Then and Now
Ian Quirante
2006

The painter Ian Quirante works with an approach that can be understood, in the words of poet Andre Breton, as “pure psychic automatism”. He allows his stream of consciousness to take over his brushwork and he applies paint liberally, but in very lean lines that often take semblance with street graffiti art in the style of Basquiat and Haring. This work shows this very well, as his very fluid definition of forms define heads that intersect in an imaginary landscape of taupe and canvas weave. The figures are very linear, sparsely drawn, in changing hues of green to red. The iconography, while well drawn, has its meanings as fugitive as its lightfast reds: it is as open as its construction and invites the viewer to create values and images to their own device.

Medium
Oil and Acrylic on Canvas

Dimensions
91.5 x 76.2 cm (36 x 30”)