Mar 5, 2014 6:30 AM

Gallery: No Joke: These Sprawling Views of Space Are Actually Paintings

Damian Loeb
The Great Rift
2014
Oil on linen
72 x 72 inches (182.9 x 182.9 cm)
Acquavella Galleries
01
The Great Rift
Damian Loeb's new show, Sol d, features 12 characteristically hyperrealistic landscapes, ranging in scale from the planetary to the cosmic.
Damian Loeb
Venus Transit
2013
Oil on linen
36 x 36 inches (91.4 x 91.4 cm)
Private Collection
02
Venus Transit
Here, Venus tracing a route across the sun.

Damian Loeb
Venus Transit (Detail)
2013
Oil on linen
36 x 36 inches (91.4 x 91.4 cm)
Private Collection
03
loebdetail
From afar, the paintings could pass as photographs. Up close, you can detect Loeb's brushwork on the linen canvas.
Damian Loeb
Whittier
2013
Oil on linen
72 x 72 inches (182.9 x 182.9 cm)
Private Collection
04
Whittier
The paintings were inspired by photographs Loeb had taken himself.

Damian Loeb
Rayleigh Scattering
2013
Oil on linen
36 x 36 inches (91.4 x 91.4 cm)
Private Collection
05
Rayleigh Scattering
This work is called *Rayleigh Scattering*, after the atmospheric scattering of light that gives the sky and the sun their color.
Damian Loeb
Rayleigh Scattering (Detail)
2013
Oil on linen
36 x 36 inches (91.4 x 91.4 cm)
Private Collection
06
loeb-deet
A closer look.

Damian Loeb
Tycho
2013
Oil on linen
48 x 48 inches (121.9 x 121.9 cm)
Collection of Nancy K. Silverman
07
Tycho
*Tycho* shows our own moon, which bears a crater of the same name.
Damian Loeb
Cumulonimbus Calvus
2013
Oil on linen
60 x 60 inches (152.4 x 152.4 cm)
Private Collection
08
Cumulonibus Calvus
The paintings, as Loeb puts it, are a chance to "articulate the feelings and ideas of both the creator and audience in a substantial and lasting way," a quality that's "often overlooked or lost in our wonderful, overwhelming, and immediately satisfying digital world."

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