Patrick Painter Gallery - Theodore Boyer

Big Rip
June 2 - July 9, 2024

Patrick Painter Inc. is pleased to present Big Rip, a solo exhibition featuring artworks by
Theodore Boyer.

Born in Seal Beach, California in 1983, Los Angeles-based Theodore Boyer attended
Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (Zurich University of the Arts) in 2011 and graduated from
the School of Visual Arts, New York with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2012.

Boyer is intrigued by the many concepts that shape the universe, and of it’s eventual
demise, and replicates these theories in his Pollock-esc application of bleach on dyed linen.
Two of these theories comprise the opposing forces of contraction or of expansion. The Big
Crunch theorizes that as the universe loses the energy needed for its initial expansion, it
will contract, falling in on itself. Close to the singularity the warpage of space-time could
become so chaotic that they would shatter into droplets of matter. The Big Rip however
theorizes that the universe could just continue to expand, until galaxies, stars, and
eventually atoms and particles themselves would be torn apart, and as the universe runs
down, time itself would lose all meaning.

Boyer’s works are reminiscent of satellite imagery, and he derives much of his visual
inspiration from his personal surroundings, scientific journals, and images generated by
NASA. His process points to the influence of rapidly changing technology and how this new
technology enables us to visualize the cosmos. Just as Kandinsky’s paintings aspire to
replicate the patterns found in music, so Boyer’s artwork is influenced by the mathematical
patterns found in the universe, and of what futures might lie out in the void of space.