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

  • Image may contain Nature Outdoors Universe Space Astronomy Nebula Outer Space and Night
    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.
  • Image may contain Universe Moon Space Night Astronomy Outdoors Outer Space Nature and Full Moon
    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.
  • Image may contain Outdoors Nature Universe Space Astronomy and Outer Space
    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.
  • Image may contain Nature Weather Outdoors Sky Cloud and Cumulus
    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.
  • Image may contain Nature Outdoors Ocean Water Sea Sky Red Sky Dawn Dusk Sunset and Sunlight
    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.
  • Image may contain Outdoors Nature Furniture Bed Sky and Water
    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.
  • Image may contain Universe Space Night Astronomy Moon Outdoors Outer Space Nature and Planet
    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.
  • Image may contain Nature Ice Outdoors Snow Iceberg Animal and Bird
    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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