META • MORPHIC
Meta•Morphic, James Flynn’s third exhibition with Callan Contemporary, presents a series of opto-kinetic paintings that portray the unseen forces and dynamics underlying the fundamental essence of the cosmos and our own existence. His enigmatic geometrical abstractions explore the exotic universe of subatomic particles, waves, forces, and fields theorized by modern Quantum Physics. His highly optical manifestations are experiential, drawing the viewer into imagined realms of metamorphic energies that flux, flow, and transition before the eyes.
James Flynn conceived Meta•Morphic as part of an ongoing dialog with Mexican Surrealist Painter/ Sculptor Pedro Friedeberg, his mentor for over 30 years. This body of work was also inspired by the graphic art of Yvaral (Jean-Pierre Vasarely), a member of “Group de Recherché d’Art Visuel” (GRAV), a Parisian kinetic art movement founded in 1960.
Ancient wisdom and Quantum Physics concur that consciousness and the material world are irreducibly intertwined. Is consciousness the ordering principle of reality? Does reality exist without human consciousness to observe and quantify it? The quantum universe to which Flynn’s work relates is a vast ocean of vibration, yet we perceive this world as solid and material. Our perception does not equal reality. Our world is illusory -- we ourselves are evolving fields of energy forged in the heart of exploding stars, metamorphosing through the fabric of space-time. In Meta•Morphic, Flynn seeks to challenge our perception of the physical world and reality through his visionary illustrations of the fascinating subatomic world.
Flynn’s constructions are visual illusions and actualities that simultaneously expand and contract, coalesce and disarticulate. Intricately articulated shapes, patterns, and forms pulse, gyre, and fluoresce, emanating spontaneously from nothingness. Although the images are suspended in time and space, a kinetic dynamic emerges as the viewer’s position or proximity causes the image to shift, creating an evolving perception. Void or Form, the Implicate or Explicate, Wave or Particle -- all states are possible and ever present -- though the ultimate fate of the perceived image is determined by each viewer.
Flynn’s subtle manipulation of line and form in his paintings creates an energetic interplay that bridges the worlds of metaphysics and neuroscience. The evasive and illusory nature of his optical effects reveals the dynamism of our own structuring of the visual field, compelling us to question what is real.
by Diana Friedeberg
