SciArt Magazine - All Issues February 2016 | Page 5

ON TOPIC

Frank Stella:

Vortices, Turbulence, and Chaos Theory

A major survey of Frank Stella’s art is currently featured at the Whitney Museum of American Art. This essay
is based on one written for an exhibition of Frank Stella’s print series “Imaginary Places” that was created during the 1990s at Tyler Graphics Ltd. A selection of those works was exhibited at Lafayette College in 2000. The
accompanying essay which explores Stella’s interest in chaos theory remains relevant. Many of Stella’s current
works like the monumental, three-dimensional sculptures of the “Prince Friedrich von Homburg” series continue
to reference Stella’s interpretations of vortices, turbulence, and chaos theory.
Above: Frank Stella, Marrakech, 1964. Fluorescent alkyd on canvas. 77 x 77 x 2 7/8 in.
(195.6 x 195.6 x 7.6 cm). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; gift of Mr. and Mrs.
Robert C. Scull, 1971 (1971.5). © 2015 Frank Stella/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

SciArt in America February 2016

5