The Vision and The Gaze in Agnes Pelton and Forrest Bess' Symbolism

Abstract

Agnes Pelton and Forrest Bess are two American painters who, at first, may not draw an obvious connection. Yet, striking formal similarities in their work suggest a congruous response to the larger cultural and psychological shifts of an era preoccupied with new frontiers of thought and vision. It is key to examine the metaphysical and spiritual questions in their work in dialogue with the changing landscape of medical knowledge and scientific discoveries at the start of the 20th century. The simultaneous climb of psychoanalysis and revolutionary technologies, such as the microscope, photography, and radiography, is crucial to understanding the symbolic dichotomies of surface and depth in Pelton and Bess' visionary paintings.