Jonathan Lasker, Why Opinions Form, 2021

Jonathan Lasker Why Opinions Form, 2021

Oil on linen
152 x 203 cm

American painter Jonathan Lasker is known for his distinctive formal vocabulary based on different mark-making processes, including structural grids, graphic scribbled lines and thick impasto strokes of paint. Although he creates these forms intuitively, the compositions themselves are highly structured and controlled. As he explains, ‘I use random, unconscious marks, to consciously compose the constituent shapes within the picture. In other words, I seek to confront the unbounded subconscious with the containment of bounded forms.’


In Why Opinions Form (2021), exuberant sherbet-coloured shapes seem to converse and interact on the canvas, while a single sober black outline recaptures the silhouette of one of the shapes. Together with his playful composition, the title of the painting, ‘Why Opinions Form’, brings viewers to the edge of representation, encouraging them to find meaning by connecting the disparate elements that constitute the work.
499 of 813

More works by Jonathan Lasker

Jonathan Lasker, Cultivated Scene with Parallel Metaphors, 2023
Jonathan Lasker
Cultivated Scene with Parallel Metaphors, 2023
Oil on canvas
76.2 x 101.6 cm
Jonathan Lasker, “Love’s System”, 2022
Jonathan Lasker
“Love’s System”, 2022
Oil on linen
76 x 100 cm
Jonathan Lasker, Untitled, 2017
Jonathan Lasker
Untitled, 2017
Graphite, colored pencil on paper
76 x 57 cm
Jonathan Lasker, Untitled, 2012
Jonathan Lasker
Untitled, 2012
Graphite, colored pencil and india ink on paper
76 x 56.5 cm
Jonathan Lasker, Agrarian Structures (2004); Thaddaeus Ropac
Jonathan Lasker
Agrarian Structures, 2004
Oil on canvas
203.2 x 152.4 cm
Jonathan Lasker, The Universal Frame of Reference, 2014
Jonathan Lasker
The Universal Frame of Reference, 2014
Oil on linen
229 x 305 cm
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
Jonathan Lasker, Power Becoming Love, 2005
Jonathan Lasker
Power Becoming Love, 2005
Oil on linen
229 x 305 cm
Musée d'art moderne et contemporain de Saint-Étienne Métropole, Saint-Étienne, France
Jonathan Lasker, Sensible Arrangement, 1995
Jonathan Lasker
Sensible Arrangement, 1995
Oil on linen
155 x 213 cm
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA
Jonathan Lasker, The Realm of the Quaint, 1988
Jonathan Lasker
The Realm of the Quaint, 1988
Oil on canvas
244 x 320 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., USA
Atmospheric image Atmospheric image
Atmospheric image Atmospheric image
Atmospheric image Atmospheric image