Richard Whitten: Objects of Wonder

  • event_note
  • access_time -
  • place Bannister Gallery in Roberts Hall

Exhibition on view in Bannister Gallery from November 7 through December 6, 2024. Join us for an opening reception on Thursday, November 7, from 4-7 PM!

Painting with a mechanical toy in the center surrounded by a Renaissance-style landscape

Richard Whitten creates paintings which transport the viewer through the surface of the painting into a world of imagined architectural spaces. There, the viewer finds similarly imagined machines. The views are invited to bring the worlds inside the paintings to life – to propel the machine into motion – through sight and thought alone. The machines Whitten depicts have a variety of possible functions and are often inspired by the inventions of Leonardo da Vinci and other Renaissance inventors. These machines tend to include elements that suggest motion, such as flywheels, gears, and ropes. It is Whitten’s belief that when the viewer tracks the potential movements of his machines, the paintings feel alive.