Conics of Apollonius MICHAEL SCHULTHEIS Conics of Apollonius

MICHAEL SCHULTHEIS Conics of Apollonius MICHAEL SCHULTHEIS Conics of Apollonius

October 14 – November 14, 2008

Winston Wächter Fine Art

203 Dexter Avenue N Seattle, WA 98109 [TEL] 206 652 5855 [FAX] 206 652 5866

[email protected] www.winstonwachter.com Conics of Apollonius Sculpture, Geometry, Botany

Likening the canvas to a chalkboard, I create paintings consisting of layers of mathematical notations and drawings that describe the form and motion of three-dimensional geometric shapes. Using this layering process, I explore form, content and the narrative that develops between them on the canvas. I am interested in interpreting what happens in the human mind at the intimate and profound moment when analytical ideas render and how we draw them in perpetuity.

There is an Ellsworth Kelly sculpture titled Curve XXIV (1981) installed at the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park. Calculating the tangent and curvature of this leaf shape led me to the ancient literature on Conics and it became my muse.

During the Hellenistic Age, Apollonius of Perga (262–190 BC), also known as The Great Geometer, wrote a famous treatise on Conic Sections that revolutionized the way we see geometry–especially the parabola, the ellipse, and the hyperbola.

Conic comes from the Greek word for cone, konos, and a pinecone demonstrates the same geometric patterning discovered by Apollonius. While exploring these ideas in my work, I discovered that the Ellsworth Kelly sculpture exhibits the perfect scale of a pinecone.

In Conics of Apollonius, my process took me on a journey which proved essential for discovering the biomorphic and mathematic relationships between a sculpture, a field of geometry, and a botanical form.

Michael Schultheis Painting Nature’s Geometry

I first saw Michael Schultheis’ paintings in 2003 when I had just moved to Seattle. He kindly offered to show me his studio while working on a new body of work featuring a pale blue palette that pulsed with what I could only then describe as mysterious notations and symbols. I was immediately taken by the elegance of these marks; gestures that were sometimes partially erased, indicating that there was much to discover. Moments later, I was immersed in Michael’s world of math, physics, and history, and discovered his passion for these critical elements of his work that are the driving force behind the success of his paintings.

Michael exercises a powerful commitment to his subject matter. To study his process is to understand how this dedication unfolds to reveal an astonishingly cohesive method and subject. In other words, he may show the viewer a familiar form – in this series, the pinecone – but that is merely part of the journey on which he takes the viewer. Ellsworth Kelly’s sculpture, Curve XXIV (1981), on view at the Seattle Olympic Sculpture Park ignited Schultheis’ interest in the curved form and tangent. This led to his study of the work of Apollonius (262 BC – 190 BC), the Greek geometer noted for his conic treatise. This, in turn, influenced the full-bodied palette of reds and blues inspired by mosaics from the era of Apollonius.

Michael sometimes orients his canvases horizontally like a chalkboard, perhaps in homage to his mathematics education, and even uses a pine tree branch to make some of his marks on the canvas. Like all of his artistic decisions, nothing is casual about his brushstroke; each one can be examined in great detail to reveal other notations glancing shyly through the sumptuous layers of paint.

His artistic commitment extends beyond the studio as well, his discovery of a pinecone during a run around Seattle’s Greenlake being a critical moment in the development of this body of work. I imagine him like a mad scientist, exclaiming “Eureka!” as he runs back to his house with a pinecone jammed in his pocket. Perhaps this is overdramatic, but it exemplifies Michael’s artist honesty, indicating that nothing was omitted from his exploration of the subject matter.

A striking parallel between subject and practice is found in what happens to the pinecone in these paintings. While Michael deconstructs the pinecone form and plays with the variations, he moves from one painting to another and back again, responding to the equations that command his attention. As one can imagine, each piece of the pinecone presents to his eye a new equation. The movement of his brushwork and his movement between works illustrates a rhythm not unlike how Michael described to me the opening and closing of the pinecone during the fertilization process.

Michael’s artistic contribution has many parts, but perhaps the most notable is this: Michael convinces us that there is beauty in mathematics. This is perhaps one definition of a true artistic voice— he believes in the beauty of mathematics, and he convinces me to join him.

Jess Van Nostrand Exhibitions Curator, Cornish College of the Arts Conics of Apollonius 01 2008 Acrylic on canvas 48 x 72 inches

previous: Blossoms for Apollonius 02 2008 Acrylic on canvas 60 x 48 inches

Apollonius Portals 02 2008 Acrylic on canvas 48 x 48 inches Conics of Apollonius 05 2008 Acrylic on canvas 48 x 60 inches

Conics of Apollonius 02 2008 Acrylic on canvas 48 x 72 inches

previous: Folia of Descartes 08, 09, 10 2008 Acrylic on canvas 48 x 108 inches Blossoms for Apollonius 03 2008 Acrylic on canvas 60 x 48 inches LAKSMI 2008 Bronze 84 x 20 x 20

Goddess of wisdom Hindu Tangents of Thales 01 2008 Acrylic on canvas 48 x 72 inches

previous: Tangents of Apollonius 01 2008 Acrylic on canvas 36 x 48 inches SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2004 Blue Waters, Ballard Fetherston Gallery, Seattle, WA 2008 Conics of Apollonius, Winston Wächter Fine Art, Seattle, WA Gallery Artists, Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR 2007 Toroids of Ganymede, Winston Wächter Fine Art, Seattle, WA Gallery Artists, Seattle Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery, Seattle, WA Interior Toroids, Chase Gallery, Boston, MA 2003 Invitational Group Show, Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ Villarceau Series, Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR Grand Opening, Seattle Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery, Seattle, WA Villarceau Circles, Davis and Cline Gallery, Ashland OR Group Show, Washington State Convention & Trade Center, Seattle, WA 2006 Toroid Glissettes, Winston Wächter Fine Art, New York, NY 2002 Gallery Artists, Margo Jacobsen Gallery, Portland, OR Equilateral Toroids, Davis and Cline Gallery, Ashland, OR Best of Show, Benefit Auction, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA Spherical Lunes, Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR Northwest Print Council Exhibit, Portland Art Museum, Portland, OR Limaçons, Chase Gallery, Boston, MA 2001 Gallery Artists, Patricia Cameron Fine Art, Seattle, WA 2005 Cardioids, Ballard Fetherston Gallery, Seattle, WA 1995 Pacific Northwest Annual, Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA Cycloids, Rotunda Gallery, National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C. Cycloids, Keck Center Gallery, National Academies, Washington, D.C. AWARDS Cycloids Preview, Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR 2004 Artist Trust Gap Grant, Seattle, WA Cycloids Preview, Ballard Fetherston Gallery, Seattle, WA Carnegie Library Project Finalist, Seattle, WA Harmonic Oscillations, Fairbanks Gallery, Oregon State University, OR 2004 Writing on the Wall, Ballard Fetherston Gallery, Seattle, WA CORPORATE & PUBLIC COLLECTIONS Harmonic Quadrants, Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ Citigroup, Seattle, WA National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C. Parabolic Symmetries, Davis and Cline Gallery, Ashland, OR City of Seattle, Seattle, WA Portable Works Collection, Portland, OR Harmonic Oscillations, Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Seattle, WA Portland Community College, Portland, OR Geometric Progressions, Soren Christensen Gallery, New Orleans, LA Four Seasons Olympic Hotel, Seattle, WA Rainier Pacific Bank, Tacoma, WA 2003 Correlations, Ballard Fetherston Gallery, Seattle, WA Martin Smith Corporation, Seattle, WA Seattle Athletic Club, Seattle, WA Elasticity, Margo Jacobsen Gallery, Portland, OR Ritz Carlton, New York, NY Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, Portland, OR 2002 Equilibria, Soren Christensen, New Orleans, LA The United States Embassy, Athens, Greece Swedish Medical Center, Seattle, WA Open Systems, Ballard Fetherston Gallery, Seattle, WA Madison Development, Seattle, WA Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA White Math, Margo Jacobsen Gallery, Portland, OR The Mathematical Assoc. of America, Washington D.C. University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle, WA 2001 White Matrix, Patricia Cameron Fine Art, Seattle, WA 2000 Outliers, Patricia Cameron Fine Art, Seattle, WA BIBLIOGRAPHY 1999 Griot, Patricia Cameron Fine Art, Seattle, WA Sue Peters, “Torridly Sensual Acrylics at Winston Wächter,” Seattle Weekly, January 24, 2007 Hannelore Sudermann, “An Equation for Beauty,” Washington State Magazine, January 2007 SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS Regina Hackett “Schultheis’ Latest Shows Rhythm and Lushness,” The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2008 Gallery Artists, Chase Gallery, Boston, MA Seattle, WA, December 2, 2005 Washington Project for the Arts, Katzen Center, Washington, D.C. “National Academy of Sciences – Cycloids: Paintings by Michael Schultheis,” Gallery Artists, Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR Washingtonian, Museum Guide, Washington, D.C., November 2005. p. 26 2007 Gallery Artists, Davis and Cline Gallery, Ashland, OR Sue Peters, “Visual Arts Pick: Michael Schultheis,” Seattle Weekly, November 23, 2005 Seattle Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery, Seattle, WA Issues In Science and Technology, The National Academies The University of Texas at Dallas Gallery Artists, Chase Gallery, Boston, MA Volume XXII Number 2 Winter 2006 Gallery Artists, Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR “Cycloids,” Exhibition catalog published by the Office of Exhibitions and Cultural Programs of 2006 Gallery Artists, Chase Gallery, Boston, MA the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., May 2005 Please Do Not Touch, Winston Wächter Fine Art, New York, NY Maysa Jarudi, “Freedom Being,” The Catalyst, Brown University, Providence, RI 2005 Two Person Show, Cervini Haas Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ Regina Hackett, “In the Galleries,” The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle, WA 2005 Aesthetics/Analytics, Seattle Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery, Seattle, WA The Seattle Review, Volume XXVII, Number 2, Seattle, WA 2005 Building Tradition: Contemporary Northwest Art from Tacoma Art Museum, “The Art of Numbers,” Gazette-Times, Corvallis, OR 2005 Whatcom Museum of History and Art, Bellingham, WA Big Spoon, Spectrum Studios; Images reproduced on CD cover and booklet 2001 Spring Highlights, Winston Wächter Fine Art, Seattle, WA Emily Hall, “Bio: Art,” The Stranger, Seattle, WA, December 2000 Parabolic Urns, Cheryl Pelavin Fine Arts, New York, NY Regina Hackett, “Art Invitational,” The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle, WA 2000 Gallery Artists, Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR Cornish Music Student Composition Cover, Seattle, WA, January 1999 2005 Gallery Artists, Chase Gallery, Boston, MA “New Works Exhibited,” The Jefferson County Leader, Port Townsend 1997 Gallery Artists, Ballard Fetherston Gallery, Seattle, WA Ballard Artists, Seattle Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery, Seattle, WA EDUCATION Dialog Between Space, Shenzhen, China 1993 M.S., Labor Economics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Gallery Artists, Froelick Gallery, Portland, OR 1990 B.A., Honors Economics, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 1989 History and Italian, Scuola Per Stranieri, Siena, Italy Florets for Apollonius 01 2008 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 24 inches

Florets for Apollonius 02 2008 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 24 inches

Florets for Apollonius 03 2008 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 24 inches

Florets for Apollonius 04 2008 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 24 inches

Florets for Apollonius 05 2008 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 24 inches

Florets for Apollonius 06 2008 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 24 inches

Florets for Apollonius 07 2008 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 24 inches

Florets for Apollonius 08 2008 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 24 inches

Florets for Apollonius 09 2008 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 24 inches Cover: Blossoms for Apollonius 01 2008 Acrylic on canvas 72 x 60 inches

Catalog Design takahashi, Sarah Takahashi Seattle, WA

Printing Windward Communications Group Seattle, WA