1) Topographical Space 6; 2) Topographical Space 7

Jack Whitten (born 1939)

mima, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art

1974

Jack Whitten is crucial in the history of African American artists. These two drawings resulted from a groundbreaking series of residencies at the Xerox Corporation in the early 1970s. They emphasise Whitten's interest in horizontal gesture, underlying surfaces, and materiality. They serve as a bridge between his poured paintings of the early 1970s and the raked paintings that followed. While abstract, these works can been read as visual metaphors of Vietnam-era war images broadcast on television, as well as references to early experimental video practices of the 1970s, with the dynamic black and white horizontal lines and ghosted movement. This work was presented under the Art Fund International scheme.

• Medium: dry pigment on paper
• Dimensions: 20.3 x 29.2cm
• Art Fund Grant: £9726.936 ( Total: £9,727)
• ArtFunded in: 2010
• Vendor: Alexander Gray Associates

Provenance

Alexander Grey Associates.

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