Richard Whitten: Objects of Wonder - Artist Talk

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 viewers 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.