresh wash, topped with delicate prints, seemed Japanese to me. The aspects I liked best were under curving black lines and the whole print was stamped with a star-like shape. As a result, I thought the colors and roses looked far away.

The set of prints called “Intervals” also drew me in. These prints were not as busy to my eye. I liked the simplicity of the white embossments that the looked like the fast revolving toys at OMSI set on crisp, clear November afternoon, sky blue paper. I also like how they were “classified” by the identification section at the bottom of the paper. (This leads me to think the “fast revolving OMSI toys” are a concept of science.) As a set of six, the pieces felt right to me. They had order by identification (an idea I liked included in art) and a feeling of calm, perhaps from the simpleness of white on blue after the surrounding frenzies of black lines.

Terry Winters attempts to capture science and mathematics in his art by having prints of things that look vaguely familiar from spending time in a science lab and numbers and patterns strung throughout his prints. I think Terry Winter’s style is interesting to look at and definitely amazing. So much experimental work went into each piece, from transferring an idea onto paper through a printing method. I wonder if the final prints of pieces are ever exactly how Terry Winters first imagined them. His style overall is around the neutral to me, on a scale of hate-love. I certainly enjoyed looking at his art but I didn’t think, “This unbelievably outrageous,” or “I could have this framed on my bedroom,” or “I want to see everything his has ever made.”

In the natural world, I believe there is an indirect joining of science, mathematics, and art. Science and mathematics make up the natural world, explain why, name how. Today, global warming equals science. Plant coloration is often constructed of patterns, like pineapples, cabbage, irises, lettuce, and shells have Fibonacci pattern markings. I think many people who believe in God probably think he created art by making the world. But personally, I believe art is indirectly linked to mathematics and science in the world because so many people use the natural world and things that happen because of the natural world as inspiration for their art. I do not believe in a god, I believe in evolution, so I do not think the natural world is a man in the sky’s masterpiece. I do believe art is related to the natural world through the beauty people see and try to capture through their art.