In reaction to recent debates about globalization and the environment, Hugh Scott-Douglas’s “Trade Wind” paintings explore the paths of commercial shipping routes, pondering the movement of people, goods, and nature around the world. Using satellite mapping software, Scott-Douglas isolates the weather conditions of different trade routes and removes the boats from the image capture. With a strong visual rhythm, the work depicts the natural forces of currents and wind directions as symbols. Produced with a flatbed inkjet printer, each work is made through a process akin to silk-screening wherein layer is built upon layer, creating a glossy and textured finish. The resulting, seemingly abstract work reinterprets the genre of landscape in the era of GPS navigation.
[text via Jessica Silverman Gallery]
In 2016, Scott-Douglas had a solo exhibition at the Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts in Japan, and his works are featured in the museum collections of San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; and Dallas Museum of Art, among others.
and jessica silverman gallery, san francisco