Allen Hirsh

Dreams from a Vineyard

April 4 - 27, 2025

Opening Reception: Saturday, April 5th — 5 - 8pm

"I became convinced that the way to make really good art was to do the outrageous, the unexpected---to be a renegade. That was my philosophy---to explore the seemingly impossible in art, to do things that were new for their own sake, whether they were good or bad."

The artist, quoted in Naifeh, Gene Davis, 1982

As a physical scientist I am well aware of the uncanny power of mathematic's role as scientists' preeminent tool for uncovering hidden properties of the physical universe. When applied to art the use of math generally falls into two categories. Either people attempt to paint the dynamical mathematical systems themselves, as in the case of fractals, or they use fixed sets of mathematical position and color manipulation equations, which are usually hidden from the artist, to augment manual creation in programs such as Adobe's Photoshop© and Corel's Painter©. In contrast, I wanted to create a painting system that would rearrange each individual pixel and color each pixel individually according to any equations I wished to create. That is, to paint with dynamical mathematical systems as tools but creating and controlling the equations myself. In essence, to create a system for testing a very wide range of mathematical equations' artistic potential. In the process I hoped to achieve several artistic goals. Foremost, I wished to show that a dynamic mathematical painting system devoid of manual input could nevertheless produce art worthy of the respect manually created art naturally has. Second, I wanted to explore art hidden in the real world imagery captured by the camera. Third, I wanted to explore a wide range of interacting mathematical forms for their artistic potential. Finally, I wished to use this system to explore the limits of beauty, especially at the intersection of the organic and the synthetic-inspired by Picasso's cubist work.

My system allows me to explore a wide range of artistic genres: abstract, impressionist and surreal. In this show I am focusing on a lovely vineyard in Thurmont, Maryland called Links Bridge. My images range from wine and food to the vineyard grounds. Their wine is delicious, and they provided me with a wonderful opportunity to make art.

Members Gallery

In addition to the exhibit in the main gallery, Foundry's second gallery provides an array of artwork by Foundry's talented member artists. Often frequented by active art collectors, Members Gallery exhibits change monthly and all work is for sale.