At first brush, no pun intended, the work of Bill Mazziotti plays with what most artists use as a simple way of ordering a surface, the grid. But the truth is he is examining a new artistic approach to the concerns of space versus place. The surface presents an almost creased like pattern of folded paper with each edge scrapped to the unpainted surface of the support. The paint at first flat, actually deepens as you start to see the multiple layers that make up the surface. He then reaches through the surface, scrapping it back showing us the structured drawn, penciled grid underneath. Then he populates it with dancing dots of color.
“I started saying that if the frame is that important then I incorporated it into the piece; now the frame or the structure holding it is a part of the piece,” Mazziotti said as he sat in his studio. Canvases leaned against every wall. “It was a progression from one to another.” The effect is a tantalizing display of how revealing the process opens the space for the viewer to experience the organic tension of the piece and the grid as an integral element of the painting.
Grids can be seen from the staggered brick walls of ancient civilizations to ancient drawings of vertical and horizontal lines in caves. An argument can even be made that grids were part of the precursor to cubist experiments. In this display they provide an opportunity for the viewer to concurrently see the stability and abstract quality of Mazziotti’s paintings.
So while the the artist, William Mazziotti, may be aware of the process that takes him from concept to completion, the viewer will interpret the finished piece as they see fit. This viewer sees a departure from the standard fare and a step into a new dialogue about abstract art. Great work Bill!
Bill’s work is on display at the Hollingsworth Gallery in Palm Coast through May 19th
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