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Afurtherextensionofthiscontemporarypreoccupationwithspaceis
whathasalreadybeencalledtheaerialpointofview.\Vhileontheone
handwewanttomoveamongthephysicalexperiencesofexistencein
ordertogainfirsthandknowledgeandtosatisfyourdesireforactive
exploration,ontheotherwetendtosurveythingsfromvastdistances,
totakeanall-overviewwhichcanonlybecomparedtothatweobtain
fromtheskies.Theresultsometimesgivesastartlingnewnesstofamiliar
objects:weseenewrelationships,newpointsofcontactwhichhadescaped
us when we movedintimately among the artist's materials ourselves.
Leonid,in"Provincctown,"suggestsaglobalsenseofscale,createsatre-
mendousfeelingofdistanceasseenfromabove—andthenbringsusback
toearthwithajoltbythescaleofthefigures,whichcomesasashockas
comparedtotheimplicationsofthelargeraspectsofhispicture. Itis
interestingtonotethemap-likequalitywhichisconveyedbymanyrecent
paintings.ThisisliterallythecaseinsuchworksasFritzieAbadi'sIsland,
whichcombinesseveraldifferentapproachestotheartist'smotif,expressing
simultaneousvision.Other distinctlytopographicallandscapesarcYnez
Johnston'sBlue GardenandCadyWells'LandscapefromAbove,both
ofwhichfurtheremployanothercompellingcontemporaryimpulse,the
useofa kindof formal symbolwhichsuggests primiti\c piclographic
shapes.RelatedtotheseisSoniaSekula'spainting,alreadymentionedin
anotherconnection,inwhichthesenseoflookingdownthroughsuccessive
layersofvitalformsandmo\cmentsisverystrong.Malta'sLet'sPhospho-
resce-byIntellection maybereadinanumberofways. Oneofthem
certainlyistheapproachmentioned here: tremendousformsseen from
vastdistances,aspreadingoutbeforeourvisionofagranddesign,non-
essentialslost. With RufinoTamayo's TheHeavens weactualh mo\c
onintoouterspace,andtheplanetspursuetheircounscswithoutreference
toastaticobserver.
Whathappenstoman the\sh()lcman—ifweapproachlifeand
theproblemoftruthfirstofallbyexaminingtheinnerphysicalslruiture
ofthings,orbyseeingitfromafarasaninterlockingpatternofmovement
