Triptych Of Verticals by Donald Schenkel

In Triptych of Verticals, Donald Schenkel (1991) connects three immense canvases painted with oil paint through their composition. The compositions of these works consist of vertical columns linked together in fields of colour. The vertical movement exists as a vibration in a continuum of colours that flow from left to right.

With this triptych, Donald merges processes that he has developed in the past year and a half. Early in 2019, he expanded his colour range far beyond his typical palette, allowing for more diverse results and leading to a gradual increase in his use of brighter colours and larger canvases. This newfound scope was first expressed in Donald’s solo exhibition ‘Behaviour of Colours’ (Guangzhou).

After his solo exhibition ‘The White Mirror’ at Root Gallery (Rotterdam), which revolved around the rethinking of the essence of his work, Donald began searching for a way to let his new colour palette mature. He started experimenting with a series of complex colour transitions in early 2020, followed by a further series of works containing bright transitions into muted hazy tones. This, in turn, has led to the works before you: an exploration into how the aforementioned experiments marry successfully with scale.

Triptych of Verticals places intense, vibrant and bright colours next to calm muted tones. When viewed closely, the blending of these tones results into grey hues and suggests an absence of colour. From afar however, these muted tones form beams of light.

In order to create these compositions, Donald visualises his works initially as a wave and then translates the peaks and troughs of this wave into corresponding darks and lights, intuitively filling in the appropriate colour based on years of experimentation. The result embodies a contradiction of both vertical and horizontal movement, similar to ripples on a body of water.

This work was shown during Big Art 2020 (1 - 4 Oct, Zaandam).

Triptych Of Verticals - Oil paint on linen, 480 x 640 cm (480 x 180 cm per painting)