The Palpable Obscura
Group Show
March 23 to April 3, 2010
Reception Fri March 26, 6-8pm
In the 17th Century, English poet, John Milton wrote his epic poem, Paradise Lost. A book written in blank verse, of twelve volumes, Milton expressed his woe for mankind in his philosophical rebuke views in a revision of the fall of man within the Christian religion. Of book ii, line 406 read, “The palpable obscure”. Milton's quote implies a form of doublespeak and a clever contradiction of poetic elegance. The word, palpable, by definition means: readily or plainly seen, heard, perceived, etc.; obvious and or evident: a palpable lie. In turn, Obscure implies ambiguity, vagueness, or uncertainty; not clear or readily observable. There is nothing more akin to Milton’s quote than Art. The will to create beautiful work using aesthetic principles, in the realm of poetry, painting, sculpture, design, etc...gives rise to that which is both Palpable and Obscure. The artist’s tool, Camera Obscura, Latin for dark room; darkened chamber, allowed the artist to reproduce a scene onto canvas with precise perspective allowing the artist to reproduce an accurate reproduction of their subject.
Our title, “The Palpable Obscura”, combines both Milton’s quote and the name of the artist’s tool. In the case of our title, the word Obscura replaces Obscure, playing an important role in demonstrating the role of an artist. Clearly the artist has created a work that has a comprehensible visual language; visually representing an object, figure, and or scene. However, the meaning or intention of the piece is not so enthusiastically clear, hence obscure, or rather ‘Obscura’!
Group Artists:
Peter Yuill www.peteryuill.com
Thierry Chow http://thierrychow.blogspot.com/
Bennett Slater http://bennettslater.com/
Miles Pasick http://www.milespasick.com/
Bryce Huffman http://brycehuffman.com/
Dave Murray http://www.davemurrayillustration.com/
Ryan Christian http://www.ryanchristiani.com/
Irma Kniivila http://www.irmakniivila.com/
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