PATRICK MIKHAIL GALLERY IN MONTRÉAL PRESENTS “CONTEMPLATION FOR OBSOLETE OBJECTS” AN EXHIBITION OF NEW PAINTINGS BY ANTONIETTA GRASSI
ANTONIETTA GRASSI
CONTEMPLATION FOR OBSOLETE OBJECTS
MONTRÉAL
APRIL 14 TO MAY 26, 2018
ARTIST RECEPTION:
SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2018
2 P.M. TO 6 P.M.
PATRICK MIKHAIL GALLERY in Montréal is pleased to present CONTEMPLATION FOR OBSOLETE OBJECTS, an exhibition of new works by Montréal painter ANTONIETTA GRASSI. The exhibition is the artist's first presentation with Patrick Mikhail since her addition to the gallery's programme in March 2018.
For most of her career, Antonietta Grassi has been committed to the practice of abstract painting. Her paintings, which at first appear as hard-edged geometric abstractions, are composed of multi-layered, painted surfaces where the touch of the hand is paramount. Grassi paints layered, intuitively derived forms that are intersected by fine, thread-like lines—creating works where textile, architecture, and painting's twentieth century history collide. Through her nuanced and layered palette, she explores color and light to create perceptual spaces that are drawn from memory and imagination. Grassi's work is simultaneously mathematical and painterly, reflecting a process-driven approach that belies the organized compositions of the geometric forms prevalent in the works.
In CONTEMPLATION FOR OBSOLETE OBJECTS, Grassi taps into memories of spaces that are unfolding, and abandoned forms such as those of 20th century objects. No longer used for their function, these objects leave us to simply contemplate their presence in our environment. For the artist, the act of painting is a contemplative process and the object that emerges from that process forces us to view it deeply—something that is perhaps in itself precariously scarce and obsolete.
Grassi’s work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions at museums and galleries in Canada, the United States, and Europe including the Musée national des beaux-arts du Quebec; Museo Civico di Molise in Cascalende, Italy; Kunstwerk Carlshuette in Budelsdorf, Germany; Boston Center for the Arts; Trestle Gallery in New York; Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati; as well as the McClure Gallery, Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery, and Maison de la culture Frontenac in Montréal. Her work is in numerous private, corporate, and public collections including the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec.
Grassi earned a BFA from Montréal’s Concordia University and an MFA from l'Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). She currently appears in the exhibition ARCHITECTONICA at Stewart Hall Art Gallery in Point-Claire, Québec until April 29, 2018.
