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Jan Pieter Fokkens Drawings

Dutch, b. 1979

The colorful paintings of Jan Pieter Fokkens transport us to distant worlds beyond our comprehension. Within seemingly infinite networks of lines, dots, and crosses, he decodes the recognizable to create something unfamiliar.

Each two-dimensional work begins with a photo captured by a deep-space telescope. Despite their photographic realism, “these beautiful images of outer space are not real,” says Fokkens. “They are contrived to show us some utopian sci-fi landscape — as though one could stare at them from a field of grass on a nearby planet. What is real is the sense of wonder they emit.” Colorized to convey depth and scale, such images have already been altered to make impossible sights more easily consumable.

With the aid of custom algorithms, Fokkens further manipulates the “fake pixels” of these images, extracting qualities such as pattern, form, and color. He then hand-paints these abstracted qualities as isolated points on canvas. Despite his methodical process, his paintings honor a romantic sense of beauty and capture the sense of longing and wonder one feels when they look out at the stars.

Inspired by early non-representational art, Fokkens treats his abstractions as a means of manipulating reality. Up-close, they might remind us of modernist paintings by the likes of Seurat or Mondrian. There is movement in the still image – moments within the composition that shift in and out of sight, that obscure and reveal the longer you look. Endlessly generating new experiences of perspective, Fokkens’s paintings challenge our perceptions and allow us to peer into other worlds.

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Creator: Jan Pieter Fokkens
"Study for SWEEPS" by Jan Pieter Fokkens
By Jan Pieter Fokkens
Located in Chicago, IL
The colorful paintings of Jan Pieter Fokkens transport us to distant worlds beyond our comprehension. Within seemingly infinite networks of lines, dots, and crosses, he decodes the r...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Jan Pieter Fokkens Drawings

Materials

Canvas

"Study for SWEEPS" by Jan Pieter Fokkens
By Jan Pieter Fokkens
Located in Chicago, IL
Inspired by images of deep space, computer compression algorithms, and early non-representational art, Chicago-based artist Jan Pieter Fokkens uses the tangible qualities of pattern and color to interpret unimaginable sights. Entitled "Study for SWEEPS," this work offers a representation of the Sagittarius Window Eclipsing Extrasolar Planet Search, Hubble’s seven-day-long survey of 180,000 stars in order to detect extrasolar planets. Using data from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Jan Pieter Fokkens Drawings

Materials

Paper

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Jan Pieter Fokkens drawings for sale on 1stDibs.

Jan Pieter Fokkens drawings are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of paper and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Jan Pieter Fokkens drawings, although brown editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original drawings by Jan Pieter Fokkens were created in the modern style in united states during the 21st century and contemporary. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider drawings by and Manuel Santelices. Prices for Jan Pieter Fokkens drawings can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $1,680 and can go as high as $2,480, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $2,080.

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