The Cipher

Painting

-

DePaul Art Museum

Name/Title

The Cipher

Entry/Object ID

2018.13

Description

Multicolored textural abstraction of face, with eye and nose most highlighted

Artwork Details

Medium

Acrylic sawdust on masonite

Acquisition

Notes

Collection of DePaul Art Museum; Gift of Donna A. Stone

Made/Created

Artist

Lutes, Jim

Date made

1990

Ethnography

Notes

Japan Niigata Prefecture (Japan's Honshu Island) American

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Location

Verso

Transcription

'Cipher Acrylic sawdust 89-90 Lutes'

Notes

Inscription Type: Black marker

Location

Verso

Transcription

[artwork info]

Notes

Inscription Type: adhesive label

Notes

Inscription Type: none

Lexicon

Getty AAT

Concept

Surrealist, European, abstraction, forms of expression (artistic concept), artistic concepts, roughness, texture (physical attribute), figurative art, art genres

Hierarchy Name

Styles and Periods (hierarchy name), Associated Concepts (hierarchy name), Attributes and Properties (hierarchy name)

Facet

Styles and Periods Facet, Associated Concepts Facet, Physical Attributes Facet

Dimensions

Dimension Description

overall; canvas

Width

24 in

Length

30 in

Dimension Description

overal; frame

Width

24-3/4 in

Length

30-1/2 in

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Artist Commentary

Label

This work is an early example of Lutes’s paintings that to this day continue to merge the figure with abstract marks and gestures. The face emerges from a desolate landscape with a car tire in the lower right corner but a layer of curvilinear marks separate the foreground and background. According to Lutes, “The title refers to both the mystery of the codes (or modes), and the human zero (me) that holds the key. Out of these works I came to the conclusion that figuration and abstraction are modes of looking not painting - and far from a duality, there are endless possibilities limited only by consciousness.” He continued to add, “The Cipher belongs to a body of work painted over a two-year period from 1988-1990. I had been painting non-stop under exhibition deadlines for the previous 5 or 6 years and was beginning to feel the need to experiment and expand the scope of my work - free of outside pressure. I needed time to fail and recover before subjecting myself or the work to public scrutiny. So I decided to take a year and paint without obligation and see where I would end up. One of my issues back then was that the primarily figurative works that I was known for represented only half of my aesthetic interests. When I talked about my paintings back then, I always pointed out that there was an abstract painting underneath the figurative image - literally. The abstract stage of the paintings was where the narrative took shape. This I can't explain - it was and is not entirely rational. I have never believed in the dichotomy of figuration and abstraction, so I decided not to pretend anymore and that by confusing this duality I might unlock something. I also thought that it might help to abandon oil paints for a while - that being uncomfortable with my materials might allow me to avoid habits of painting and thinking. A year before, a friend exposed me to homemade acrylic paints using dispersions and additives from Guerra Pigment in New York. Despite my dislike for all things acrylic, these crudely made paints became my primary medium for a time. The Cipher was one of the first pieces in acrylic started in the fall of 1988. It went through several transitions as I tested and worked through these possibilities and potentials.”