Gavin Perry Untitled (Escape Plan) 2006
Gavin Perry’s paintings are the products of a meticulous, unconventional technique that involves layering strips of vinyl tape on wood panel, and then immersing the wood in numerous coats of resin. This process results in exquisite, jewel-like surfaces that give the impression of infinite depth. The tightly packed bands of color are arranged in geometric compositions––in this case, a diamond shape that seems to be simultaneously expanding and contracting, at once distinct from and interwoven with the background.
Since the early 1990s, Perry has explored the possibilities and implications of using industrial materials and techniques, emphasizing art’s nature as a consumable object, at home in the world of brand names and eye-catching commodities. His process requires the same labor-intensive, “blue-collar” physical technique that is used in customizing cars, a practice that Perry sees as a significant basis of his work. Customization capitalizes on consumers’ desires to express their individuality through their possessions. The tendency toward customization extends from cars to cell phones, from music mixes to clothing, from plastic surgery to fine art. His paintings therefore address implications of judgment, class, and taste in a consumer society.
Identification
Title
Untitled (Escape Plan)
Production Date
2006
Object Number
2006.22
Credit Line
Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, museum purchase with funds provided by PAMM’s Collectors Council
Copyright
© Gavin Perry
https://www.pamm.org/en/artwork/2006.22
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Physical Qualities
Medium
Vinyl tape and resin on board
Dimensions
81 1/2 x 121 x 3 1/4 inches
Visual Description
“Untitled (Escape Plan) is a painting made with vinyl tape and resin on board. It sits at almost seven feet tall by ten feet across and is horizontal in orientation, meaning that its longest side runs parallel to the ground.
The painting has a seemingly solid black background with a diamond shape that is wider than it is tall straddling the entire width. This central diamond shape is composed entirely out of multicolored stripes laid down in several directions.
The center of the diamond contains radial stripes of royal blue, crimson reds, and black that split into four directions, slightly exceeding the diamond’s border. The rest of the diamond is composed of angular stripes of orange, red, yellow and black. The angular stripes begin at the top and bottom peaks of the diamond, bending at forty-five-degree angles towards the left or right peaks, depending on its corresponding half, and back again to meet the other side. This creates an illusion of three-dimensional depth on the diamond shape, as if it were coming towards the viewer. Crossing these dimensional stripes are more multicolored lines that are twice as thick as they diagonally intersect the others at random intervals underneath.
Upon closer inspection, the seemingly solid black background of the painting is also broken up by tight vertical black stripes. These black stripes act almost as window blinds, revealing subtle variations of color, as more multicolored stripes crisscross underneath.
Untitled (Escape Plan) is made with an unconventional technique. The colored stripes have all been applied by layering various strips of vinyl tape on the wooden panel. The wood panel was then immersed in numerous coats of resin, giving the entire painting a jewel-like surface and appearance. “
