Jim Agard: A Retrospective

The subject of illusion has been at the core of Jim’s work from the get-go. So when he serendipitously met some guy one night who was toying with a bent hanger, insisting Jim entertain him by seeing if he could visually make the wire cube turn inside out, Jim was captivated. Moving from side to side, as instructed, Jim experienced the cube floating on an invisible axis. He went rampant. Up until then, his work had implied illusion rather than created actual illusion. A chance encounter and his discovery of the Necker cube propelled him into what would become the basis of his life’s work. Like when one learns to open one’s eyes underwater for the first time, everything becomes wildly different, just knowing there is a whole other way of seeing. Jim’s work is purely non-objective and formal, yet equally laden with profound conceptual significance. It invites an approach that is lucid and straightforward, while encouraging a willingness to let the focus blur. To hold these views simultaneously. To see and then hyper-see and be willing to not see, and in not seeing, see even more. [excerpt]https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/artcatalogs/1003/thumbnail.jp