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Del Rey Loven

Constellation Smithson III

2012

Acrylic & Paper

48 x 40 inches

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Robert Smithson, to whom this series refers, is the earth sculptor most famous for his monumental Spiral Jetty located in the Great Salt Lake. In 1970, Smithson bulldozed local crushed rock out into the lake, to form a 1500-foot long jetty that terminates in the shape of a counter-clockwise spiral.

Like the points of light forming a stellar constellation, the paintings in each Constellation series assert points of relevance to the works of another artist, in this case, Robert Smithson. Each painting is an invitation for the viewer to make the connection. Foremost is the spiral composition. The paintings are not intended as exact copies of Smithson's Spiral Jetty, as the famous Fibonacci spiral is another reference. Furthermore, the spiral form appears repeatedly in Smithson’s work. Another notable example being his 1968 sculpture, Gyrostasis, which is constructed with ten successively smaller overlapping triangles that rise up from a triangular base, to form a standing spiral. Like Smithson’s Gyrostasis, each painting in this series also rises up from the base of a large triangle, with each shape getting successively smaller and overlapping the next shape.

At the bottom edge of the ten foot tall Constellation: Smithson VII, is the insertion of three varied, non-geometrical patterns. The idea is that the main shape is being eroded, erosion being an unavoidable result for Smithson’s outdoor works.

In all of these paintings, each shape has an interior pattern that is differentiated from the others, with references to scraping, dragging or accumulating the materials; processes used by Smithson. His indoor sculptures sometimes involved filling open-top geometric containers with earth or rock: irregular, earthly material. These geometric containers of such non-geometric material, are the final point of relevance to mention here, as it relates to patterns “filling” each of the geometric shapes of these paintings.

Note: there are seven works in the Smithson series thus far. Constellation: Smithson I is one of twelve works by Loven acquired by Dreyfus Corporation, Manhattan, for their permanent collection.