The "Live Canvas" paintings are each made from a single continuous
canvas surface wrinkled/stretched/wrapped on a wood frame. In these works, the canvas abandons its traditional role as a passive
flat surface for the application of pigment; it comes "alive" and boldly competes for status as a medium in its own right.
The tension between order and chaos is paramount. Early pieces, ca. 1969-70, used dyed gray canvas. Pieces in the late 70's
explored thinner profiles and both plain and striped canvas. In 1986, "Live Canvas No. 14" introduced painted shapes to the
mix. In 2008, "Live Canvas No. 15" resumed this exploration of surface where No. 14 left off. While "Live Canvas No. 16" returns
to an unpainted canvas surface, "Live Canvas No. 17" combines the artist's conceptual and abstract canvas with his illusionist
figure paintings, creating a contrapuntal yet harmonic compositional interplay between the painted illusion of three dimensional
space and actual three dimensional surface.
