Lapis Room - Jared Putnam- "No. 61 Weird Divide (Anti-Matter)"

acrylic + oil on panel 36 x 36"   About the Artist: Born in New York City to MAD Magazine Art Director John Putnam and painter Jane Putnam, the artist has lived and worked in Albuquerque since 1990. A professional musician for over 25 years, he spent 19 of those with the gypsy jazz group Le Chat Lunatique and now performs with the instrumental trio The Chachalacas. During the pandemic, he shifted focus to visual art, drawing inspiration from pencil sketches made on paper bags while working as a grocery store cashier and graphite drawings on graph paper at home. His work explores perspective, optical illusions, and spatial play through precise linework and rotational symmetry. In his paintings, these linear foundations evolve into studies of color, exploring how hue, value, and gradient influence perception of form and depth. Each piece is meticulously constructed: a recreated grid, perspective lines drawn using string, masked sections filled with sponged acrylic, and oil-painted