White (12×12) by Roch Pisarek, acrylic on stretched canvas, $525
White (12×12) by Roch Pisarek, acrylic on stretched canvas, $525
Pisarek’s ‘White’ seems to speak to a relative simplicity and minimalism that is not typical of his busier surfaces. Usually, layering is a major part of the work, and there is refinement of shapes that emerge. Throughout his painting career, there has been attention paid to an undulating line, a sort of heartbeat rhythm, that mirrors influences like early Pollock and a less refined Johns. There is a visceral quality to this work, like so many others in his portfolio. It could be drained veins laid out on a white sheet, or entrails of the roadkill that he often photographs, but we are kept from the horror of that idea by the painterly way in which he renders it. It looks more like a aerial view of a maize maze, trails in the woods, or a track of his walking path than any sort of horror. The horror lies beneath. The line stays on the page for the most part, but meanders off, taking our eyes away from the path for a moment. The palette of this piece could be described as venial or circulatory, and there is vitality in it. ~ John LeMasney
