Protractor Series 1967-1970

Protractor Series 1967-1970

"Darabjerd 3", 1967

“Darabjerd 3”, 1967

10 ft 1/8 in X 15 ft 1/4 in.

 

"Firuzabad" 1970

“Firuzabad” 1970

10 ft x 15ft 1/2 in.

Featured Image: “Harran 2” 1967, 10ft x 20ft

Following a trip to the Middle East, Stella was very inspired by the way the cities’ circular paths interlaced and interweaved like snakes chasing their tails. With that thought it mind he created the Protractor Series. Each painting is named after a Middle Eastern city. We can see here that Stella continued to explore shape, color and form and for the very first time he introduced curves into his work using the protractor. The straight lines we see still, however, emphasize the flatness of these works, reminding the viewer that it is just paint on canvas and that there is no illusion to it. Yet we see a hint of color field painting here, where Stella is using the powerful component of color which forces the viewer to absorb it as a non representational part of the piece.  All of the paintings in this series are very large, much like the the paintings in the Irregular Polygon Series. They are created using polymer paint on canvas.