Winston Wächter Fine Art is pleased to announce the opening of “Toroid Glissettes,” the gallery’s first solo show with Seattle-based artist Michael Schultheis. Trained in mathematics and economics with a background in computer programming, Schultheis uses his ability to visualize analytical, mathematical problems as the premise for his paintings. He treats his surfaces as a scientist would a chalkboard. As problems are worked through, some ideas are kept and built upon, while others are rejected and erased. The final product is something of an archaeological artifact, a record of the thought process of an analytical mind. Citing Leonardo DaVinci’s notebooks, Schultheis’s canvases are a place where scientific ideas are explored analytically and expressed visually.

At the same time, the unique visual language that Schultheis has created is informed by art historical tradition. For the viewer there is an obvious connection to the work of the Abstract Expressionists. Schultheis’s “analytical expressionism” embodies this view of art as a fusion of rational order and irrational impulses. Here an appreciation of the process through which the work is created (though not necessarily the mathematical theory behind it) is crucial to understanding the finished work. Schultheis’s canvases are heavily worked, intensely energetic and gestural, yet there is a fluidity and control in his compositions. He works in a number of palettes, ranging from fiery reds to more serene blues and grays.

For further information please contact Amanda Snyder at [212] 327 2526