Fifty Paintings: Anthony Ames Architect

(Hardback)

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The paintings in this book depict 'object-type' - general yet specific, generic yet designed, familiar yet estranged. They are 'Purist' forms depicted in a still life landscape.

This book illustrates fifty paintings (1986-2018) with a brief reference on each. The paintings inform or are informed by architectural works by the architect and others. There is an introduction by Andrea Simitch. The paintings depict 'object-types' general yet specific, generic yet designed, familiar yet estranged. They are "Purist" forms depicted in a still life landscape. The compositions employ overlap, convergence and diminution to imply depth resulting in the creation of the illusion of perspectival space. However, through the use of juxtaposition, superimposition and ambiguity of scale the perspectival effect is impaired. The result is a blurring of distinction between foreground and background that encourages a reading of pattern that reinforces the presence of the surface plane. A conflict is encouraged between the deep space and the shallow space between the creation of implied space through perspective and the reinforcement of the surface plane through pattern. A multiple reading is fostered that rewards the careful observer.

Author Bio

Anthony Ames has maintained an architectural practice in Atlanta, Georgia since 1976, although the majority of his work has been elsewhere. He graduated from Georgia Tech and the Harvard Graduate School of Design and has taught at eleven universities and lectured at many more. Ames, a fellow of the American Academy in Rome and of the American Institute of Architects, has received numerous awards and has been widely published. His paintings have been exhibited selectively and sporadically. He has had several one-person exhibitions including those at the Ewing Gallery at the University of Tennessee, the Kibel Gallery at the University of Maryland, the Milstein Hall Gallery at Cornell University, the High Museum of Art, and the Casa Curutchet in La Plata, Argentina.