On September 23rd, PIASA is organising a Contemporary Art auction featuring works from a private French collection. This first art sale of the fall season draws the portrait of a collector curious about the multiplicity of artistic expressions of this past half-century.
"Radicality comes from context, not necessarily from form, writes S. Parrino. Forms are radical in memory, perpetuating what was once radical by extending their history. The avant-garde leaves a trail and, driven by a mannerist force, continues its progress. Even when fleeing, we look over our shoulder and approach art by intuition rather than strategy. Seen in this light, art is more a cult than culture."
"Canvases crumpled on their frames: vast monochromes in which part of the surface, more or less large depending on the occasion, has been disaggregated to be wrinkled and then rearranged in its new position, which is indicated by numerous folds."
This technique underlines a principle of action that can be found throughout his work: accident, and the systematic rejection of conformity, or even of the complacency of painting. This desire to metamorphose any pictorial discipline through a radical gesture leads Steven Parrino's work to the border between painting and sculpture, or rather, as Olivier Mosset says, to something that is "neither painting nor sculpture".
Steven Parrino (1958-2005)
Vampirella, 1997
Estimate: 10 000 / 15 000 €
