Abstract painting has been with us so long that we often forget where it came from. We think of it as a modernist strategy for formal experiment and forget that abstract pioneers like Kandinsky, Malevich, and Mondrian were influenced by the theosophy and other spiritual disciplines popular in the late 1800s, and seeking ways to picture what could not be seen. We even forget that mandalas, which are essentially abstract paintings, have been around a lot longer than that, having existed in Eastern cultures for many centuries.
We only tend to remember the spiritual origins of abstraction when we encounter a contemporary painter like Harry C. Doolittle, whose exhibition of “Reflective Mandalas” can be seen at Agora Gallery, 530 West 25th Street , Chelsea , from June 3 through 23, with a reception on June 8, from 6 to 8 PM. For Doolittle, a former advertising copywriter and creative director turned painter takes abstract painting back to its origins in spiritual practice, even as he consciously strives to address formal issues from a sophisticated secular perspective.
Although mixed media has become so ubiquitous in contemporary art that the term will generally suffice to describe the eclectic techniques many artists have adopted, it should be mentioned that Doolittle's innovative use of glass, acrylics, aluminum and brass leaf lends his paintings a richness reminiscent of medieval illuminations. Yet, his use of pristine geometric forms and brilliant colors also harks back to Russian Constructivism and the work of independent intuitive artists influenced by spiritualism, such as the Swedish painter Hilda AF Klint. Doolittle, however, has evolved his own distinctive style over four decades, resulting in formal configurations unlike anything else in recent or past art.
Most often his circular shapes and rectangular forms are centrally located on the picture plane and set against lightly tinted grounds that emphasize their autonomy as discrete entities. Circular shapes tend to dominate his compositions, either clustered close together or overlapping in a manner that projects a sense of cosmic energy. Doolittle's use of metallic pigments along with bright primary hues increases the impact of these circles, creating the optical effect that they are rotating. One can't help making celestial associations to suns, moons, and planetary orbs, and studying these circular forms for prolonged periods of times seems to provoke a state similar to meditation.
Rectangles, on the other hand, appear less frequently in Doolittle's compositions, receding on the picture plane and seeming to serve as formal ballast behind his dominant circular shapes. Yet when they do appear, they are essential elements, especially in paintings such as “One Reflecting Mandala #2” and “Two Reflecting Mandalas #2,” where they occupy the center of the composition, serving as a formal “spine” or armature for the dominant circular shapes.