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"I am a sculptor of space. My work is about defining the threshold between the inside and outside of conceptually articulated space with a special interest in the gestalt space created in the mind of the viewer.I call this Theoretical Architecture.”

Over the last twenty years Brian Biedul has been experimenting with Theoretical Architecture as an art form. The content of his work, whether an installation, painting or sculpture is to define the threshold between the inside and outside of conceptually articulated space. As a sculptor of space he has used walls, vinyl, fire, vegetation, water and light. For the 1990 installation Eyestrain, he used a simple black cord to create a 3-dimensional line drawing in space.
His latest work is a series of paintings entitled Rectangles. Before they were paintings, they were captured moments of the human form articulating space within the boundaries of a rectangular installation.

“In order for me to define the limitations of the space that I created, I have placed a figure in that space and that is the only reason for it. I could have put anything in that space, but I chose the human body as a form because it’s universally understood by all. There are no disagreements as to where the body starts and stops as a form. I can show the limitations of this space I created by simply using sticks or a line drawing, but using the human form is more powerful.”

Choosing the model was also very important as Brian wanted to find the iconographic representation of man from western art history. He also wanted to make sure the art was not mistaken for any type of social commentary. The task of finding the iconographic representation of woman proved to be a much more difficult task. "With Squares the iconographic representation of the female form was much more difficult to define as she has changed so much over time. In the end, I selected 5 different models for this project and interestingly enough they all interpreted the space I created inside the square differently. In over 500 poses, there was only one pose that overlapped between two models."

In observing Rectangles and Squares, it is important to understand that the art itself is a definition of 2 dimensional space. The next layer is the object that defines that space, the figure in the painting. The edges of the canvas are the boundaries (or threshold) that defines the inside space and contains the art.

“In my work, there are no lines, background, color fields or image to extend beyond the threshold of the art. The art absolutely ends at the edge of the canvas.”

eyestrain

1990
Installation
76cm x 152cm x244cm

Pyramid

1998
Steel and vinyl
610cm x 610cm x 610cm

Square 2

2006
oil on canvas
96.5 x 96.5

Rectangle 10

2006
oil on canvas
132 x 82

Rectangle 6

2006
oil on canvas
132 x 82

Rectangle 5

2006
oil on canvas
132 x 82

Rectangle 1

2005
oil on canvas
132 x 82