T.V. Bulge from the collection of UNLV Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art

T.V. Bulge, 1969

Acrylic on canvas

90.5 x 120 x 1.25 in

Inv: 2019.02.001

In Storage

John Torreano
T.V. Bulge, 1969
Acrylic on canvas
Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art Collection
Gift of Mary and Weston Naef in Memory of Frances Marie McNabola and William David McNabola
2019.02.001

This seminal painting was first shown at the 1969 Whitney Annual Exhibition in New York City, before being prominently displayed in the home of Weston J. and Mary Naef and eventually gifted to the Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art.

T.V. Bulge exemplifies Torreano’s use of dots (and later gemstones) afloat in abstract grounds to construct the visual perception of spatial depth. If you focus on the dots and move to the other side of the painting, some of the dots will disappear from view. As your eye loses focus on the dots, your focus shifts to the painterly space behind, resulting in a figure-ground flip. This approach captures Torreano’s effort, across the years of his career and a variety of mediums, to create work that incorporates “viewer location as content” through a concept referred to as “movement-oriented perception.” In fact, Torreano’s work has been described by fellow artist, Richard Artschwager, “as paintings that stand still and makes YOU move.”

Item Description: A painting covered with horizontal streaks of green, brown, blue, and pink. Lines of small blue and black dots run across the image. Curved lines at either side of the painting suggest the bulging edges of a cathode-ray tube TV screen.

Email Facebook X LinkedIn Pinterest

From UNLV Marjorie Barrick Museum of Art

Susanne Forestieri

Extinct Species, c. 2018

Oil on canvas

38 x 46 in
Thomas Ray Willis

Kite A, 2013

Canvas, wood, acrylic gesso, string, metal staples

24 x 24 x 0.5 in
Curtis Fairman

Untitled, 2012

Polished stainless steel, plastic, and mesh

12.5 x 4.5 x 4.5 in
Yo Fukui

Untitled, 2006

Mixed media

36 x 48 x 7 in
Michael Ogilvie

Panoptic Liger IX, 2005

Acrylic

24 x 30 in
John Connell

Black Trunks - Creekshine - Russian Olive, 1996

Mixed media on paper

63 x 42.75 in
Lorna Simpson

III (Three Wishbones in a Wood Box), 1994

Cedar box containing felt, ceramic, bronze, and silicone rubber

13.5 x 5.3125 x 2.125 in
Joseph Nechvatal

Information Is Not Wisdom, 1986

Pencil and pastel on paper

17.75 x 23.75 in

View All Artworks

About the artist

John Torreano

American

b. 1941

John Torreano is an American artist from Flint, Michigan. He is currently clinical professor of studio art at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University. In his career Torreano has visited nearly every major art school in the United States and Canada as an "artist in residence."

Additional Details

Additional Artworks

Extinct Species, c. 2018

Kite A, 2013

Untitled, 2012

Untitled, 2006

Panoptic Liger IX, 2005

Black Trunks - Creekshine - Russian Olive, 1996

III (Three Wishbones in a Wood Box), 1994

Information Is Not Wisdom, 1986

About the artist

John Torreano