Evan Halter

Artist Statement

Working primarily from sourced reproductions of artwork by historical figures - such as Gerard David, Albrecht Dürer, and Ambrosius Bosschaert, among others - I render compositions that reveal portions of these artists’ work. By altering these masterworks through cutting and cropping digital images, or tearing physical print-outs, I am able to both alter the meaning of the original artwork and abstract its depiction. As this series continues I better understand its potential for expansion as I accumulate references and hone my material processes.

The origin of my use of historical quotation began when I came across the bodegónes paintings by Spanish artist Juan Sánchez Cotán. In Cotán’s work I found a crystallization of my interests in geometry, trompe l’oeil, and contemplative looking. In his book Looking at the Overlooked, Norman Bryson speaks beautifully of Cotán’s early paintings, writing that they “exactly reverse the scale of values in which what is unique and powerful in the world is the preordained object of the gaze, while that which lacks importance is overlooked.” This kind of reprioritization of the gaze is what I like to think of as a “Still Life” approach to art making. Whether the objects depicted fall into the Still Life category or not, I believe Still Life is a lens through which our view of the world can be oriented away from the clamor and spectacle of contemporary culture and turned towards contemplative looking.

Throughout all of my work is an interest in painting’s ability to function in paradoxical states simultaneously. Of particular interest to me is the friction between illusory image space and the physical surface of a painting. A clear example of this friction is evident in my painting “Within/Without (After Cornelis Gysbrecht and Albrecht Dürer).” The image area of the painting is presented as strips of fabric reminiscent of Dutch letter rack paintings from the 17th century. Set within the silhouette of the fabric, a portion of a letter rack painting by Cornelis Gysbrecht is visible. In the upper right region, held down by the ribbon, is a (painted) piece of paper on which is printed a section of Albrecht Durer’s etching of the last supper. All of this is surrounded by areas of exposed canvas. My goal is for the work to occupy a space in which it can recontextualize these familiar historical artworks, and at the same time, create something new that can act as a means to highlight the quiet and often overlooked moments in both art and life.