ARTEGO
32-88 48th St, Queens, NY 11103
Richard Pasquarelli
The Thing About Things
November 4 - November 29, 2022
Reception for the Artist: November 4, 2022, 5:30 – 8:00 PM
Artego is pleased to announce The Thing About Things, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Richard Pasquarelli. This is the artist’s first presentation with the gallery.
Richard Pasquarelli’s paintings make visible the relationships between physical reality and the mind. Through analysis of his own compulsions for perfection and order, and research into mental health, the physical sciences, and philosophy, Pasquarelli seeks a better understanding of the relationship between mind and matter and its observable presence in the world around us.
As part of his research, Pasquarelli has immersed himself in the study of OCD and hoarding disorder by conducting field research in the homes of people affected by these conditions. The knowledge gained through his interviews and the thousands of photographs he has taken during his visits have become integral parts of his process. By creating artworks based on these spaces, Pasquarelli has come to perceive our physical surroundings as a manifestation of the psyche. His paintings are more than representations of people’s possessions, they are portraits of their minds.
In The Thing About Things, Pasquarelli presents us with two recent bodies of work: his Collection series and his Relic series.
Pasquarelli’s Collection paintings are based on the thousands of photographs he takes during his visits in the homes of those affected by hoarding disorder. Although these paintings are depictions of real environments, Pasquarelli transforms these chaotic spaces into appealing and orderly still lives. Color plays a vital role in this series. By using intense and seductive color, Pasquarelli transforms what appear to be piles of random objects into beautiful formal compositions, mirroring the allure felt by the individual who collected them.
Intrigued by the ways that we often save broken objects after they no longer serve their function, Pasquarelli has observed that our attachment is not so much to the object itself, but rather, to the meaning or memories we associate with it. Pasquarelli’s Relic paintings explore these psychological relationships and the import with which we imbue inanimate objects. These paintings bring those associations to life. Embedded within each painting is an original film Pasquarelli has created that is revealed through augmented reality technology on a mobile device. What appear to be traditional still-life oil paintings become liaisons to a past remembered.
“My goal with this work is to actuate a visual language which represents the workings of the human mind. Although my paintings engage with aspects of realism, abstraction, and minimalism, the mental processes I depict require me to seek out a different set of visual archetypes.”
Richard Pasquarelli has exhibited his work in solo and group exhibitions in museums, galleries, and art fairs throughout the U.S. and Europe. His work is represented globally in many public and private collections including The Cleveland Museum of Art, Detroit Institute of Arts, The US Library of Congress, the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection, The Zabludowicz Collection, MacAndrews & Forbes Holdings, General Dynamics Inc., Progressive Insurance, the Roanoke College Art Collection, Syracuse University Art Collection, and The Mattatuck Museum of Art. Selected residencies, awards, and commissions include MASS MoCA, Ucross Foundation, The Ragdale Foundation, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, The Print Club of Cleveland Annual Presentation Print commission for 2017, and multiple public installations for the City of New York. Pasquarelli was born in 1968 and received his BFA from Syracuse University. Pasquarelli lives and works in New York City.