Painting Surface Space, the second exhibition in the Imagination Becomes Reality series, focused on architectural and spatial concepts in contemporary art. This exhibition provided an opportunity of contemplating both the individual portrayal and the subjective perception of space by way of example of new works by contemporary artists – not only exploring imaginary spaces, but also addressing the relationship of the viewer to their visual realities.
Art has long since broken free of the dictatorship of the gaze in which the viewer sought only conventional and familiar spatial dimensions. Our own spatial perceptions have also shifted in the course of the centuries and have radically changed in the past few decades. Scientific concepts of space and time were always far ahead of contemporary perceptions. Sketches, drawings, geometric constructions, diagrams and models have always been produced to convey highly abstract theoretical constructs of space and time. Painting and drawing have often been used in an effort to produce a recognizable illusion of three-dimensionality within a two-dimensional medium. Today, these archaic aids to visual perception have been replaced by complex and sophisticated computer simulations. A number of young artists have taken this one step further. They have realized that each and every perception of space and time is actually constructed within the imagination, in the realm of the mind’s eye, and they have taken this as a license to develop and construct their own individual, imaginary visual spaces in their art.
