Dean Monogenis is one of my favorite contemporary artists. When I first starting investigating exterior and interior spaces, I really studied his work and concepts. In his paintings he highlights architectural relationships with natural elements such as mountains and landscapes as well as formal qualities like line, texture and form. He creates these “fantasy, utopia environments” like high rise condos at the foot of a mountain, which are inspired by the sites he sees in his travels. Monogenis mentions that he is interested in “exploring the awkward beauty inherent in development and decay.” His processes include stencils, working on wood panels, and graphic design elements. He challenges space and depth in many of his works, usually with a flat surface juxtaposed with an area of dimension. I enjoy his works because I feel like he has successfully investigated concepts that go beyond just aesthetically pleasing formal qualities of architecture; his forms say something much more, something that many do not consider when looking at buildings or industrial landscapes like factories. He develops a whole new consideration for the forms. I also really enjoy his color and texture relationships and how many of his works look like collages from a variety of different materials.
I made these collages based on interior design concepts from a book published in I believe the early 1970s, late 1960s. I wanted to juxtapose material, texture and color in these collages. Some of the paper had textures that gave the illusion of depth and I liked how viewers would touch the collages. Some are unorthodox, like having textured wallpaper and a “flat” couch, while others were just addressing color concepts. For my collages for drawing, I incorporated Monogenis’ work but added elements to give the illusion of space as well as juxtapose interior and exterior spaces.
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