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My current work reconciles my thoughts on the aftermath of recent conflicts with visions of the American desert. I grew up in the steppe of eastern Washington State; that area’s minimalist panorama and soft textures permeate my paintings. Yet deserts are the sites of some of our deepest national traumas, from Los Alamos, to the Alamo, to Iraq. This juxtaposition of the traumatic and the sublime goes to the core of the American psyche. |
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“These works reference military satellite imagery, architectural plans, native American tapestries, and 1980’s-era vector video games to explore the paradoxical confluence of beauty and trauma in the American landscape.”
Eric LoPresti, Mountains (Battlezone), 2011. Oil and India ink on linen, 46 x 26 inches. Courtesy of Like the Spice Gallery
Psychological Territories
Eric LoPresti
My current work reconciles my thoughts on the aftermath of recent conflicts with visions of the American desert. I grew up in the steppe of eastern Washington State; that area’s minimalist panorama and soft textures permeate my paintings. Yet deserts are the sites of some of our deepest national traumas, from Los Alamos, to the Alamo, to Iraq. This juxtaposition of the traumatic and the sublime goes to the core of the American psyche. My recent paintings focus on the blasted physical and psychological territories left by the Cold War. I juxtapose softly rendered landscapes (usually but not always based on aerial images I take myself) with color gradients and incisive, black geometric lines. These works reference military satellite imagery, architectural plans, Native American tapestries, and 1980’s-era vector video games to explore the paradoxical confluence of beauty and trauma in the American landscape.
Eric LoPresti, Nez Perce (Sketch for Halo), 2011. Oil and India ink on linen, 40 x 30 inches. Courtesy of Like the Spice Gallery
