Movement Study in Greyscale #20

After almost 3 years in Los Angeles, DeSutter finds himself revisiting his Movement Study exploration, which originated during his time in NYC while questioning if the cost of living in a major city affected his ability to create. Words from the artist on this exploration from 5 years ago when he first found himself exploring in this direction: “Over the last couple years, I’ve stopped to take a moment to observe natural movements that are created as wind blows through my city. It can be seen through flags, tarps, and other floating bits of fabric all around me. I’ve recently realized that this study has been about my relationship with the city. The wind blows through and does its own thing, seemingly ignoring the structure and pace of NYC. It exists as a sort of free spirit in the very place I dream of living on my own terms. Movement has always played a large role in my work, so for this study, I wanted to strip down the palette to allow movement to be the focus. The foreground movements represent the carefree spirit that wants to move freely among the structure of city living. The composite backgrounds made of blocky forms represent the city, or anything really, that places constraints on life that one seeks to escape. It may not be realistic that these two things coexist, but that’s the beauty of this dream; it wants it all—just as the wind blows down our busy sidewalks.”