Superpose

The title of this online virtual exhibition, Superpose, refers not only to the compositional and chromatic affinities between the artworks of Ivanevid and Luc Sokolowski, but most of all to the conceptual convergences of their artistic practices. Both Ivanevid and Luc are interested in optical illusions which calls up ideas regarding mere appearance and therefore, posing. They also explore themes of harmony and tension, such as the coexistence of order and disorder in a kind of superposition similar to how wave systems in quantum mechanics can exist in multiple possible states simultaneously. So the logic of the worlds that Luc and Ivanevid create in their art is not based on ‘either-or’ thinking but rather on ‘both-and’ evaluations. Their works are populated by ambiguous figure-ground relationships, leading the viewer to experience multistable perception. But for them painting is just as conceptual as it is visual. Ivanevid is inspired by his experience of energy, and Luc draws on the phenomenon of randomness. There is an integration of form and content in Ivanevid and Luc’s art that suggests that gestalt switches can lead to personal paradigm shifts. These two artists are not at all alone in making art that aims to transform themselves and the viewer, but they are relatively atypical in presenting pictures of the process of evolution itself. In Ivanevid and Luc Sokolowski’s respective bodies of work, to superpose, or to superimpose, one element over another is both to synthesize them and to change them. To superpose is to metamorphose. For Ivanevid, the elements are often organic and serpentine, while Luc’s are geometric and grid-like. But analogously, relating both of their approaches in this online exhibition has the potential to influence them in the future. Time, which is defined by change and entropy, will tell. Until then, it is up to the viewer to infer the next step in their respective artistic journeys.