CHARLES GAINES | Numbers and Trees: Central Park Series IV: Tree #6, Carmichael

Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth

"The tree retains its status as the central form of the artist’s painterly deconstruction. His work with such imagery began in 1975 with Walnut Tree Orchard, in which he broke down the organic lines of a walnut tree into a numerical system after encountering Tantric Buddhist diagrams… The vertical row of cells that number zero appear to slice through the photographic version of the tree underneath. From that middle, ascending numbers grow and shoot off to the left and right sides, offering new language to the signification of a tree through movement, color, and shape. These subjects become more layered, complex, and vibrant as the viewer moves from one to the next in an installation as logical as the images’ paint-by-numbers appearance." Amanda Cahia, "Critics's Picks: Charles Gaines," Artforum, 11 November 2016, n.p.