Stanley Whitney (1946 – )

This monotype contains contrasting colors that range in vibrance and opacity. A lime green square buzzes with energetic tonality against an abundance of ruby and tangerine strokes of color. Thin slivers of white space peek out from behind the rounded edges of the gridded tableau. In this monotype, each color block occupies a set of spaces while spatially separated by the uncolored regions between various colors. The color blocks also revealed the creation process with the rough brush works and the uneven color distribution. This monotype particularly shows the audience the vibrant energy infused by Whitney on the painted surface that is influenced by the active emotions in jazz music that had always been Whitney’s interest.

Stay Songs, 2002

Monotype on Paper (Unique)

Image: 15 ⅝ x 16 in. (39.7 x 40.6 cm)

Sheet: 29 1/4 x 29 ⅜ in. (74.3 x 74.6 cm)

Dated on Reverse: 07-2002

Provenance

Team Gallery, Inc., New York Private Collection

Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

Exhibition History

Printed Paper, 18 May – 8 July 2023, Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

Literature

Bill Hodges Gallery, Masterworks of the African Diaspora, New York, 2023, illus. p. 46

This monotype is accented by muted lavenders and chartreuse tones, exemplifying the artist's precise manipulation of color theory and balance. Within each grid, brushstrokes vary in opacity, creating a dynamic sense of rhythm within every column. Among other monotypes, this work represents Whitney’s understanding of how to situate color and space the most significantly, where the color is transformed and became space. Through viewing and understanding Renaissance paintings, architecture, and sculptures, Whitney was impacted by the abundance of colors and the function of color in actual constructions. Each color and its squaredoccupied region become the space that eventually fulfills the entire print, leaving no extra empty areas to interrupt the continuation of colors. Unlike an object or technique that can be utilized and situated colors, in Whitney’s sense, color is the space, they cannot be separated and discussed.

Stay Songs, 2002

Monotype on Paper (Unique)

Image: 15 ⅞ x 15 ¾ in. (40.3 x 40 cm)

Sheet: 24 ⅞ x 22 ⅛ in. (63.2 x 61.3 cm)

Initialed and Dated on Reverse: SW 04-2002

Provenance

Team Gallery, Inc., New York, NY Private Collection

Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

Exhibition History

Decades of Acquisitions: Works on Paper from the Collection 24 February – 30 April 2022

Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY Printed Paper, 18 May – 8 July 2023, Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY