Solent

Solent takes its name from a strait between England and the Isle of Wight that servans as a important shipping lane between the two islands. During the Ice Age, the Solent was likely a river or possibly a lagoon, and artist Matt Magee found inspiration in the feature’s geological and ecological history. The horizontal bands of the painting evoke the visual contrast of air, earth, and water as well as the strata of different sedimentary layers. The painting also demonstrates Magee’s longstanding interest in geometric painting across the early twentieth century and compares to the work of Agnes Martin and earlier precedents from Bauhaus artists such as Josef Albers.

Solent was the first painting to be completed in Magee’s new studio in Arizona after a move from the East Coast, and he saw the Solent as symbolic of movement and the passage of time. For Magee, this was not solely a reflection on life’s journey but also a rumination on the movements of nature, whether the swift currents of a strait or the slow processes of geological change.