Saturday, August 8, 2009

Middy Potter's Art and Math: a sweeping vision from classic to modern

Middy Potter's versatile art life ranges so widely a blog post can barely scan the highlights.


His show at WSG running through September 13 demonstrates the reach. Here's a look at some of the works at his studio.

This is the logarithmic spiral in progress. It's related to the Fibonacci spiral and the "golden spiral."



Here, a red geometric elliptic hyperbolloid contrasts with the green grass:



These two mosaics reside on his sunroom floor and foreshadow the large pyramid in the gallery, as well as the spiral design:



Here is a look at how his works appear, first in progress at his studio and then as final versions in the WSG.

This cube shows Middy's penchant for art play: "It's fun to do sculpture related to geometry," he says.

At his studio:



And in the gallery:



A polyhedron-fish uses a Platonic solid dating from ancient Greece and contemporary fish form. Here is the work at Middy's studio:



Here is the final product at the gallery:



This is the mosaic pyramid inside the gallery door, referenced above in his sunroom mosaics:



This cyclide form was invented by a French naval engineer. Here is the cyclide in the studio, next to his double cone:



At the gallery:



These spirals were formed by wrapping strips of various woods along a cylinder:



These works are the classic counterpoint to his silver people:



You can see these pieces and more at Middy Potter's "Art and Math" exhibition at the WSG Gallery, located at 306 S. Main street, Ann Arbor, MI 48104. The gallery is situated between Le Dog and The Ark. His show runs from August 4 - September 13, 2009. We hope to see you there!