FREEFALL | The Art of Michael Whelan

PERSONAL VISIONS

Acrylic on Panel - 12" x 12"
2001

FREEFALL

Date

© 2001

Details

Acrylic on Panel

Size

12" x 12"

Faded Star

Tiny figures, each carrying a light, walk a path cut into the face of an enormous textured stone facade. The path angles angles down before opening to a round circuit where people seem to be defying gravity as they walk the curve even upside down. The channel in the stone resembles the number 9 lying face up. A hole at the center of the loop exposes the sky outside. A boy points his light up toward it but there is no apparent path there.

cheminallumee

scale

chasm

inaworldofherown

leapoffaith

A smooth stone facade, reminiscent of a gravestone, occupies the entire foreground of the painting. A square window set into the top center offers a vision of a vibrant blue wave cresting at enormous height and about to crash down. A diagonal shadow cuts across the face of the stone. Three embossed ridges border each side of the stone. Green grass can barely be seen at its base.

A young man stands on an outcrop of rebar in the space between two massive stone walls. In one hand he struggles with a lamp hanging on a long heavy chain while his other grips a rusted piece of metal anchored to the stone facade. Up high and barely visible is a thin line of hazy daylight that he can't see because he's looking down.

glimpse

A view through the ruins of an urban landscape. A cracked concrete wall with rusty rebar showing through the cracked surface, obscures the view from the left. Shadows draw lines at a sharp angle. On the right, tall concrete towers tilt inward, threatening to fall. In the narrow gap between, a woman sits hugging her knees atop a broken concrete column. Her white robes spill over the edge of her narrow perch. In the immediate foreground, a key hangs looped on a short outcrop of rebar.

ebb

flood

freefall

silvertide

seawall

climber

Painting description: A boy in a white shirt, olive shorts, and black sneakers stands tip toed on electrical conduit mounted along a buttressed barricade. With hands set on the top edge of the barrier, he stares out at crescent moon visible between wispy clouds in a dusky blue and orange sky. Paint on the panels of the barricade alternates between red and white, heavily weathered to reveal rough metal texture. Each panel carries an orange sign labeled A13 through A17 running from right to left. A “NO TRESPASSING” sign on the upper right of the barrier hangs near a 5-pointed star rendered in fading white paint. At the center of the barricade, an exit sign sits on a pole bent at its base. The arrow atop is angled up at a 45°. Four yellow stanchions striped in black, a single traffic cone, and the yellow lines of parking spaces run along an angle at the lower edge of the painting.

causeway

subterraneans

lightbehindthestar

Cart • Checkout • Contact • Shop Info • Site Policies

All content © 2007– 2023 Michael R. Whelan. All rights reserved.
Site developed & maintained by Michael Everett

Pin It on Pinterest

Like this post?

Share with your friends!

Facebook
Google+
Twitter
Pinterest
Tumblr
reddit