Emil Lukas: Fine Line
42.5 x 42.5 x 6.3 cm
Emil Lukas' wall-hanging sculptures reimagine painting both materially and structurally.
In his Thread Paintings, Lukas constructs shallow wooden trays or parabolic plaster bowls across which he stretches tens of thousands of colored filaments. The accumulation of delicate fiber lines creates complex color fields that shimmer and glow, changing radically with shifts in ambient light or the position of the viewer. Rectangular works glimmer moodily, recalling twilit windows or glowing screens. The round pieces, luminous and spatially ambivalent, seem alternately to project and recede, suggesting floating spheres or depressions in the architecture. They also call to mind planets and moons, or ocular devices that allude to the lens of a telescope, microscope, or camera.
Cast-plaster works which Lukas calls Bubble Paintings resemble honeycombs of multicolored cells or shimmering fields of nonobjective pointillism. Viewed from the edge, they bulge both physically and optically.
Emil Lukas was born in Pittsburgh in 1964 and lives in Easton, Pennsylvania. He has exhibited extensively internationally and has been collected by, among others, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Denver Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, San Jose Museum of Art, and the prestigious Panza di Biumo Collection.
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Emil Lukasthe impossibility of even expansion #1816, 2020plaster, paint, aluminum64 x 80 x 8 in
162.6 x 203.2 x 20.3 cm -
Emil Lukasouter rim #2096, 2022thread, wood, paint, nails31 1/4 x 27 1/4 x 3 in
79.4 x 69.2 x 7.6 cm -
Emil Lukasevent with remainder #2087, 2021thread, wood, paint, nails21 x 31 in
53.3 x 78.7 cm -
Emil Lukas#2185, 2023thread, wood, plaster, paint, nails30 x 30 x 3 1/2 in
76.2 x 76.2 x 8.9 cm -
Emil Lukasequatorial bulge #2131, 2023paint, plaster, aluminum20 1/2 x 23 1/2 x 3 1/2 in
52.1 x 59.7 x 8.9 cm -
Emil Lukasvibration #2157, 2023thread, wood, paint, nails42 x 42 x 3 in
106.7 x 106.7 x 7.6 cm -
Emil Lukasmomentary points #2160, 2023thread, wood, paint, nails42 x 42 x 3 in
106.7 x 106.7 x 7.6 cm -
Emil Lukas173 miles #2173, 2023thread, wood, plaster, paint, nails30 x 30 x 3 1/2 in
76.2 x 76.2 x 8.9 cm -
Emil Lukasfleck survey #2128, 2022thread, aluminum, wood, plaster, paint, nails59 1/2 x 59 1/2 x 7 1/2 in
151.1 x 151.1 x 19.1 cm -
Emil Lukasthrough steamed glass #2115, 2022plaster, paint, aluminum12 x 15 x 2 in
30.5 x 38.1 x 5.1 cm -
Emil Lukaswhite points #2111, 2022plaster, paint, aluminum12 x 15 x 2 in
30.5 x 38.1 x 5.1 cm -
Emil Lukascore #2174, 2023thread, wood, plaster, paint, nails47 1/2 x 47 1/2 x 3 1/2 in
120.7 x 120.7 x 8.9 cm -
Emil Lukasreflector #2078, 2021thread, wood, plaster, nails13 x 13 x 1 1/2 in
33 x 33 x 3.8 cm -
Emil Lukashalf nine #2167, 2023paint, plaster, aluminum20 1/2 x 23 3/4 x 2 1/2 in
52.1 x 60.3 x 6.3 cm -
Emil Lukasatmospheric exchange #2161, 2023thread, wood, plaster, paint, nails47 1/2 x 47 1/2 x 3 1/2 in
120.7 x 120.7 x 8.9 cm -
Emil Lukasminor undulant with bulbs #2081, 2021plaster, paint, aluminum46 x 46 x 6 in
116.8 x 116.8 x 15.2 cm -
Emil Lukasthe impossibility of even expansion #1817, 2020plaster, paint, aluminum64 x 80 x 8 in
162.6 x 203.2 x 20.3 cm -
Emil Lukasin pool #2162, 2023thread, wood, plaster, nails39 x 39 x 3 in
99.1 x 99.1 x 7.6 cm -
Emil Lukas#1933, 2020thread, wood, plaster, paint, nails11 3/4 x 11 3/4 x 2 in
29.8 x 29.8 x 5.1 cm
