Christopher Page is British artist whose paintings at first glance appear to be framed geometric abstractions — paper with subtle washes and gradients of color — surrounded by contrasting colored mat board and wooden frames. What is odd about these images is the shadows that fall across their surfaces suggesting particular times of day. In the center of November, Evening (all works 2024), a 66 7/8 inch square oil painting shows a red-orange square that appears to be a piece of paper with torn edges. Similar in feeling to a monochromatic Mark Rothko, this piece is depicted as a traditionally framed artwork bordered by dark and light blue mats and surrounded by a beveled wooden frame. Yet, something is off. Shadows cut across the image, but there is no window or light source in the gallery that would cause this to occur. As the viewer adjusts his or her position, the shadow remains in place: it is in fact, painted. Glancing at the image from the side reveals that it is flat and that the uneven edges, the mat board and frame, as well as the shadows have been impeccably rendered in tromp l'oeil style.
Picturesque, the title of the exhibition, not only references that which is visually attractive, but is also an aesthetic ideal introduced in the 18th century where the landscape was depicted as sublime. While Page's works are paintings of non objective paintings, in essence, they only become landscapes through the introduction of shadows that beautifully interrupt the compositions. This is what gives the works their edge and intrigue. Page reiterates these references through his titles which refer to seasons and times of day. Dawn, for example is a painting of a piece of paper with red and green horizontal bands of washy color that allude to a sky at dawn. It is placed on a deep blue backing and surrounded by a thick light blue mat board with a believably painted beveled edge. Two painted concentric wooden rectangles (with exacting grain) frame the entire artwork. Again, Page confounds expectations as this is a painting of a painting and not a three-dimensional artwork as it appears. A shadow, as if the work was hung on a wall opposite a window, criss-crosses the canvas.
Trompe l'oeil paintings are often realistic depictions of illusionistic spaces — spaces that exist only on the picture plane with skewed perspectives or foreshortened architecture. Many artists have experimented with trompe l'oeil throughout art history to create confused architectural spaces. The painter who shares an obvious kinship with Page is René Magritte, specifically because of his interest in fusing paintings of paintings and their surroundings. In his 1933 painting The Human Condition, Magritte places a canvas in front of a window, depicting a painting of the view outside that perfectly melds with what would appear outside the window. The work purposely confuses what is "real" and what is a representation. Another work from 1935 similarly places a painting of the ocean on an easel in front of a window overlooking that same scene.
Page shares Magritte's sense of play and because he is such a skillful renderer, he can convincingly create these illusions. The works are about looking and seeing. They pose the questions: What is an abstraction? What is a landscape? And can a painting be both simultaneously? The anomaly in the exhibition is a work titled The Outside. Here, Page presents a human scaled, arched window that frames a fiery orange background. Again, the painting is flat, yet appears to be an "actual" window containing twelve panes. It is partly opened, yet the perspective and the mechanisms of its interlocking parts are not in synch. This makes it an impossible object that still somehow coalesces in the mind's eye.
Page creates complex puzzles that cannot always be solved. His highly detailed paintings present something that at first glance appears to be simple — framed fields of color washes — but upon closer examination, his works are much more than meets the eye.
Picturesque, the title of the exhibition, not only references that which is visually attractive, but is also an aesthetic ideal introduced in the 18th century where the landscape was depicted as sublime. While Page's works are paintings of non objective paintings, in essence, they only become landscapes through the introduction of shadows that beautifully interrupt the compositions. This is what gives the works their edge and intrigue. Page reiterates these references through his titles which refer to seasons and times of day. Dawn, for example is a painting of a piece of paper with red and green horizontal bands of washy color that allude to a sky at dawn. It is placed on a deep blue backing and surrounded by a thick light blue mat board with a believably painted beveled edge. Two painted concentric wooden rectangles (with exacting grain) frame the entire artwork. Again, Page confounds expectations as this is a painting of a painting and not a three-dimensional artwork as it appears. A shadow, as if the work was hung on a wall opposite a window, criss-crosses the canvas.
Trompe l'oeil paintings are often realistic depictions of illusionistic spaces — spaces that exist only on the picture plane with skewed perspectives or foreshortened architecture. Many artists have experimented with trompe l'oeil throughout art history to create confused architectural spaces. The painter who shares an obvious kinship with Page is René Magritte, specifically because of his interest in fusing paintings of paintings and their surroundings. In his 1933 painting The Human Condition, Magritte places a canvas in front of a window, depicting a painting of the view outside that perfectly melds with what would appear outside the window. The work purposely confuses what is "real" and what is a representation. Another work from 1935 similarly places a painting of the ocean on an easel in front of a window overlooking that same scene.
Page shares Magritte's sense of play and because he is such a skillful renderer, he can convincingly create these illusions. The works are about looking and seeing. They pose the questions: What is an abstraction? What is a landscape? And can a painting be both simultaneously? The anomaly in the exhibition is a work titled The Outside. Here, Page presents a human scaled, arched window that frames a fiery orange background. Again, the painting is flat, yet appears to be an "actual" window containing twelve panes. It is partly opened, yet the perspective and the mechanisms of its interlocking parts are not in synch. This makes it an impossible object that still somehow coalesces in the mind's eye.
Page creates complex puzzles that cannot always be solved. His highly detailed paintings present something that at first glance appears to be simple — framed fields of color washes — but upon closer examination, his works are much more than meets the eye.
