The 2010 Solution

Surprising, but I never posted this painting, probably because I finished it in January, winter of 2010... it is always difficult to get a quality photo in the winter, it kind of went forgotten in my portfolio until today. It is bright and sunny, so much in fact that I had to reduce the exposure on the camera to get the colours right. At the beginning of the last decade (2000) I painted a pivotal abstract painting, in fact one of the first since 'Art vs. Science' 1995... that began a string of abstract paintings, one a month, for the years 2000, 2001, onwards. When 2010 was approaching I wanted to create a painting that also represented some kind of turning point or beginning perhaps. The answer? 'The 2010 Solution'.

I did not shy away from a Dali-like surrealist landscape on this one. I also kept a lot of open spaces, most of the painting is done in thin coloured washes. Some areas are more detailed, like the bar, and the funny creature smoking, as well as the neural-network/rooted thing on the right of the smoker. Instead of creating a wall of doodles, I tried to feature each doodle more prominently, each has it's own space and time to exist in. In retrospect (it is mid 2012 as I write this), this painting helped to open up the style... let it breath. Together, with the just finished "The Paper Chase (No More Outline)", I am pretty excited about where the style is going to go next.

22x30" cold press, 2010