Like the city, paintings with a grid at their core cannot be easily contained by it
This week, we welcome Jean Wolff, an artist working across both painting and sculpture through the lens of geometric abstraction and precise color interactions. Born in Detroit, she studied fine arts at the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit and at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, receiving a BFA in studio arts. She then attended Hunter College, graduating with a master’s degree in painting and printmaking. She is now part of the Westbeth artistic community in Manhattan. Jean has exhibited with various galleries in New York City and internationally, most recently with Pierogi Gallery as part of their Flat Files exhibition at Mana Contemporary in Jersey City.
The “Pentimenti” series takes its name from how it began: by painting over existing canvases where the circular geometry was already present. A “pentimento” (singular version of “pentimenti”) is “a visible trace of an earlier painting beneath a layer or layers of paint on a canvas.” In essence, these paintings pick up where an earlier series left off, but with a renewed interest in surface and scale and a fuller color palette. The previous works were more reductive, and their color was intentionally restricted. Still, a hint of the grid remains where the circles intersect and are cropped by the edges of the canvas.
“My practice involves the creation of subtle order through the use of strong patterns, grids and geometries. I create a visual language through an ongoing process of exploration and experimentation. The work is built on an evolving set of interrelations, rather than just a system of theme and variations,” said Wolff.
The “Pentimenti” series began right after a trip to Greece. There, the night sky is free of light pollution, clear enough to see a plethora of constellations and planets. The sky becomes a wide canvas of its own. Since then, a connection to the elements has a new importance for Wolff, and a simplicity that subconsciously became part of the new visual language in this body of work.
