There is an incredible quiet beauty to Chris Ballantyne‘s exhibition Transcendental Divide/Transitory Space at Zevitas Marcus in Culver City.  The paintings, all on wood panels, contrast the tininess of the man made structures with the vastness of the natural landscapes.

From the press release-

Transcendental Divide/Transitory Space continues Chris Ballantyne’s exploration of the tensions that exist between nature and man’s ever-expanding imprint on the planet. Employing a dry sense of humor and architecturally precise draftsmanship, Ballantyne delicately renders familiar images of everyday life – a neglected swimming pool, an empty parking lot, a vacant home – and juxtaposes them with often vast expanses of nature. The overall effect is such that signs of civilization start to seem both absurd and obsolete. In this exhibition, a highway interchange becomes an infinity loop; a suburban ranch house is inexplicably perched on the edge of a massive canyon; and a ship, dwarfed in scale to the canvas on which it is rendered, floats into a serene white void.

Ballantyne says of his work, “I want to suggest that empty space or nothingness has real meaning, as do the everyday and overlooked.”

This show closes 3/5/16.

(images courtesy of Zevitas Marcus)