JOSEPH MARIONI (B. 1943)

In his richly vivid monochrome canvases, Jospeh Marioni endeavours to paint light; in Painting #17-80, ochre radiates beautifully. In each work, Marioni applies multiple coats of different tones which meld into a single colour. These paintings are far from flat or motionless, as Marioni manipulates the flow of the paint, so that the colour swells and cascades across the surface, forming what he has termed ‘liquid light’. These built-up surfaces are mesmerizingly beguiling, what critic Michael Fried has called ‘paintings in the fullest and most exalted sense’ (M. Fried, ‘Joseph Marioni: Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University’, Artforum, September 1998, n. p.). Marioni has imaged a gravitational pull and this downward current emphasises Painting #17-80’ s ephemeral materiality; for the artist, pigment is simply light divided.