Sex and artistic analysis

April 1, 2010 by Walter Schneider.

You may have an interest in odd things, but I don’t know whether you have an interest in odd art.

The front page of today’s Edmonton Journal carries an image that is an example of Escher’s art.  That image does not do complete justice to the relationship between mathematics and art that Escher’s art focuses on.  Escher’s art fascinated me since before I could read.

Here is a gallery of Escher’s art.

There is a specialized branch of such art, perspective street art, something that M.C. Escher did not focus on.  A more specific designation of such art is anamorphic painting.  That is not a modern art form but goes back to the exploration of perspective in painting during the Early Renaissance, close to 500 years ago.

Main Entry: ana·mor·phic
Pronunciation: \ˌa-nə-ˈmȯr-fik\

Function: adjective

Etymology: New Latin anamorphosis distorted optical image

Date: circa 1925

: producing, relating to, or marked by intentional distortion (as by unequal magnification along perpendicular axes) of an image <an anamorphic lens>

(Source)

You see practical applications of that sort of distortion every time you drive on major thoroughfares: the direction arrows painted on the pavement for the turning lanes and for the through-lanes on the highway. I would appreciate it if anyone could point out examples of female artists who made inroads into the artistic exploration of the peculiarities of anamorphosis. It seems to me that, as a rule, just as in mathematics, here, too, female genius glares by its absence throughout history.

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