Martin Frank – Breaking Through the Plane

Exhibition Dates: April 27 – May 22, 2022

Max Beckman, the German Expressionist artist of the early twentieth Century, described his experience of working with a model in his studio: “I think of objects, of a leg or an arm…of breaking through the plane, of the division of space, of the combination of straight lines in relation to curved ones.”

In my work here, there’s drama in the interplay between the straight planes of window light and their deflection by the curves of the models torso along with her outstretched arms and legs. This is posed in a studio where paintings and diverse objets d’arts further break through the plane of window light. Finally, these images are realized as palladium prints, a hand made photographic process harkening back 100 years. It conveys a soft warmth and gently separates the subtle tones of window light, shadow and skin.