Pirouette Photograph

The link between mystical feeling and technology was, however, a persistent theme in the story of the Modern Movement in art. This was especially true of those leading artists, chief among them Kandinsky and Mondrian, though there were also numerous others, who were attracted to the doctrines of Theosophy, which aimed to combine aspects of the great oriental religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, with modern scientific thought. Helena P Blavatsky, the founder of the Theosophical Movement, wrote in The Secret Doctrine [1888]: "It is on the doctrine of the illusive nature of matter, and the infinite divisibility of the atom, that the whole science of Occultism is built. It opens limitless horizons to substance informed by the divine breath of its soul in every possible state of tenuity." Alan McKee?s work therefore presents itself as a new phase in a long and distinguished development. One perceives in it an intricate interweaving of ideas, as well as the confident use of the latest digital imaging techniques. Essentially what he does is to combine two apparently contradictory strands of development. The actual structure of his compositions is based on the work of artists such as Jozef Albers, Max Bill and Ellsworth Kelly, but this is overlaid with imagery taken directly from nature. In a certain sense, a close parallel to the way they are composed can be found in certain Japanese screens, which also combine a dramatic abstract framework with exquisite details taken directly from nature. Edward Lucie-Smith art historian, author of Art Today, Phaidon's major reference on contemporary art and former art critic of the Times of London
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