Loopholes is an on-going series of canvas-based works using five different types of commercially produced pre-primed canvas, three are pre-primed white, one is pre- primed black, and another for inkjet printers has been printed with a halftone pattern. Two layers of different canvas are stretched over a frame with one or multiple circles cut from the upper layer revealing the lower layer. The canvases are stretched with either their pre-primed side or reverse (unprimed) side facing outwards.
The series was begun towards the end of 2019 and beginning of 2020 with a group of 90 canvases, each 50 cm x 35 cm that became an inventory of all the possible combinations of the canvases described above. The series was extended during the first months of 2021. This time instead of mixing the differing types of canvas the combination was reduced to each type of canvas only being combined with its own reverse side with the emphasis on using groups canvases to create simple geometrical forms.
Loopholes
A list of all possible combinations, using the canvas brand name or an abbreviation of it, provided a systematic plan for stretching the canvases and an individual label for each canvas. The upper canvas is listed first and the lower one follows in parentheses.
90 Loopholes, 2019 / 2020
no. 68,detail of the back of the canvas
50 x 35 cm
A series of large-format canvases each feature one or more cut and extracted circles. The distribution of the circles was determined in advance, each centering on the intersection of a diagonal grid but the particular points selected by chance.
Loopholes #5, 2020
stretched canvases, cut and extracted circle
200 x 140 cm
The large-scale Loopholes are mapped out in advance in a series of digital renderings where the holes are plotted in relation to a grid that remains invisible in the final work.
Loophole Diagram #2, 2020
inkjet print on archive paper
59.4 x 42 cm
Loophole Diagram #3, 2020
inkjet print on archive paper
59.4 x 42 cm
Loophole Diagram #5, 2020
inkjet print on archive paper
59.4 x 42 cm
90 Loopholes, 2019 / 2020 (detail)
no. 90 Bolero Back (Gian-Back), stretched canvases, cut and extracted circle
50 x 35 cm
90 Loopholes, 2019 / 2020
90 stretched canvases, cut and extracted circles
each 50 x 35 cm, in total 250 x 630 cm
Loophole Diagram #1, 2020
inkjet print on archive paper
59.4 x 42 cm
Loopholes 2019 – 2021:
Loopholes 2021:
The series was extended during the first months of 2021, but this time instead of mixing the different types of canvas the combination was reduced to each type of canvas only being combined with its own reverse side. The first group of canvases explored what would happen if the canvases were hung not in horizontal alignment but were vertically shifted by half their height. The result was a lozenge form.
Loopholes (Lozenge 1) was produced using black pre-primed canvas together with its reverse side, where traces of black pigment are clearly visible through the open khaki weave. Using 25 canvases each time the elementary geometrical lozenge shape was produced in multiple manifestations, employing a range of combinations that progressed from the symmetrical to the asymmetrical, and ultimately chance ones.
Loopholes (Lozenge #1a), 2021
stretched canvases, cut and extracted circles
each canvas 50 x 35 cm, in total 250 x 315 cm
From left to right, top to bottom:
Loopholes (Lozenge #1b – i), 2021
stretched canvases, cut and extracted circles
each canvas 50 x 35 cm, in total 250 x 315 cm
Loopholes (Lozenge 2) was produced using white pre-primed canvas and its reverse side. A group of 17 canvases was used, but this time mixing both horizontal alignment and a vertical shift of half the height of the canvases. This group, in addition, featured a sequential progression whereby in each iteration one or two canvases were moved so that the final iteration is a 'negative' of the first, that is the pre-primed and reverse sides have exchanged positions.
Loopholes (Lozenge #2a), 2021
stretched canvases, cut and extracted circles
each canvas 50 x 35 cm, in total 250 x 245 cm
Loopholes #3, 2020
stretched canvases, cut and extracted circle
200 x 140 cm
From left to right, top to bottom:
Loopholes (Lozenge #2b – h), 2021
stretched canvases, cut and extracted circles
each canvas 50 x 35 cm, in total 250 x 245 cm
In contrast to the large groups of Lozenge 1 and Lozenge 2, Grid, Column, Arch, and Rhomboid are singular works that in addition use both a set of white pre-primed and black pre-primed canvases and their reverse sides. Grid and Column used a system of numbering the canvases and then progressively sequencing them to achieve a look of only apparent randomness. Arch and Rhomboid return to a symmetry that separates the two sets of canvases.
Loopholes (Grid), 2021
stretched canvases, cut and extracted circles
each canvas 50 x 35 cm, in total 250 x 245 cm
Loopholes (Column), 2021
stretched canvases, cut and extracted circles
each canvas 50 x 35 cm, in total 250 x 105 cm
Loopholes (Arch), 2021
stretched canvases, cut and extracted circles
each canvas 50 x 35 cm, in total 250 x 350 cm
Loopholes (Rhomboid), 2021
stretched canvases, cut and extracted circles
each canvas 50 x 35 cm, in total 250 x 350 cm
Loopholes (10 Bars) departs from the 50 x 35 cm format of the previous works from 2020 and 2021 to explore the potential objecthood of the pieces. 10 Bars uses an extremely elongated form and asymmetrical placement of the circle, while the series Loopholes (10 Bars) Diptych I-X pair the canvases with their own digital facsimiles, the latter, in progessively adding more and more measurements relating to the rectangle and the circle's placement within it explores issues of information overload.
Loopholes (10 Bars), 2021
stretched canvases, cut and extracted circles
each canvas 140 x 35 cm, in total 140 x 350 cm
Loopholes (Offset Diptych), 2021
stretched canvases, cut and extracted circles
each canvas 100 x 70 cm, in total 100 x 140 cm
Studio Installation Views:
Studio installation views – spring and summer 2021
90 Loopholes, 2019 / 2020 (details)
left, no. 85 Rauch-Front (Gian-Back), right, no. 20 Gospel-Back (Nero-Front)
stretched canvases, cut and extracted circles
each 50 x 35 cm
Loopholes (Offset Diptych) uses cuts in both pieces of canvas to reveal the wall underneath, relying on the tension created by offsetting the two circles and the drawing of attention to the work's architectural support, which adds it own qualities to the work.
Clockwise from top left: Loopholes (10 Bars) Diptych I, V, & X 2021
stretched canvases, cut and extracted circles, inkjet prints on matte paper,
each canvas 140 x 35 cm, each inkjet print 43.2 x 160 cm
Loopholes #4, 2020
stretched canvases, cut and extracted circle
200 x 140 cm