Art Green's 'Certain Subjects' Explores Layered Paintings and Visual Puzzles

Art Green's paintings in the 2013 publication 'Certain Subjects' create disorienting spatial illusions through layered compositions. John Yau's introductory essay notes how these works bewilder viewers, questioning whether they are paintings, sculptures, or painted sculptures. Green's technique involves juxtaposing diverse images removed from their original contexts, rendered with smooth trompe-l'oeil effects that appear flattened. Recurring motifs like bridges, drawn from his father's profession as a bridge designer, lose their original meanings in these dreamscapes. Works such as 'United Opposition' (1975) feature complex layers including a corseted picture window with multicolored chain-link, stylized flames, and a purple interior revealing a fragmented sunset landscape. The book includes 72 pages and is published by Garth Greenan in New York, priced at $40. Green's career spans from the 1960s to 2013, with paintings described as having both classic and futuristic qualities. Visual overlays in pieces like 'Fat Chance' (1980) depict ordinary items illogically, such as ice-cream-cone shapes. A photograph in the publication shows seven paintings scaled against a house, emphasizing their large physical presence. Yau observes that seeing becomes an active process of sorting and reconfiguring in response to Green's work.