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Suite of 10 photogravures and colophon in clamshel portfolio
Studies in the Search for Infinity, a suite of ten photogravures, derives from McElheney’s 1997-1998 installation of blown glass discs, also called Studies in the Search for Infinity. Each print features a tightly cropped image of a mouth-blown plate, set against a black background that highlights its white, swirling “infinity” pattern. The extreme clarity of the glass recalls “cristalloware,” developed in Venice in the Renaissance, at a time when philosophers, astronomers and poets were debating whether the universe had a finite or infinite past. Their questioning set the groundwork for what we now know as the Big Bang Theory, a central focus of the artist’s ongoing investigation into the origin of the universe.
