reviews

Antonio Carreno ~ Paintings
Messineo Art Projects / Wyman Contemporary
by Joe Walentini

The first thing to hit me when I entered this diminutive gallery space was the juxtaposition and presence of these large paintings and the way in which they dominate the room. The contrast is all the more interesting in that this particular context allows you to especially appreciate their more atmospheric qualities. Additionally, with such constraints limiting the distance at which you might view them plus each painting competing for your attention forces you to deal with them on a more intimate level. Of course distance and context always affect perception but here, what in a larger space may have suggested an epic sensibility actually creates the opposite sensation. This has every bit as much to do with how these works are painted as it does with the space in which they are shown.

Antoinio Carreno is clearly enthralled with classic Abstract Expressionism leaning quite obviously toward the atmospheric end of that spectrum. If not with forms then with painting handling there is at least an oblique reference to artists such as Rothko and De Kooning in this work. But something a bit more subtle is suggested here too; a nod to J.M.W Turner’s loosely defined landscapes from well over a century ago. Look at the atmospheric perspective, the color choices and the suggestion of landscape in each of them. But notice also the quality of glowing light.

For some reason Carreno has also included a series of geometric black lines which seem oddly incongruous with the overt painterly forms. I’m not sure why they were added (perhaps to add more structure to those roughly defined forms?) and I’m also not sure they are required. The compositions would hold up just fine without them. Still the subtlety of their presence saves them from becoming distractions.

Sariums
2010
Oil on Canvas
56 x 120 inches


reviews
Jason Florio | Gambia, 2020

Robert Stivers | Mystery of Darkness

Jill Nathanson: At the Galleries, 2013

Jill Nathanson at Messineo Art Projects/Wyman Contemporary, 2012

Art Around the Edges, 2012

Jason Florio, The Long Fight for Kawtoolie, 2012

Jason Florio, Fighting Spirit, 2012

Antonio Carreno, Messineo Art Projects / Wyman Contemporary, 2011

Jill Nathanson at Messineo Art Projects and Wyman Contemporary

Jill Nathanson’s Quiet Vision, 2010

Paul Vickery - Past Imperfect Future Tense, 2010

Jason Florio, Black and White Magazine, 2009

Gema Alava: Tell Me the Truth, 2008

An Alchemist's Reverie, Picture Magazine, Fall 2002

Robert Stivers, Black & White Magazine, June 2001

more...