John Goodyear: Shifting Views showcases the work of an internationally recognized artist who has lived and worked in New Jersey for nearly half a century. The exhibition unites Goodyear’s ground-breaking artwork from the 1960s with some recent, related pieces and features three distinct, but interrelated bodies of work.

His “pole” paintings—an idea he originated in the 1960s—are painted wood constructions that spin to reveal fragmented views simultaneously. Another series incorporates moving latticed screens in front of stationary paintings. When the screens are lightly pushed from side to side, the viewer experiences a strong optical effect that creates a new visual experience. Both these groups of kinetic works require the viewer’s active participation. Goodyear’s “Double Subject” paintings are based on iconic works from art history reduced to outline drawings and superimposed one over the other. The viewer must continually shift focus to “read” the individual images. The meaning for all of the works in this exhibition is continually in flux depending on elements of chance and the spectator’s shifting vision.

John Goodyear was a professor at Rutgers University from 1964 until his retirement in 1997. Throughout his long career, Goodyear has experimented with a broad range of processes and materials, including painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, light and optics and even heat. His first solo show was in New York City in 1964. Since then he has participated in many individual and group exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad. Goodyear’s works are included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian Institution, and 50 other public collections worldwide. The artist has lived in Lambertville, New Jersey, since 1972.