{"id":106119,"date":"2025-08-29T19:45:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T19:45:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/106119\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T19:45:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T19:45:08","slug":"atmospheric-oil-paintings-by-martin-wittfooth-illuminate-natures-timeless-cycles-colossal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/106119\/","title":{"rendered":"Atmospheric Oil Paintings by Martin Wittfooth Illuminate Nature’s Timeless Cycles \u2014 Colossal"},"content":{"rendered":"

In large-scale, elaborate oil paintings of powerful, glowing creatures, Martin Wittfooth<\/a> explores the timeless cycles and forces of nature in a celebration of the sublime. Known for his enigmatic and atmospheric depictions of wild animals in dystopian settings, the artist blends traditional European painting techniques with critical contemporary concerns surrounding the human impact on the environment.<\/p>\n

Wittfooth\u2019s new solo exhibition, Deus Ex Terra at Corey Helford Gallery<\/a>, features 19 new oil paintings on canvas, linen, or wood panels. Some take the form of tondos 18 to 24 inches in diameter, while others assume vast proportions, like \u201cDuel,\u201d a diptych that spans 12 feet wide. The stallion also appears as a regular embodiment of elemental forces, like in \u201cAspect of Fire\u201d or \u201cAspect of Air,\u201d in which silhouettes of powerful horses made of molten rock or clouds of steam rear up into towering positions.<\/p>\n

\"an\u201cAspect of Earth,\u201d oil on panel, 48 x 36 inches<\/p>\n

The show\u2019s title, Deux Ex Terra, loosely translates to \u201cgod out of the earth.\u201d It\u2019s a nod to the ancient Greek and Roman phrase deux ex machina<\/a>, which describes a dramatic or literary device in which a character or a \u201cgod\u201d is introduced into the plot to solve a seemingly insolvable conflict. During a play, the character would be introduced via a crane, hence the \u201cmachine.\u201d Wittfooth flips this notion back to nature and the elemental forces of the earth\u2014weather, orbits, the seasons, life, water\u2014to explore cyclical, self-sustaining rhythms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Hermetic maxim<\/a>, \u2018As above, so below; As within, so without,\u2019 has echoed through centuries of philosophical, mystical, and artistic inquiry,\u201d the gallery says. \u201cIn\u00a0Deus ex Terra, this principle serves as a guiding thread, illuminating the ways nature repeats its patterns across scale and time: in the branching of rivers and the veins of leaves, in the spiral of galaxies and the coiling of shells, in the cyclical turning of seasons and the rhythms of breath and heartbeat.\u201d<\/p>\n

In earlier work<\/a>, Wittfooth concentrated on the strained relationship between humans and nature, with its effects revealed in the form of piles of plastic or shorn tree trunks. In his current work, he reflects on the instinctive and enduring facets of nature\u2014the \u201cancient rhythms that prevail despite our human tumult,\u201d the gallery says. \u201cIn a time of deep cultural and ecological upheaval, these paintings offer an invitation to acknowledge, to remember, and perhaps to heal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deus Ex Terra opens tomorrow and continues through October 4 in Los Angeles. Explore more on the artist\u2019s website<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"an\u201cAspect of Fire,\u201d oil on panel, 48 x 36 inches<\/p>\n

\"a\u201cParallelism 5 (Jellyfish 1),\u201d oil on wood, 24 inches diameter<\/p>\n

\"an\u201cAspect of Spring,\u201d oil on canvas, 56 x 58 inches<\/p>\n

\"a\u201cDuel,\u201d oil on panel, diptych, 36 x 144 inches<\/p>\n

\"an\u201cAspect of Winter,\u201d oil on canvas, 50 x 57 inches<\/p>\n

\"a\u201cParallelism 4 (Snail),\u201d oil on wood, 18 inches diameter<\/p>\n

\"an\u201cAspect of Air,\u201d oil on panel, 48 x 36 inches<\/p>\n

\"an\u201cAspect of Autumn, \u201coil on canvas, 46 x 64 inches<\/p>\n

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