04 March 2019
ESCHER X NENDO, NGV
Between Two Worlds
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne.
M. C. Escher, a Dutch artist collaborated with Nendo, a Japanese design studio. It is always fascinating to see unique collaborative exhibitions at NGV, which never disappoints me.
Escher's work explores infinity, reflection, symmetry, tessellations, etc. It was interesting to see how the complex patterns inspired by nature and landscape, patterns from animals, insects created diverse perspectives in a single art piece.
Oki Sato replicates the simple form of the house in 2d, 3d, and illusions throughout the exhibition. The installations are inspired by optical illusion and infinity elements from Escher.
Gathered house installation by Nendo was my favorite. The suspended tiny houses created an elegant infinity looking chandelier. The coolest part was the floating 3d house shaped shadow in the center. It changes according to the viewer's vantage point.
Escher's tessellations are really inspiring and impressive, especially one of his famous works, Day and Night. The complex print plays well with symmetry, the transformation perfectly demonstrates the day and night.
Another popular work of Escher, Metamorphosis I has perfectly performed his creativity. I was amazed by how the complex 2D figure could be transformed into flat geometric shapes and finally turned into the scenery of Italian seaside houses.
