Technique. In the exhibited works, the hues identify themselves with light.
A “joyful” exhibition that retraces the career of the American artist Sam Francis, one of the foremost representatives of American Abstract Expressionism. In Francis’s works, color is everything and identifies with light, especially after the 1950s, when the artist moved to France: in the works from this period, chromaticism becomes more vibrant and sets itself apart from the atmosphere of Rothko and Still through a refined sense of gesture and color, inspired by the tonal variations of Impressionism.
Francis succeeded in connecting the extremes of West and East—that is, European tradition and Japanese meditation, the impulse of action painting and Zen reflection—so much so that the construction of the artwork always begins with a white background, a space of the undefined, upon which color bursts forth.
Francis’s painting, achieved through drips and splashes, creates plays of transparency and stains traversed by light from multiple directions. Chromatic projections often concentrate at the edges of the work, taking on the appearance of frames and challenging the limits of the surface, as can be seen in the beautiful works on paper displayed in the exhibition.
“Freedom of color”, Galleria d'Arte Maggiore, Via D'Azeglio 15, until May 31, 2013
