George D. Green: Influences Behind His Work

Authors

Dustin Klein, South Dakota State University

Faculty Mentor

Leda Cempellin

Abstract

NOTE: This paper is part of a collective project that is published online in the Michigan based Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences, 2008 Special Edition: “Eye Deceptions: The Evolution of George Green’s Painting from the Late 1970’s to the Present” (http://www.kon.org/urc/v7/v7a/george-d-green-painting-evolution.html). Our sincere gratitude to Dr. Dorothy I. Mitstifer, Executive Director of the Undergraduate Research Journal for the Human Sciences, the Honors Society Kappa Omicron Nu and the Association of College Honor Societies, for authorizing the separate publication of this paper, as individual contribution, in the 2008 SDSU Journal of Undergraduate Research. All the reproduced images of paintings by George D. Green are courtesy the artist.

[Page 1] In Untitled 9 (Figure 1), Green created a composition consisting of banners. He created a rich texture by draping them one on top of the other and giving each banner its own shadow to make them pop off of the canvas. There are breaks in the overlapping and we see the white of the canvas showing through. Green applies a gradient to most of the banners and disperses another texture throughout them, in order to give the impression of a different material. The positioning of the banners makes them coalesce in the center of the composition, forming a triangular form, which points downward. The addition of the orange banner emphasizes the directional force. There are additions, to the painting, that stand out from the banner elements. Pieces of white masking tape rest behind the banners. George Green’s use of tape can be traced back to Wallerant Vaillant’s Letter Rack, 1658 (Figure 27). Here, on a wooden board, Vaillant has positioned letters that are kept in place by nailed down strips of tape. The strapping is perceived to fasten the letters, while Green’s pieces of tape apparently fasten some of the banners.

Recommended Citation

Klein, Dustin (2008) "George D. Green: Influences Behind His Work," The Journal of Undergraduate Research: Vol. 6, Article 5.
Available at: https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/jur/vol6/iss1/5