The Lehmann Maupin Gallery: Jennifer Steinkamp

The torrent of poisonous flora cascading down the walls of the Lower Eastside Lehmann Maupin Gallery is the ever-brilliant work of Jennifer Steinkamp. The digital artist and long time pioneer for the medium presents two delightful pieces of new media. Even more attractive are the distinctive narratives and Op art derivatives. Unlike Bridget Riley's infamous work that creates the feeling of motion Steinkamp's work in truth is moving.

Upon entering the gallery the viewer is immediately mesmerized by the fading rainbow of clouds. The abstract projection is a play on God's body parts cleverly dubbed "Left Clavicle". The piece is part of a series and not surprisingly evokes stained glass often seen in Cathedrals. The light from the outside makes the projection faint and the colors appear washed out. The colors fade into one another in an unexplainable way. The artist rejects rules of warm and cool colors; blues border pinks while greens and oranges flank one another.

Unlike "Left Clavicle" Steinkamp's other work "Daisy Bell" is figurative. The piece features flowers swaying in a ghost like breeze that move down the wall in a hypnotic fashion. As if a basket of flowers fell from the sky. Each unique flower appears as it does in nature but was produced by a computer generated program. Using nature as her inspiration and technology as her vehicle, Steinkamp artfully blends contradicting elements of synthetic and organic. With careful examination one can see the two bands of projected imagery fusing in the middle of the wall. The carefully calculated computer program is the heart of the piece but aesthetics is the most valued aspect.

Analogous to the way Italian Renaissance masters considered doorways and the function of a space when conceptualizing frescos Steinkamp takes full advantage of the architectural context of the gallery. The verticality of the space and the fact that the artist uses every inch of the wall further perpetuates a whole new world of brightly hued billowy clouds or floral patterns reminiscent Victorian wallpaper. Her beautiful optical illusions create a truly wonderful visual experience. Similar to watching a film the viewer is completely enveloped by darkness allowing them to escape and interact with the work by walking through the projection ultimately becoming part of the work.