


Study for "Yoyo" (after El Lissitzky), 2021
Acrylic on Bristol paper
25 1/2 in x 20 in.
50.8 x 64.8 cm
Framed
50.8 x 64.8 cm
Framed
Sold
Further images
In 'Study for 'Yoyo' (after El Lissitzky)” Larsen depicts the blocky body and spindly limbs of a yo-yo-er mid-trick. Caught in stride, the figure’s stick-legs and yo-yo string bisect the...
In "Study for "Yoyo" (after El Lissitzky)” Larsen depicts the blocky body and spindly limbs of a yo-yo-er mid-trick. Caught in stride, the figure’s stick-legs and yo-yo string bisect the grove of a cement sidewalk, forming multiple points of intersection across the vertiginous composition. Larsen’s practice centers on paring down, understanding, and manipulating the spatial elements of narrative painting. This study for the painting "Yoyo" uses a non-objective composition by El Lissitzky, an important art-historical touchstone for Larsen, as a visual template. Building off El Lissitzky’s composition “Proun 3A” (ca. 1920), the painting utilizes the language of abstraction—rather than illusionism—as a means to access a more authentic form of representation.