Exhibited at MIT’s Rotch Library, Winter 2020
Vermeer Through a New Lens
— MIT SLICE
“Contemplating a Vermeer or a Rainstorm,
Will Dowd Sees Things Differently.”
Artist’s Statement
I spent the summer of 2020 learning about the Dutch Golden Age painters, whose uncanny ability to represent our three-dimensional world on a two-dimensional surface may or may not have been the result of secret experiments with intricate lenses.
Whether their virtuosity was the result of God-given talent or occult technology doesn’t really concern me. A painting is only ever as good as the viewer’s eyesight—and mine is far from golden. I was inspired to create Vermeer Through a New Lens.
Exhibit Description
Boston-based writer and artist Will Dowd presents 16 new prints remixing the paintings of Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer. By manipulating these iconic artworks, Dowd enables others to see these paintings through my eyes—and visual impairment—thereby offering a fresh look at an old master.
© Will Dowd 2026