 Smoke, 2005 acrylic on canvas, 17 x 17" Marc Katano New Paintings Katano's recent canvases reveal the artist's preoccupation with the mark-making process and the opportunities it provides for the creation of a controlled, ordered, and coherent form of invented imagery. The paintings are composed of a matrix of repeated and layered ellipses reduced to their linear outline and rendered in a limited palette of black, white, and gray. The form resembles a collapsed pair of parentheses and is the natural "C" and "D" movement of the arm and wrist, the artist's calligraphic stroke. The leaf-shape is a recognizable theme in Katano's work and the new paintings demonstrate a significant departure from earlier explorations of this form, previously rendered with earth tones and organic hues. However, these works continue to exhibit the artist's signature optical surfaces composed of superimposed stylized forms that give the illusion of depth and movement. The carefully cultivated line of Katano's gestural mark is wielded energetically, resulting in a spontaneous yet refined feeling to the work. While reflective of nature, this imagery is specifically inspired by the simple black-and-white lines of Kanji characters, and the resulting works are evocative of traditional Japanese painting. Exhibition: June 2 - July 9, 2005 Gallery hours: Tues-Fri 9:30 am - 5:30 pm, Sat 10:30 am - 5:30 pm Stephen Wirtz Gallery 49 Geary Street, 3rd Floor USA-San Francisco, CA 94108 Telephone +1 415 433-6879 Fax +1 415 433-1608 Email swg@wirtzgallery.com www.wirtzgallery.com |
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