In the 1970s, Graves’ paintings drew from satellite-generated images of the moon and Mars, as well as bathymetric maps of the ocean floor, which revealed previously unknown topographies on our own planet. Rendered in tiny dots, these works reflect her interest in perception and the tension between the detail and the whole. A notable example is her Camouflage series – of which this work is part. Four paintings from this series were first exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in late 1971.
Inspired by a documentary photograph images of bullhead fish camouflaging themselves against the ocean floor, Graves reduced these animal their forms to minimal visual markers, making it nearly impossible for viewers to fully discern their shapes. Her distinctive visual language—formally reminiscent of pointillism—used the dot as a fundamental unit to question conventional notions of perception. By abstracting forms to the point of near illegibility, she challenged viewers to piece together fragments, encouraging an understanding of the work either in parts or as a whole, much like how we similar to our attempts to interpret the world around us. In doing so, Graves underscores the paradox of perception: when we focus on the details, we lose sight of the whole—and when we see the whole, the details slip away.
The Camouflage series consists of six paintings, four are in the following notable collections: the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive; Buffalo, AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, New York; Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, Texas, and Museum Ludwig, Cologne.
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, US, Projects: Nancy Graves 12/15/1971.
Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH, Nancy Graves: Sculpture and Drawings, 1970-1972 12/1/1972.
University Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, Eight New York Painters 5/10/1972.
The Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA, Recent Works by Nancy Graves 5/5/1973.
Knoedler Gallery, Ltd., London, United Kingdom, Nancy Graves 4/8/1987.
Ameringer & Yohe Fine Art, New York, NY, Nancy Graves, Ellen Phalen, Donald Sultan 5/1/2004.
Ludwig Forum Aachen, Aachen, Germany, Nancy Graves Project 10/13/2013 - 2/16/2014
Mitchell-Innes & Nash | Hall 2.0 Booth G6, Basel, Switzerland, Art Basel 09/21/2021 - 09/26/2021
Advertisement for Nancy Graves placed by Ameringer & Yohe, , Art + Auction, 2004, illus. inside front cover.
Carmean, Jr., E.A., The Sculpture of Nancy Graves: A Catalogue Raisonne, Hudson Hills Press, New York, NY in association with the Fort Worth Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX, 1987, p. 39 illus.
Dodenhoff, Benjamin, Nancy Graves Project & Special Guests, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst , Aachen Germany 2013, p. 142, illus. .
Hunter, Christina, Beyond Limits: Introducing Nancy Graves, Nancy Graves, Mitchell-Innes & Nash Gallery, New York 2015, pp. 7, 45.
Lyon, Christopher, Nancy Graves: In the Desert of Style, Nancy Graves, Mitchell-Innes & Nash Gallery, New York 2015, p. 38, ill: p. 45.
Padon, Thomas, Nancy Graves: Excavations in Print, A Catalogue Raisonne, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers in association with the American Federation of Arts, New York, NY, 1996, pp. 14 and 15 illus.