Beyond the dot, there is a multidimensional theory driving Kolker’s art. Not only is there a historical basis, as in the Kantian “everything comes to us from others”, or societal and cultural substantive spin, such as in the instant reference to the broadcast media going digital in 2009… there is a third intersecting scientific dimension of testing our experience. Like in his prior seventeen solo exhibitions, Kolker curates to the limits and formats of his exhibition spaces; this curatorial impulse has become the special fourth dimension of Kolker’s work.
“…The Prologue” reverently attributes Kolker’s procedural style of painting and photography to lessons learned from others. Chuck Close’s process driven fractionated grid paintings; Shinobu Ishihara’s color vision experiments; Benoit Mandelbrot’s fractal geometry and the plethora of fractal graphics computer programs. All have influenced Kolker in his development of the “fracolor” process. The “fra” connotes fractionation, fractal division and iteration. A photograph of a subject or object is created, redacted and fractionated using computer graphics programs in to a grid of squares. The “color” connotes the unique palette of elemental pigment and optical colors, applied either unmixed as primary hues, or mixed only with black and/or white, as shades and tints. Finally, a grid is screen printed circumscribing each colored square in to a colored dot. Or, the grid is computer generated and used to create a Lambda, C-print or pigment ink-jet print in 1089 (or more) dots per inch.
“Parallax Box, The Return of the Dot” (2009) tests the viewer in the myriad ways we can see things in real time based on our position relative to the object. A solitary illuminated LED dot within a one-way mirrored cube forms a rambling of dots out into infinity in every direction, creating a Star Wars effect as the viewer moves around the cube. In “The Magritte Time Iterati Machine” (2009), a passenger train car repeats ad infinitum in a mirrored fractal box behind a locomotive and tender. Additionally, on exhibit are fracolor portrait paintings of Chuck Close, Katie Couric, Shinobu Ishihara, Larry King, and Benoit Mandelbrot, as well as a 72 x 96 inch face mounted C-print “Prone to Being Supine” (2009), reminiscent of Montagna’s foreshortening perspective, in high definition digital “fracolor” format.
Paul Kolker: “Digital is In…Go Digital! The Prologue” — January 25 through May 8, 2009.