Untitled (Head)
Artist
Gordon Newton
(American, 1948-2019)
Datec. 1989
MediumOil, varnish on paper
DimensionsFrame Size: 23 1/2 × 20 1/2 in. (59.7 × 52.1 cm)
ClassificationsDrawing
Credit LineGift of James Pearson Duffy, 2008
Object numberUAC3447
DescriptionDescribed as being “rich with emotional and personal connotations (1)” Gordon Newton’s collection of images of the human head contain contemplative variations on a theme and a layering of the physical medium, two elements that have come to be indicative of the artist’s style. Newton, inspired by Olympic athletes, their physical perfection and athleticism and subsequent coincidental trivialization of their power, highlighting instead their vulnerability when seen chopped up by the camera lense in television interviews, began this series of busts in the late 1980s. Perhaps in order to avoid aggrandization, inviting instead relatability, his series of heads are rendered as life sized models. Through heavy layering of paint and varnish and the deepening of abstraction present as the series progresses, a complex contemplation of elements of human psychology and humanity itself can be read into these works. In what is presumably a later incarnation in Gordon Newton’s “Head” series, “22- Untitled” reaches further heights of abstraction when compared to another “Head” in the Wayne State University Collection, “Love, Life, Geometric Heritage.” Though the presence of a human head is evident in the composition, peering out through curtains of thick black paint shrouding the canvas, making it appear as if the figure is coming out of some sacred clandestine realm to confront its audience, only it’s shape makes it readable as human anatomy. No facial features have been rendered on the oval shape, however Newton’s subject is still made clear and possesses an emotionality and psychology despite its alien appearance. This blankness allows for contemplation not only on the the figure contained with in the image, but on the human mind itself. MaryAnn Wilkinson states in her essay “Line, Shape, Form: Three Decades of Drawings” on Newton:
“As the features of the head become increasingly obliterated, the prospect of looking directly inside the skull seems possible, as if some important truth about human beings is there to be seen (2).”
Once again, we see Newton masticating on a subject, weighing differences in meaning and possibility through the multiple layers of media compiled onto his complex compositions. His works give evidence of their process. These indications of the artist’s hand in the making of the work allude to its complexities and humanity encouraging a deep reading of the work by its audience to uncover, as Wilkinson suggests, some concrete truth on the human condition.
Often heralded as the reclusive genius, seminal to the Cass Corridor artistic style, Gordon Newton, a Detroit native born in 1948, spent his childhood moving about the midwest before returning to the Southeast Michigan, beginning his formal art education in Port Huron Community College. From there, Newton elected to return to downtown Detroit, enrolling in art school at the Society of Arts and Crafts (now College for Creative Studies) in 1969, transferring to Wayne State University a year later. Known for labored, deeply analytical work inspired by his surroundings both in downtown Detroit and the more naturalized landscape of Northern Michigan, Newton carved out a place for himself not only in the Cass Corridor, but found contextualization within a larger American Expressionist movement, combining various elements of established visual languages to create an almost neo-Expressionist style, speaking in his own, unique vernacular. Gordon Newton has continued to live and work in Detroit through to today. Though he remains an elusive figure in the art world, his work continues to be visible, not only due to the Wayne State Art Collection, but through exhibitions throughout the surrounding areas.
Written by Kat Goffnett
(1) “Line, Shape, Form: Three Decades of Drawings.” Gordon Newton: Selections from the James F. Duffy Jr. Gift, by MaryAnn Wilkinson, The Detroit Institute of the Arts, 2001, p. 32.
(2) Ibid, 33.
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