In Plato’s Timeo you can find for the first time a careful description of how the 4 elements: Fire, Earth, Air, and Water are found in nature and their geometric correspondent. In fact, according to the philosopher, each element can be associated with a shape, to a “Platonic solid”. One of these is the icosahedron, a geometric figure formed by 20 triangular faces which, according to Plato’s theories, can be connected to Water and shows perfect harmony. 

For these characteristics, the Los Angeles artist Anthony James has chosen the icosahedron as the main object of his art, his artistic research and his most famous series of works entitled Portal Series. So, for more than ten years, Anthony has been making these perfect polygons using materials such as titanium, LED lights and special glass, which embody and represent Platonic thought in a clear and amazing way. 

If from a distance you have the sensation of looking at a finished sculpture, as you approach it, you will notice that the play of mirrors that are reflected in each other gives life to an infinite space: modern materials exhibited in contemporary art galleries embody ideas and theories thousands of years old. 

Despite the passage of time, Anthony James’s production of sculptures seems to have no intention of stopping and his latest series you can see it in the exhibition Crystals in Art at the Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville, Arkansas, where it will be on display until January 2020.