Painting Sculpture

Artist Martin Kline (b. 1961)

Date1999 - 2009

MediumBronze

Dimensions84 x 60 x 39 in.

ClassificationsSculpture

Credit LineCollection of Martin Kline

Object number2012.04LTL

DescriptionKline builds upon the tradition of encaustic painting, which has been longstanding in many cultures around the globe. The process involves combining wax with color pigment and manipulating the medium into an endless array of forms. As his surfaces became more and more built-up with layers of wax, he concluded that his paintings would simultaneously become sculptures – a duality perfectly captured in “Painting Sculpture”. Consisting of a painting that has been cast in bronze, “Painting Sculpture” represents a transformation of the ephemeral into the permanent – a monument to the act of making art itself. Furthermore, it taps into the tradition of trompe l’oeil (French for “fool the eye”), an art technique that aims to produce optical illusions. Indeed, at first glance the surface of the work appears painted and its easel wooden – an effect that is debunked only upon a second, closer look.

On View

On view