HOWARD SCHWARTZBERG

Transparent Plastic Bag Paintings

In 1992, after creating the inside-out burlap bag paintings, I made paintings on plastic. At first, they were inspired by the left over paint on the plastic sheeting on the wall which showed the process of the burlap bag pieces. I sewed the plastic sheeting together into bags and placed wood and canvas inside. I called these  "Transparent Negative Paintings". I then decided to make individual ones separate from recording the burlap bag process. I applied paint as stripes directly on the plastic bag, then turned it inside out so the paint is contained inside along with the placement of canvas and wood to be seen.

Over a long period of time and depending on the care given, some of the paint would fall off the plastic and onto the canvas stored at the bottom of the bag. Having the paint fall onto the canvas set the stage for a very slow decay of the painting. When the paint fell to the bottom of these works, i was inspired to create a new body of work where the canvas bag held only paint. I would go on to make these new bag paintings that held paint to the present day.