Wally Gilbert
"Geometric Series: Squares, Triangles, and Lines"
March 1 to March 19, 2011
Reception, Saturday, March 5th, 4 - 7 PM

Chelsea, NYC: Viridian Artists presents new work by Wally Gilbert, representing a new departure for the artist, who has moved away from the digital photographs of his last two shows into a realm of abstract images printed as archival prints on paper. Entitled "Geometric Series: Squares, Triangles and Lines", the exhibition opens March 1st and continues through March 19th, 2011. there will be a reception on Saturday March 5th, 4-7PM. Although these images are derived from simple abstract geometric figures, such as a triangle or a square, Gilbert has built up images of great complexity and exciting colors. His method is to work by hand on the computer first, using the computer to hold the alterations and modifications of the underlying line shapes as a series of superimposed layers, and then using its power to access the colors available electronically to create novel color patterns. About this work, Peter Frank, art critic for the Huffington Post and Adjunct Senior Curator for the Riverside Art Museum, has written: "In the "Squares and Triangles" series, as the name implies, Gilbert takes basic geometric forms, enmeshes them in digital halls of mirrors, and systematically unfolds entirely unassuming shapes into elaborate scintillations. Rhythmic pulsations echo into endless patterns, intricate structures unfurl and implode into gem-like apparitions; colors swell and fade into one another, all tickling the eye into a vibrant thrill. The structures begin simply, but quickly diversify. Where Gilbert could have followed an orthodox minimalism formula, working out a particular schema into all its iterations, he takes a discretionary path determined by taste: a taste for beauty and for optical fascination."