DONALD SULTAN YELLOW AND BLACK POPPIES

DONALD SULTAN, an internationally recognized artist who rose to prominence in the late 1970s as part of the “New Image” movement, is known for elevating the still-life tradition through the deconstruction of his subjects into basic forms and the use of industrial materials.

Donald Sultan’s was one of the first in America to use industrial ingredients, such as tar, latex and rubber in art. His early experiences building theater sets in high school, working in his father’s tire company in Asheville, and later in construction as a young artist in New York, had a profound influence on his artistic development. 

Initially inspired by the deep richness of tar, Donald Sultan realized how powerful the color black can be. The color became a constant feature in his works for decades to come.

Interested in how the artifice of nature is sold and packaged within a consumerist society, Donald Sultan began depicting organic things like lemons and flowers. The blinding brightness of yellow against the pitch black hue in YELLOW AND BLACK POPPIES make Donald Sultan’s interpretations of these delicate flowers abrasive, like they are calling out for your attention. 

It's the paradox that Donald Sultan says he's drawn to, the simultaneous push/pulls that give his work what he likes to call its "charge." Donald Sultan says, “I try to pare down the images to their essence, and capture the fleeting aspect of reality by pitting the gesture against the geometric—the gesture being the fluidity of the human against the geometry of the object.”

YELLOW AND BLACK POPPIES (2020) from the portfolio Four Poppies by Donald Sultan is a silkscreen with overprinted flocking on 4-ply Rising Museum Board. Yellow and Black Poppies is an edition of 40. For more information about Donald Sultan, or if you would like to purchase Yellow and Black Poppies, please contact the gallery.