Rome/Paris study
2007. Flasche on linen. 60 x 70cm. Private collection.

© Renée Van Halm

Seeing Through addresses concomitant approaches to art and architecture:  first the break-up of illusionistic space as evidenced in synthetic cubism and secondly the architectural phenomenon of transparency, an exploration that resulted from advances in material practices. Both generate obvious metaphors for contemporary society.

Synthetic cubism and its extensive use of collage provide a methodology for the reconstitution of literal subject matter.

“.. the wholesale adoption of transparency as a corporate and political symbol, allegedly representing tectonic and programmatic authenticity while projecting images of sleek sophistication and participation in a worldwide culture.”

Annette Fierro, University of Pennsylvania
Glass in the Garden of Paris:
The Ubiquitous Detail of Rice Francis Ritchie