Stephen Maine, HP13-1113, Acrylic on Canvas, 2013

HP13-1113 (Abstract Painting) Acrylic on canvas - Unframed This work is from the Halftone Paintings series, which are made with a specialized printing surface that leaves a matrix of tiny dots in pattern similar to a photographic halftone. Halftone is the method used in commercial printing to translate the continuous tone of photographic emulsion to a field of minute dots of varying size. The Halftone Paintings somewhat resemble fragmentary enlargements of this kind of image. Among the last of the Halftone Paintings, this work plays a rather sparse, blotchy application of neutralized blue-gray against a highly saturated (chromatically intense), brushed-on ground in greenish yellow. In the presence of all that greenish yellow, the blue tint leans toward lavender. The painting could really be a tribute to Josef Albers, whose Interaction of Color (1963, 1971) is a landmark for painters of Maine's generation and earlier. Stephen Maine is an American abstract painter, writer, curator and teacher. He is a member of the American Abstract Artists and a contributing editor at Artcritical. His paintings engage and extend contemporary ideas about color, composition, surface and process. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. In a process closely akin to relief printmaking, Maine uses textured surfaces to apply fluid acrylic paint indirectly to prepared canvas. He makes these surfaces or “plates,” some of which are quite large, out of common materials such as plywood, extruded foam, plastic and glue. Maine rolls or brushes wet paint over the plate and presses it into the canvas, using custom built contraptions to ensure alignment (registration) of successive applications. Integral to the process is the idea that the entire surface is treated with paint at the same moment. For Maine that means compositional phenomena are allowed to occur with minimal interference from his ego. This approach to composition is productively at odds with his color decisions, which are closely calibrated. Sometimes a single paint application, in concert with the field of color that is the ground, is sufficient to yield a visually engaging result. In most cases, however, to complete an image multiple layers and more complex interactions of hues are called for. The entire process balances precision and unpredictability. Color itself, and the material properties of paint as embodied color, provide Maine with his primary inspiration. His open-ended and intentionally imprecise production methods yield results that cannot accurately be foreseen, and he delights in the element of surprise they bring to his studio activity. He is inspired by the aleatoric elements of his process, which allows his materials and surfaces to collaborate in the creative act rather than be scrutinized and dominated by the artist. Says Maine; “This work has provided me with a concrete way to think about compositionality, seriality, improvisation, presentation, and the psychology of visual perception.”