Remote Sensing Per I Ii

Alfred Jensen’s Cosmic Grid: Decoding Remote Sensing Per I Ii

Few works from the late 1970s distill the intersection of mathematics, mysticism, and abstraction as precisely as Alfred Jensen’s Remote Sensing Per I Ii. Created in 1979, this painting belongs to the artist’s final decade, when his lifelong obsession with numerical systems and ancient cosmologies reached its most refined expression. Jensen, a Danish-born American painter, spent years synthesizing Mayan calendars, Chinese I Ching diagrams, and Pythagorean geometry into compositions that feel both rigorously structured and pulsating with energy. Here, the grid isn’t merely a formal device but a visual manifesto—a claim that art could function as a kind of perceptual technology, capable of mapping unseen forces.

The title itself, Remote Sensing, hints at Jensen’s ambition. As the Smithsonian American Art Museum has noted, his late works often referenced scientific and esoteric traditions that sought to measure the unmeasurable—whether through satellite imagery or divination charts. The painting’s interlocking rectangles, rendered in a palette of earthy ochres and electric blues, evoke both circuit boards and sacred geometry. Unlike the gestural abstraction of his New York School contemporaries, Jensen’s approach was methodical, almost architectural. Each color and line serves a purpose, creating a tension between the work’s apparent simplicity and its underlying complexity. This duality is what makes Remote Sensing Per I Ii so compelling: it rewards both immediate visual engagement and prolonged study.

Jensen’s Late Period: Where Math Meets Metaphysics

By 1979, Alfred Jensen had spent over three decades developing a visual language that fused abstract art with his encyclopedic interests in philosophy, science, and non-Western traditions. His work from this era stands apart from both the emotional rawness of Abstract Expressionism and the cool detachment of Minimalism. Instead, Jensen pursued what he called “a science of qualities”—a system where color, form, and number could convey universal principles. Remote Sensing Per I Ii emerges from this context, reflecting his belief that painting could operate as a kind of cognitive tool, one that might reveal hidden patterns in the natural world.

The Art Story’s overview of Jensen’s career emphasizes how his time in Guatemala in the 1930s profoundly shaped his later work. There, he studied Mayan hieroglyphics and calendar systems, which he later interpreted through the lens of modernist abstraction. This cross-cultural synthesis is evident in Remote Sensing’s grid structure, which mirrors both pre-Columbian codices and the modular compositions of Piet Mondrian—a key influence, though Jensen’s work always retained a warmer, more organic sensibility. Unlike Mondrian’s rigid primary colors, Jensen’s palette here feels excavated from the earth, as if the painting were a fragment of some ancient, half-remembered system.

What sets Remote Sensing Per I Ii apart is its refusal to privilege either logic or intuition. The grid isn’t a cage but a scaffold—one that supports a play of colors and textures that feel almost alive.

The Alchemy of Jensen’s Process

Composition: A System of Correspondences

The painting’s structure follows Jensen’s signature approach: a matrix of rectangles, each filled with a distinct color or texture. Yet the arrangement isn’t arbitrary. As with his earlier works, the proportions likely correspond to numerical ratios—perhaps derived from the Fibonacci sequence or Mayan mathematical systems. The larger ochre panels anchor the composition, while the smaller blue and white segments create a rhythmic counterpoint. This balance between stability and movement is central to Jensen’s method, where every element serves a dual role—both as an independent form and as part of a larger harmonic system.

Surface and Materiality

Jensen’s technique involved building up layers of oil paint, often mixed with marble dust or sand to achieve a matte, almost chalky surface. In Remote Sensing Per I Ii, this textural depth is particularly evident in the ochre sections, where subtle variations in tone suggest light passing over an uneven terrain. The blues, by contrast, are smoother and more luminous, creating a tension between the tactile and the ethereal. This material contrast wasn’t merely aesthetic; for Jensen, texture was another variable in his visual equations, a way to encode additional layers of meaning into the work.

Where to Hang Remote Sensing Per I Ii

This print’s earthy palette and geometric rigor make it surprisingly versatile. The 30×40 cm size works best in intimate settings where its details can be appreciated up close. Consider placing it in a study or library, where its intellectual underpinnings will feel at home. The warm ochres and deep blues also complement modern interiors with natural wood tones or neutral walls—try pairing it with a matte black or walnut frame to enhance its contemporary edge. For a bolder statement, hang it in a hallway or stairwell where its grid structure can interact with the architecture of the space. Avoid overly bright rooms, as the subtlety of Jensen’s textures shines in softer, indirect light.

Common Questions

More Works by Alfred Jensen

Discover other key pieces from Jensen’s career, each exploring the intersection of ancient symbolism and modern abstraction.

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