{"id":142268,"date":"2020-01-28T11:33:59","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T16:33:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=142268"},"modified":"2020-01-28T11:44:47","modified_gmt":"2020-01-28T16:44:47","slug":"the-artists-hypothesis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2020\/01\/28\/the-artists-hypothesis\/","title":{"rendered":"The Artist\u2019s Hypothesis"},"content":{"rendered":"

The artist Jack Whitten, who died in 2018, approached his practice with the curiosity of a scientist and the playfulness of a jazz musician. Many of his paintings are the result of a careful aesthetic hypothesis unleashed upon the canvas and then transformed by improvisation. The works at the center of \u201cJack Whitten. Transitional Space. A Drawing Survey.<\/a>\u201d (on view at Hauser & Wirth through April 4) display a delightful agnosticism regarding medium and material. In one, he splashes a paper collage with calligrapher\u2019s ink and acrylic paint; in another, he seems to conjure the farthest reaches of space on a single sheet of blotter. A selection of images from the show appears below.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Jack Whitten, Space Flower #9<\/em>, 2006, acrylic, pastel, and powdered Mylar on rice paper, 7 1\/4 x 8 1\/4″. \u00a9 Jack Whitten Estate. Courtesy the Jack Whitten Estate and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Genevieve Hanson.<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Jack Whitten, Vertical Landscape #3<\/em>, 1967, watercolor and pencil on paper, 22 5\/8 x 22 1\/4″. \u00a9 Jack Whitten Estate. Courtesy the Jack Whitten Estate and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Genevieve Hanson.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Jack Whitten, Geometric Collusion #1<\/em>, 1981, acrylic, pastel, and compressed charcoal on Rives paper, 26 x 19″. \u00a9 Jack Whitten Estate. Courtesy the Jack Whitten Estate and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Genevieve Hanson.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Jack Whitten, Broken Grid VIII<\/em>, 1996, sumi ink and acrylic on paper collage, 11 1\/4 x 15″. \u00a9 Jack Whitten Estate. Courtesy the Jack Whitten Estate and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Genevieve Hanson.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Jack Whitten, King\u2019s Garden #6<\/em>, 1968, watercolor on paper, 22 1\/2 x 31″. \u00a9 Jack Whitten Estate. Courtesy the Jack Whitten Estate and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Genevieve Hanson.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Jack Whitten, Study For Atopolis E<\/em>, 2014, acrylic on blotter, 18 1\/4 x 13″. \u00a9 Jack Whitten Estate. Courtesy the Jack Whitten Estate and Hauser & Wirth. Photo: Genevieve Hanson.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

All images from \u201cJack Whitten. Transitional Space. A Drawing Survey.<\/a>,\u201d on view at Hauser & Wirth through April 4.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The artist Jack Whitten approached his practice with the curiosity of a scientist and the playfulness of a jazz musician.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2384],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-look"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Artist\u2019s Hypothesis by The Paris Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The artist Jack Whitten approached his practice with the curiosity of a scientist and the playfulness of a jazz musician.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2020\/01\/28\/the-artists-hypothesis\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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