Black Tear
Black Tear, 1969, Ronald Davis. Molded polyester resin and fiberglass. 60 ½ x 136 in. The Robert A. Rowan Collection, Pasadena, California. © Ronald Davis
On View at the Getty Center: Pacific Standard Time: Crosscurrents in L.A. Painting and Sculpture, 1950-1970
Vector and Black Tear belong to the Dodecagon series of paintings that Ronald Davis made between January 1968 and October 1969 in which he experimented with new materials, perspective, and spatial ambiguity. Each dodecagon (a shape with 12 angles and 12 sides) was produced using a Formica mold into which Davis brushed and poured colored polyester resins, adding layers of fiberglass reinforcement before lifting the finished work out of the mold and polishing it. Although the surface of these works is perfectly flat, the image appears at once to recede and project into the viewer’s space. This illusion of three-dimensional form on a two-dimensional surface recalls the perspectival qualities of traditional painting.
Exhibition audio: Curator Andrew Perchuk discusses the illusion of three-dimensionality in this painting.
Explore the Archive
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Video: Ronald Davis speaks about his work, June 2011
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Installation view of Ronald Davis's Dodecagons and Cubes series at Nicholas Wilder Gallery in Los Angeles, 1969. Image courtesy of Ronald Davis
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Interior view of Ronald Davis's studio at Pico Boulevard and 4th Avenue in Los Angeles, 1966–72. Photo by Bob Jaye. Courtesy of Ronald Davis
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Ronald Davis's studio at Pico Boulevard and 4th Avenue in Los Angeles, 1966–72. Photo by Bob Jaye. Courtesy of Ronald Davis
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Exterior view of Nicholas Wilder Gallery at the time of Ronald Davis's first solo exhibition in 1965. Image courtesy of Ronald Davis
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Ronald Davis in 1963. Photo by Steve Sokol. Image courtesy of Ronald Davis
