Jack Whitten
Topographical Space #IX
Topographical Space #IX
Jack Whitten
Topographical Space #IX
1974
Dry pigment on paper
20.7 x 27.9 cm / 8 1/8 x 11 in
Drawing was an integral part of Jack Whitten’s artistic and technical maturation throughout the different phases of his evolution as an artist. Working on paper fundamentally served as means of research, both of ideas and the multidimensionality of vision. As he would later describe in 2014, ‘Drawing is the skeleton of what I do in painting.’ (1)
During the 1970s, Whitten made the conscious decision to remove all gestural mark-making from his work. With an emphasis on formal innovation, Whitten utilized unconventional tools for drawings and paintings such as a rake, saw blade, Afro combs and squeegees. Whitten named these new tools ‘processors’ or ‘developers,’ reiterating the connections to photo-processing; these enabled him to create abstract constructions formed by one sweeping motion. Employing dry pigment on paper, ‘Topographical Space #IX’ is demonstrative of the artist’s playfulness and improvisational skill in searching for his own special visual language––a testament to his commitment to drawing as a means to make manifest his ideas and advance his methods.
1.) Jack Whitten, Studio Log, November 2014.