About the work
Dibbet's perspective interventions, such as the work ‘Perspective Collection Sol Lewitt’, are created by placing geometric shapes in space. The shapes, such as squares or cubes, are distorted when viewed from the front, appearing elongated and irregular.
Only by changing the perspective, by taking a defined standpoint, do these shapes suddenly appear correct. For example, an exact square appears that seems to float in space.
The final photograph captures this viewpoint precisely and makes the paradox apparent. The real, distorted mark on the wall appears in the photograph as a perfect geometric figure that breaks through any spatial logic. The real space remains untouched and preserved, but the photographic view forces it into a new order. It is a play on perception and viewing habits. We see something that ‘is right’ and yet know that it can only be so from a certain angle.
About the artist
born 1941 in Weert, Netherlands
lives and works in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Jan Dibbets is a Dutch conceptual artist who is best known for his photographic work. He initially studied at the Stadsacademie voor Toegepaste Kunsten in Maastricht (now Zuyd Hogeschool, Faculty of Arts) and later continued his education in London at St. Martins School of Arts. There he came into contact with ideas of minimal art and conceptual art, which strongly influenced his own artistic approach.
Since the late 1960s, he has been exploring how perception and perspective determine our view of space and landscape.
With photographic ‘perspective corrections’ and serial photographs, he questions the traditional central perspective and plays with the relationship between nature and abstraction. In addition to his photographic work, Dibbets has also realised art-in-public-space projects, such as stained glass windows in Reims Cathedral. He is considered an important representative of European conceptual art, whose work re-explores the boundaries between painting, photography and spatial installation.