The Second Part of 1, an exhibition of painting, mixed media and work on paper by artist Nelson Saiers, will be on view at Hoerle-Guggenheim Gallery in New York from April 1 to April 19, 2015. There will be an opening reception for the artist on Wednesday, April 8 from 6 to 8 pm. Hoerle-Guggenheim Gallery is located at 527 West 23rd Street.
Saiers’ work is recognized for its novel visualizations of Braille, its bold use of color and shape and the sheer intellectual firepower driving the concepts behind the work. Saiers employs his deep knowledge of math and physics to more fully address and opine on the deepest issues and mysteries of life by creating visually striking and thought-provoking work. His pieces explore social and ethical issues sparked by his childhood experiences around the world (including his first-hand experience with war and disease in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and Sub-Saharan Africa), the mathematical spheres of topology and geometry, and still life within the framework of physics. Saiers explains the work in a Huffington Post article.
The Second Part of 1 extends Saiers’ exploration of the world through his unique lens. Saiers’ social justice conversation will focus on the importance of peace and the achievements of women in math. His continued exploration of geometry and topology will use a retrospective approach to capture the concurrent simplicity and abstraction and his fascination with still life will explore physics with surprising results.
Braille markings continue to make up the central vocabulary of Saiers’ work. According to Saiers, “The frequent use of flat circular spots points to the nature of infinity in our world, a quest for truth in the shadows of simplicity, and the prevalence of humanity’s blindness to societal issues.”
Two pieces in particular, pose stark societal questions. “Exclude Exclude” pays homage to French mathematician Sophie Germain, who, despite her significant contributions to Fermat’s Last Theorem, was inexplicably excluded from the Eiffel Tower monument honoring famous French scientists. The piece uses thumbtacks to create a field of dots, with the prime numbers that bear her name being highlighted. The word “exclude” is written in Braille in the midst of the prime dots, to show that we must exclude exclusion to see mathematical beauty and, by analogy, that mathematical truth will be clearer if we remove barriers for women in the field. The colors and size of the elements in the piece are derived from Pythagoras’ work, which was one of the motivations behind Fermat’s Last Theorem.
“Pinup” incorporates painted pieces of calendar and thumb tacks to draw attention to women in math and science. By challenging the physical view of a beautiful woman with Maria Agnesi, a woman who was both very mathematically talented and deeply charitable, the piece highlights her pioneering work on calculus, notably her magnum opus, Analytical Institutions, which is considered to be the first book on differential and integral calculus. A field of Braille marks spells the title of the piece and hints at some of her theories and the work of Leonhard Euler.
In a more humorous moment, Saiers offers The Original Art Basel representing the famous Basel Problem in abstraction. Many elements of this iconic mathematical enigma are referenced including its solution (or corollary) and its relationship with the prime numbers. In more literal fashion the areas of the circles are derived from the first 15 terms of its expansion.
Melding playfulness with technical concepts, all accessible through explosions of shape, form, and color, Saiers’ artwork challenges the viewer to discover complex math and gives the option to embrace the historical context and philosophy that surround it or to charge into its abstract and theoretical nature. His use of mathematics delivers an impressive minimalism that is specific and offers a solution, all within the framework of profound abstraction.
The Second Part of 1 opens on April 1, 2015 at Hoerle-Guggenheim Gallery, 527 West 23rd Street in New York City.
About Nelson Saiers
Nelson Saiers is an artist based in New York City. Saiers previously worked in finance, where he managed a hedge fund. He earned his PhD in Mathematics from the University of Virginia at the age of 23. Saiers lived through wars in Ethiopia and Afghanistan and uses his math-based art to draw attention to social issues around the world. For more on Saiers’ process and artwork, visit www.nelsonsaiers.com.