Isa Genzken, “MLR” 1992
I was particularly drawn to this painting because of the many directions the lights give the viewer. To me, it felt like there were many more lights available around the environment but we could only see a few because we are very close to it and facing them directly. This gives it a sense of being a closed space and not having enough space, in a way. The color also helps this because since it is in all black and white, I feel like I am even more close to it and trapped. There are many directions the light objects give so whenever I try to look straight at the painting, it is not possible, my eye goes towards where the light goes and so it is like a continuous cycle.
Gerhard Richter, “October 18, 1977”
This picture seems shallow because of the lack of color and also because of the blurriness. The black figure seems far away which gives it a deep sense to it, however, the library and the floor being blurry makes me feel claustrophobic. When I try to focus on a particular thing in the painting, my eyes directly slide down with the same motion the painting is trying to portray.
Sigmar Polke, “Full Moon in Aries” 2004
In this painting, since everything is towards the middle it feels like it is shallow. It gives me anxiety because of how everything is on top of each other and I think this is also why it feels like its shallow. The colors are pastel and not that vibrant and the objects are line drawings that are black. So it doesn’t overall have a liveliness to it. However, the use of yellow thick lines in the corners gives it a little bit of deepness because it feels like they are stretching out to the sides.
Sigmar Polke, “Full Moon in Aries” 2004
The space in this painting is deep because of the lines that were drawn. The black line that stretches to the top of the drawing gives an eternity feeling like the painting could stretch itself. Also, to me, the very pastel yellow makes the painting deep as well because if it was darker I would feel more trapped but when it is yellow and light it gives it a feeling of the horizon that stretches.
Sigmar Polke, “Full Moon in Aries” 2004
In this painting, it feels like we are looking down at the person that was drawn. So the viewers are in a higher position from the perspective of the figure drawn. Because of this, space could be considered deep. However, the use of the rectangle around the object also gives it a shallow feeling to it. The use of dark green could also give it a shallow touch to the painting.
Philip Guston, “In the Studio”, 1975
When I first looked at this painting I thought it was very flat and shallow because of the use of straight lines and also how everything is in the same line and mixed together. But when I looked closer and saw the rectangle like object in the table, I thought it could also be deep. Also how the man is in front of the painting he is drawing could give it a sense of deepness to it.
Philip Guston
This painting felt deep to me because the heads are on top of each other whilst some of them are closer to the viewer and some of them are far away. We can understand this by some of the heads being painted fully whilst some of them are cut in half, so the other head is in front of it. The use of water-like landscape in front of the heads also give it a deepness.
Philip Guston
This painting to me at first felt like it was shallow and flat. Because there wasn’t any volume to it or anything. But when I looked closer I saw that the use of lines in the navy part of the painting gave it a sense of deepness because it felt like it was flowing towards us. The use of white lines on the navy portion of it that comes from the eyes of the person feels like the painting stretches to us.
Vincent Van Gogh, “Olive Trees”, 1889
This painting is very deep with the use of curvy lines and also different landscapes coming together, the mountains, trees, clouds, and the ground. By including all of these we get a sense of the sky and the ground altogether and with the addition of the curvy lines, we get a pretty good volume from it just by staring. Also how the mountains stretch out the sides of the painting and not being cut off makes it even deeper.
