JOSEPH MARIONI
Paintings
October 1 - December 1998
Peter Blum is pleased to announce an exhibition of paintings by Joseph Marioni. This exhibition, Marioni's second at Peter Blum, features a group of works made between 1992 to 1998.
For the last thirty yearsm Joseph Marioni, and American painter now in his midfifties, has dedicated himself to making paintings about color-the painted color-image-and the essence and experience of its visual intimacy and emotional power. Often regarded as work which comes under the category or tradition of monochrome painting, Marioni's art is sensory-specific. We are confronted with the visual phenomenon of painted color, to see it without the rules or limitations of language which are often assigned to it.
Critic and art historian Micheal Fried, in the September 1998 issue of Artforum, poses the question, "How could a type of work that I considered simply a vehicle for a vehicle for a hackneyed theoretical/ideological stance have been made to yield paintings of beauty and power? The answer lies in Marioni's color: for him the monochrome is precisely that, a painting of a single color, though to say this scarcely suggests the complexity of his procedures or the richness of his results." As Mr. Fried asserts, "Marioni's work is an affirmation of the continued vitality of painting that has something of the character of a new beginning."
Marioni's museum exhibitions include the Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Germany (1995); the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland (1996); and the Wiener Secession in Vienna (1996). A major exhibition of his work, Paintings 1970-1998 A Survey, was recently presented at the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University (April 5-June 25, 1998). A catalogue of this exhibition, with an introduction by Carl Belz and essay by Barabara Rose, is available at the gallery.
For additional information or photographic material contact Peter Blum or Arthur Solway. The gallery is located at 99 Wooster Street at Spring Street. Hours: Tuesday-Friday 10-6, Saturday 11-6, and Monday by appointment.