Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 6

Franklin Jonas
"Geostructure VI" Abstract, Graphic, Colors, Geometric, Primary Shapes, Acrylic

1996

About the Item

SALE ONE WEEK ONLY "Geostructure VI" is an intensely colorful painting of the primary shapes of the circle, square, and triangle. Though the shapes are repetitive their mixed juxtapositions and the creative use of color moves the eye around the canvas with constant interest. This painting is an extraordinary example of Franklin Jonas's painting philosophy. He has said: "Geometry is capable of expressing perfect absolutes. I use geometry to gain and share new perspectives through new vocabularies." He uses straight line segments to push the envelope. In his prior work he used this vision to produce "what has to this day remained a predominant symbol of perfect celestial objects, stars" when working on his The Star Project. The perfection of lines, grids, shapes, forms and dimensions took hold of him. Franklin Jonas states: “I have always been attracted to geometry and op art. The perfection of lines, grids, shapes, forms and dimensions took hold of him. As a child, he was drawn to patterns and the monochromatic use of color within shapes.” Franklin Jonas was born in Michigan in 1970 and from the very beginning it was clear he was born an artist. As he grew older, he became interested in geometric polyhedral and geodesic spheres. The shapes and forms became more complex. He grew to love the art of Victor Vasarely, Frank Stella, Sol Lewitt and Al Held, spending years studying their work. In 1983, at age 13 Jonas moved to Canada to attend Pickering College boarding school. There he created his first geometric color field painting. He entered it into the first ever Ontario independent schools art competition. It won first prize. In the years that followed he had his first art exhibit, “Shapes on Canvas.” These 10 geometric works set the tone for what was to come. He then attended Pratt Institute in New York, before moving to Hollywood to work on set design. He returned to Michigan a few years later, beginning his “Geostructure Series”. From 1995 to 1999, he created 13 acrylic paintings in the series, incorporating geometric shapes and fierce colors according to formulas he had spent years developing. From there emerged the shaped paintings: THE EMBRYO SERIES and THE ELEMENT GROUPS. His most recent artistic venture began in 2011 with THE STAR PROJECT, a vocabulary using 5 pointed stars and straight line segments within them. The result is a new way of looking at this ancient icon. These star installations are visual systems that become an artistic language based on the fusion of color, geometry and logic, where the interaction of the elements maintains the balance of the structure. A Minimalism-Neoplasticism-Pop Art Tribrid, the result is the duality of both chaos and order. Franklin Jonas Artist’s Statement: WHAT AM I? What am i exactly? I'm still trying to figure that out. The most accurate description is this: I am a conduit. I connect this reality with a place of pure ideas and creativity. It is a realm beyond the physical. It is outside of everything. All artists are this. It is how we are wired. We cannot change this fact, the ones who try self-destruct and the ones who don't, realize what they are and live a life of pain. I accept what I am. As the information passes through me, my brain immediately processes it. The moment that happens, it is transformed by my experiences and emotions. It became mine. The material is then worked and reworked, over and over again. Lots of it is discarded. Some of it is shelved, sometimes for years. Parts of it are combined with other parts. There are many phases, many evolutions. Sometimes it goes nowhere. Sometimes nowhere is where it's at. The method that starts inside my head is developed via drawings, computer renderings, prints, paintings and sculpture. THE WIRING I have always been attracted to basic geometry: lines, grids, shapes, forms, and dimensions. The perfection of it took hold of me. As a child I was drawn to patterns and monochromatic use of color within shapes. These things are exact, definite, perfect. As I grew older, I became interested in geometric polyhedral and geodesic spheres. The shapes and forms became more complex. As I studied these things and their place in reality, their connection with nature became obvious. I played with blocks. I built tall towers, only to knock them down. They became taller and more complex. I stopped destroying them and began to study them. I started to experiment with different materials. I built cities. I fell in love with architecture. Not just the finished structure, but the entire process. The skeleton of a building as it was being constructed was of particular beauty to me. I collected objects. Coins, stamps, baseball cards, stickers, buttons. I spent countless hours with these objects sorting them into groups: color, shape, size, year, alphabetical order. The combinations seemed endless. I look back on it and understand that it was not about the objects themselves but rather their aesthetic and my obsession with cross referencing. These machine made "things" were cut, formed and molded, with a precision that amazed me. But that was only part of it. They could exist alone or as a component in a system. That is where the cross referencing becomes relevant. The objects definition changes based on its interaction with other objects. As they were sorted, they became part of other systems, thus, they seemed different with each system. I discovered that you can only know a thing if you observe it with other things in different groups. Later i would create objects of my own using simple geometry. The aesthetic was of my own creation. As these objects interacted, they formed unique vocabularies. SMOKE AND MIRRORS Simple geometry is perfection. There are absolutes. There are exact lines, shapes, angles, etc. A point has no dimensions. A line is 1 dimensional. A plane is 2 dimensional. A cube has 3 dimensions. On paper it all works out. In reality, things are organic and messy. We can only interact with 3 dimensional objects, and even those objects are not truly 3 dimensional. They are 2 dimensional objects with a percentage of a 3rd dimension. The smaller you go, the more things break down. Many scientists believe that if you look small enough, reality becomes fractal. Time, space and matter can all be broken down into infinite parts, and those parts can be broken down into infinite parts ad infinitum. If reality can be broken down infinitely, then nothing can be quantified. If that is the case, then reality is an illusion. I share this belief. So what does this mean? It means that as an artist, I create things based on simple geometry that are extremely well constructed so as to create the illusion of perfection and absoluteness, in a universe that itself is an illusion. Franklin Jonas has been a prominent player in the Detroit modern art movement since returning from California. He has participated in a number of Red Bull House of Art Detroit exhibitions in addition to numerous Solo exhibitions and Group Exhibitions throughout the years including: Galleria Camille; the Venice Biennale 2013; Imago Mundi; Luciano Benetton Collection; The Library Street Collective, Detroit, Michigan; The Star Project: The First 50 Der Lärm; The Russell Industrial Center; Cpop Gallery; Excerpts from the Geostructure Series; Janice Charach Gallery, Bloomfield, Michigan; and Geostructures I-X, Gallery Blue, Pontiac, Michigan. He was awarded a residency at The Red Bull House of Art Detroit in 2012, with a Cycle 1. 360 Star Installation with Sets 10-69, (each set contains 6) and Set 70 gifted to Red Bull. His work can be found in a number of publications: Imago Mundi: Luciano Benetton Collection, 2013; Art Fundamentals, Theory and Practices, 12th edition, 2013, McGraw-Hill; Engaging Musical Practices, 1st edition, 2012, Editor: Suzanne L. Burton, R&L Education; Art Fundamentals, Theory and Practices, 11th edition, 2008, McGraw-Hill; Art Fundamentals, Theory and Practices, 10th edition, 2005, McGraw-Hill; and Art Fundamentals, Theory and Practices, 9th edition, 2001, McGraw-Hill Jonas’ work can be found in the following collections: Anderton Industries Troy, Michigan; Eugene Applebaum; Chrysler New Chrysler World Headquarters in the Dime Building, Detroit, Michigan; Chrysler Financial Corp. Headquarters, Farmington Hills, Michigan; Jennifer and Dan Gilbert, owner of Quicken Loans; Luciano Benetton Ponzano, Veneto ,Italy; the Imago Mundi-Luciano Benetton Collection, Venice, Italy; Media Genesis Troy, Michigan; The Red Bull House of Art Detroit, Detroit, Michigan; Rocco Benetton Ponzano, Veneto, Italy; Rock Financial, Detroit, Michigan; Automotive/Concord International Birmingham, Michigan; and The University Of Michigan Alfred Berkowitz Gallery/Museum, Dearborn, Michigan. Commissions for his work include the New Children's Hospital Troy, Troy, Michigan, donated by Catherine and Nathan Forbes, and Mott Children's Hospital, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, also, donated by Catherine and Nathan Forbes. All of his stretchers are custom made by Simon Liu. This piece measures 2 meters x 2 meters.
More From This SellerView All
  • "Geostructure II" Abstract, Geometric, Colors, Primary Shapes, Acrylic
    By Franklin Jonas
    Located in Detroit, MI
    SALE ONE WEEK ONLY "Geostructure II" is an intensely colorful painting of the primary shapes of the circle, square, and triangle. Though the shapes are repetitive their mixed juxtapositions and the creative use of color moves the eye around the canvas with constant interest. This painting is an extraordinary example of Franklin Jonas...
    Category

    1990s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Acrylic, Linen

  • "Geostructure X" Abstract, Colors, Geometric, Primary Shapes, Acrylic
    By Franklin Jonas
    Located in Detroit, MI
    SALE ONE WEEK ONLY "Geostructure X" is an intensely colorful painting of the primary shapes of the circle, square, and triangle. Though the shapes are repetitive their mixed juxtapositions and the creative use of color moves the eye around the canvas with constant interest. This painting is an extraordinary example of Franklin Jonas...
    Category

    1990s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Linen, Acrylic

  • "Geostructure IX" Abstract, Geometric, Colors, Primary Shapes, Acrylic
    By Franklin Jonas
    Located in Detroit, MI
    SALE ONE WEEK ONLY "Geostructure IX" is an intensely colorful painting of the primary shapes of the circle, square, and triangle. Though the shapes are repetitive their mixed juxtapositions and the creative use of color moves the eye around the canvas with constant interest. This painting is an extraordinary example of Franklin Jonas...
    Category

    1990s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Linen, Acrylic

  • "Geostructure XII Abstract, Colors, Geometric, Primary Shapes, Acrylic
    By Franklin Jonas
    Located in Detroit, MI
    SALE ONE WEEK ONLY "Geostructure XII" is an intensely colorful painting of the primary shapes of the circle, square, and triangle. Though the shapes are repetitive their mixed juxtapositions and the creative use of color moves the eye around the canvas with constant interest. This painting is an extraordinary example of Franklin Jonas...
    Category

    1990s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Acrylic, Linen

  • "Color Moves" Abstract, Geometric, Linear, Colorful
    Located in Detroit, MI
    ONE WEEK ONLY SALE "Color Moves" is a colorful abstract with a broad linear element. Artist David Rubello studied and painted naturalism for many years...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Acrylic

  • Max Gunther Abstract Cityscape, Acrylic Collage on Canvas
    By Max Gunther
    Located in Detroit, MI
    SALE ONE WEEK ONLY This abstract acrylic work by Max Günther is an exquisite example of his abstract cityscape work. A preferred subject of Günther's, his work took cityscape shapes...
    Category

    1960s Abstract Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Acrylic

You May Also Like
  • EQUIVALENCE 95 - Acrylic on Linen - Purple, Orange Abstract Geometric Painting
    By Linda King Ferguson
    Located in Signal Mountain, TN
    This painting by Linda King Ferguson is part of her equivalence series, which began as a feminist project; works that subvert the historically male gaze and a material language speaking of gendered concerns. The diamond shaped canvas is primarily a brown cardboard color, with two circles dominating the center of the composition. Stacked vertically, the topmost circle is a light lavender color, and the lower circle is a creamy, salmon orange. Two cuts have been made in the canvas on either side of the center, where the edges of the two circles meet. Her color choices first came from Helen Molesworth’s essay, Painting With Ambivalence, published in WACK! Art of the Feminist Revolution. The Essay includes a large reproduction of Mary Heilmann’s 1979 painting...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Linen, Acrylic

  • EQUIVALENCE 80- Oil and Acrylic on cut Linen - Orange, Pink Abstract Geometric
    By Linda King Ferguson
    Located in Signal Mountain, TN
    This painting by Linda King Ferguson is a geometric abstraction inspired by the female body. Circles, ellipses and scalloped edges decorate the canvas in Salmon orange, wine red, and...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Linen, Spray Paint, Acrylic

  • EQUIVALENCE 105- Acrylic and Flashe on cut Linen - Abstract Geometric Painting
    By Linda King Ferguson
    Located in Signal Mountain, TN
    This painting on cut linen canvas by Linda King Ferguson depicts a diamond shape that is halved horizontally by a color break. The top triangular section on the diamond is a salmon o...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Linen, Acrylic

  • VERSO EQUIVALENCE 1 - acrylic, staples, pine wood, cut linen -Abstract geometric
    By Linda King Ferguson
    Located in Signal Mountain, TN
    This painting by Linda King Ferguson is part of her equivalence series, which began as a feminist project; works that subvert the historically male gaze and a material language speaking of gendered concerns. While typically, King Ferguson paints both sides of the canvas and cuts a flap on the the frontside to reveal the color of the back of the canvas, she unexpectedly does the opposite here. The painting is hung from the "frontside" of the canvas, revealing to us the raw edges of her linen canvas, stapled to the stretchers. Two oblong shapes of pink and red dominate the center of the painting. A thin semioval cut has been made inside of both of these shapes. Her color choices first came from Helen Molesworth’s essay, Painting With Ambivalence, published in WACK! Art of the Feminist Revolution. The Essay includes a large reproduction of Mary Heilmann’s 1979 painting...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Metal

  • EQUIVALENCE 79- Acrylic Stain and Spray on Linen - Red Abstract Geometric
    By Linda King Ferguson
    Located in Signal Mountain, TN
    This painting by Linda King Ferguson depicts a rectangular linen canvas painted bright orange, with a second layer of deep wine red ellipsis and scalloped edges in the foreground. Red circles dominate the center of the painting in two different sizes. Some of the circles overlap, creating a vesica piscis shape. Linda King Ferguson lives and works in Munising, MI and Nashville, TN. She is in residence semi-annually in Brooklyn, NY. She has a MA from Rhode Island School of Design, and received an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She also has studied at Academia Di Belle Arti in Perugia...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Linen, Spray Paint, Acrylic

  • EQUIVALENCE 118- Acrylic on cut Linen - Abstract Geometric Painting
    By Linda King Ferguson
    Located in Signal Mountain, TN
    This painting on cut linen canvas by Linda King Ferguson depicts a diamond shaped canvas that is color-blocked into three main sections. The topmost triangular portion of the canvas ...
    Category

    2010s Abstract Geometric Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Linen, Acrylic

Recently Viewed

View All