"The whole point is that the thing is being absolutely transformed, also that I was somehow removed in this process, all I had to do was develop a support for the catalyst and then it was then out of my hands but this is not unfamiliar territory for painting…" - Jacob Kassay
Jacob Kassay's shimmering canvas is coated with a silver electrochemical deposit that transforms its surface into a mirror-like, reflective plane, simultaneously revealing and obscuring its own materiality. The work embodies Kassay's interest in relinquishing authorial control, allowing industrial and chemical processes to determine the final outcome rather than the artist's direct hand. Taut string and layers of acrylic beneath the metallic surface add subtle dimensionality, hinting at the structural and procedural foundations that support the work's luminous, almost immaterial presence.
- Medium
- acrylic, silver deposit, string on canvas
- Spotted At
- Auction House · Phillips
🔨 Auction Lot
Contemporary Art & Design Evening Sale
March 6, 2014
More by Jacob Kassay
As a trained photographer, Kassay has translated many of photography’s essential techniques and concepts into his painting practice. In
“It often reminds me of the autofocus of a digital camera, which doesn’t know what to do with a silver painting’s surface when I’m trying to document the work. It goes in and out, unable to separate the painting’s present surroundings from the object itself.” JACOB KASSAY
The present lot,
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