i spotted australian artist jonathan zawada‘s striking neon landscapes on one of those sites like fffound / tumblr where people don’t bother to include any information, so after a bit of digging around i found his official website and more information about his latest exhibition over time at the prism gallery in LA (which unfortunately just ended a couple of weeks ago, perhaps you managed to catch it if you live in the area code?)
The exhibition focuses on large-scale landscape paintings whose topographies are derived from graph data. Zawada collected and compared a variety of data series that extrapolate information over time, such as “Marijuana usage among year 12 students vs. CD and Vinyl record sales between 1975 and 2000” or “Value of land per square meter in Second Life vs. Value of land per square foot in Dubai between 2007 and 2009.” The data is then manipulated through a 3D fractal program and the resulting environment becomes a virtual abstraction that mimics a mountainous landscape. Painted on canvas, the landscapes are a response to the “virtual” reality of digital experiences that are highlighted by the intrinsic flatness and surreal color palate.
the (oil) paintings are incredible on their own – but the concept behind each piece makes them doubly awesome. his colour palettes are quite literally out of this world. one of each, please.
graph pics courtesy of trendland – they also have an interesting interview with zawada.