THE ARMORY SHOW 2025 | ANTONIETTA GRASSI - - Art Fairs

THE ARMORY SHOW | NEW YORK | INSTALLATION VIEW | ANTONIETTA GRASSI | PATRICK MIKHAIL

ANTONIETTA GRASSI | STACCATO (AFTER ALMA) | ACRYLIC, OIL AND INK ON LINEN | 84 X 80 INCHES | 2025

In this work, Grassi pays homage to Agnes Martin by creating rhythm through a meditative process of repetition. She adopts a more restrained color palette than is typical in her practice, reflecting Martin's subtlety and restraint in the use of color. The composition draws from both textiles and musical rhythm, highlighting Martin's influence with Grassi's own sensibility.

ANTONIETTA GRASSI | PETTWAY'S PASSAGE (AFTER LORETTA PETTWAY, GEE'S BEND) | ACRYLIC, OIL AND INK ON LINEN | 72 X 30 INCHES | 2025

This works honours the quilters of Gee's Bend, particularly the bricklayer (or courthouse steps) pattern that appears in many of Loretta Pettway's quilts. Grassi approaches the composition intuitively, beginning with a general sense of where the edges will fall without fully planning them out. This method allows for a spontaneous flow, with adjustments and "mending" taking place after the rough structure is laid down. These visible "fixes" become integral traces of the making process. Like the Gee's Bend quilters, Grassi embraces spontaneity and as a result irregularities, allowing them to animate the work.

ANTONIETTA GRASSI | MEASURING TIME (AFTER AGNES) | ACRYLIC, OIL AND INK ON CANVAS | 60 X 60 INCHES | 2025

Measuring five feet square—a format Agnes Martin often returned to in her later years—this work incorporates the "hovering frame" motif that recurs throughout Martin's paintings and works on paper. Inspired by Martin's luminous washes of delicate color, Grassi layers multiple veils of paint to soften the saturation of her hues to evoke subtle tonal shifts. Each hand-drawn line is built through a patient, meditative process that recalls Martin's devotion to repetition and stillness, while grounding the work in Grassi's own tactile and material sensibility. In doing so, she honors Martin's legacy of restraint and rhythm, while continuing her own exploration of measuring time through painting.

ANTONIETTA GRASSI | SOFT EDGE (AFTER AGNES) | TEXTILE PAINTING ON LINEN | 50 X 46 INCHES | 2025

Working on unstretched linen, Grassi explores what she calls "textile-like paintings." Here, the square format echoes that of the work Measuring Time (After Agne)s, both in size and structure. The two works were conceived in dialogue with one another, often placed side by side in her studio.

ANTONIETTA GRASSI | ALGORITHMIC PULSE (AFTER AGNES) | ACRYLIC, OIL AND INK ON BIRCH CUBE | 60 X 6 X 6 INCHES | 2025

In this piece, Grassi reflects on Alma Thomas's bold investigations with shifting compositions using long bands of puzzle-like patterns while also echoing the vibrant, rhythmic pulse that defines Thomas's legacy. Grassi expands into three dimensions, while maintaining her familiar process of repetition. Horizontal lines generate a sense of rhythm, interrupted and balanced by vertical totemic forms she calls "zips." Since 2022, Grassi has explored these shapes as metaphors for compressed files—paintings distilled into narrower fields.

ANTONIETTA GRASSI | COURTHOUSE STEPS NO. 1 (AFTER ALMA) | ACRYLIC, OIL AND INK ON LINEN | 36 X 24 INCHES | 2025

In this pair of works, also structured in the bricklayer pattern, Grassi turns to the vibrant legacy of Alma Thomas. She incorporates gradations of color reminiscent of Thomas's paintings, using shifts in hue to create a sense of movement and light. Through this approach, Grassi translates the textile-inspired geometry of the quilts into a painterly dialogue with Thomas's chromatic brilliance.

ANTONIETTA GRASSI | COURTHOUSE STEPS NO. 2 (AFTER ALMA) | ACRYLIC, OIL AND INK ON LINEN | 36 X 24 INCHES | 2025

In this pair of works, also structured in the bricklayer pattern, Grassi turns to the vibrant legacy of Alma Thomas. She incorporates gradations of color reminiscent of Thomas's paintings, using shifts in hue to create a sense of movement and light. Through this approach, Grassi translates the textile-inspired geometry of the quilts into a painterly dialogue with Thomas's chromatic brilliance.