What defines a work of art as a drawing, painting, photograph, or sculpture? Defying Distinction dares us to answer this question by juxtaposing works that challenge our assumptions. If a "drawing" is a set of marks on paper, can it also be a chunk of wood? If a "painting" is dried pigment on canvas, can it also be a gnarled mass of metal? If a "sculpture" is a freestanding formed object, can it also be a hanging sheet of creased paper?

The very act of applying paint to a two-dimensional surface to create a three-dimensional illusion of space and depth is a "trick of the eye." For example, John F. Peto's trompe l'oeil painting, Office Board for Smith Bros. Coal Co., 1879, prompts us to ask: Is this a painted image or are there actually postcards and ribbon pinned to a wooden surface? Peto's high degree of exactitude and manipulative reproduction of textures and depth force us to question our powers of visual perception. However, his artful deception in oil on canvas remains comfortably within the traditional definition of painting.

Irene Rice Pereira, Light is Gold, 1951, glass, acrylic, lacquer, and gold leaf, © Addison Gallery of American Art

Throughout the twentieth century, vanguard artists have tested our powers of perception in a different way. Harnessing new materials, processes, and ideologies, such artists inspire us to experience their works not simply for their illusions, but for their actual physical presence. For example, unlike painted illusions of depth on a flat canvas surface, Irene Rice Pereira's Light is Gold, 1951, and Louise NevelsonÕs Untitled, 1958, are painted constructions of glass and wood, with literal depth.

Curatorial Fellow Jen Mergel working on Sol LeWitt's
Wall Drawing #123, 1972

Conversely, Sol LeWitt's Wall Drawing #123, 1972, a composition drawn directly on a painted wall, does away with the "canvas" or "paper" surface altogether. Combining and presenting materials in unexpected ways, generations of artists have produced works that deny immediate categorization and defy the distinctions that have traditionally defined certain media. Their work encourages us to redefine art terms from a new perspective: through our own close looking and thoughtful perception. Presenting a range of works from the past half-century, Defying Distinction engages us with provocative questions and inspires a more creative approach to understanding what a drawing, painting, photograph, or sculpture is, and can be.

Martin Puryear, Untitled, 1981, laminated basswood,
hard marble, milk paint, and gesso
© Addison Gallery of American Art