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One of a suite of five woodcuts printed on Fabriano Artistico paper with inks hand mixed from pure powdered pigments and plate oil.
Titles of the prints in this series: “Array 500/Tan”, “Array 500/Orange”, “Array 500/Gray”, “Array 500/Brown”, “Array 500/Blue”
This suite of five woodcuts by Rupert Deese titled “Array 500” constitute part of the artist’s “Array” project. Consisting of 20 circular woodcut prints by Rupert Deese, the “Array” project, ommenced with the publication of “Array 700” in 2005, followed by “Array 350” and “Array 500” in 2006, culminated in 2012 with the publication of “Array 1000”. The number in each title refers to the diameter of the circlular shape. In each of the “Array” prints, Deese divides the space of the circle into unique tiling patterns, using nine equal radial divisions. He then sub-divides these pie shapes into equal areas using additional radial lines and inscribed circles. While essentially abstract, the Array images have a tangential relationship to the landscape and watersheds of the upper Merced and Tuolumne Rivers in California, an area beloved by the artist which has inspired much of his artistic output. An earlier eponymous sequence of monochrome painted objects that accurately model the topographical shapes of this landscape was the genesis of the tiling patterns, and the Array opus can be seen as a continued meditation on the configuration of this geography.
