Jack Whitten

Soul Space VII

Jack Whitten
Soul Space VII
1984
Oil and acrylic on canvas
114.3 x 114.3 cm / 45 x 45 in

Jack Whitten’s ‘Soul Space VII’ (1984) exemplifies the artist’s experimental approach to painting, marking a prolific new phase in his oeuvre. After enduring a devastating studio fire in 1980 and taking a three-year break from painting, Whitten returned to the canvas, employing small, self-designed tools to create calculated arcs, lines, and circles reminiscent of celestial navigation systems. Additionally, Whitten also started using a paintbrush again, embracing the gesture of the hand that he abandoned in the 1970s.

Taken as a whole, ‘Soul Space VII’ presents an optically mesmerising experience. Here, Whitten employs form and line with meticulous precision, evoking a cosmic sense of unity and order. Throughout his practice, Whitten strived to capture the ethereal essence of the soul in his paintings – he believed that painting was a realm where the soul could reside, declaring, ‘Painting... is a soul space!’ [1]

‘Soul Space VII’ evokes the mechanisms of visual perception, both in its physical and physiological aspects. By harnessing the fast-drying properties of acrylic and lightfast nature of oil paint, Whitten achieved a dynamic sense of fluidity, clarity, and speed in his works – qualities that are vividly apparent in this work.

1) Jack Whitten quoted in Richard Shiff (ed.), ‘Jack Whitten. Cosmic Soul’, Zurich/CH: Hauser & Wirth Publishers, 2022, p. 52.