Mark Grotjahn's Italian Paintings series, which encompasses the interconnected groups of works titled New Capri, Capri, and Free Capri, marks a significant departure in the artist's practice towards a more experimental and spontaneous process of creation. Stemming from a body of work initially produced in 2016 for a private presentation at the Casa Malaparte on Capri, these paintings explore new directions beyond Grotjahn's renowned Face paintings. Inspired by the dramatic, cliff-perched architecture of Casa Malaparte, the series delves into the mesmerizing landscapes and geological patterns of the Mediterranean, translating them into abstract visual forms.
In the New Capri works, Grotjahn employs cardboard as his canvas, creating small, jewel-like pieces that echo the natural beauty of Capri, framed by the house's iconic windows. These pieces are characterized by their intricate, multicolored arcs that draw upon the kaleidoscopic abstractions found in his Face series but focus more closely on their dynamic curves and sweeps. This shift allows for a richer exploration of color and form, free from the representational constraints of previous works (Gagosian).
As the series progresses to the Capri works, Grotjahn expands the scale of his exploration, alternating between vertical and horizontal orientations that obscure any direct references to the almond-shaped eyes that dominate his Face paintings. These pieces are marked by a tactile engagement with the paint itself—spreading, sculpting, and layering it to create dense, textural surfaces that challenge the viewer's perception and invite deeper contemplation of the artist's process and the temporal sequence of his mark-making (Gagosian).
The Free Capri series represents a further evolution, seemingly moving beyond the Faces entirely. Here, Grotjahn introduces "slugs" – accumulations of paint that are scraped off and reapplied to the canvas, creating a vibrant, tactile surface that integrates the materiality of paint in novel ways. These elements, alongside the gestural streaks and layers of color, contribute to a sense of organic vitality, suggesting movement and transformation within the confines of the canvas (Gagosian).
Mark Grotjahn's Italian Paintings series encapsulates a significant phase in the artist's career, showcasing his ability to navigate between abstraction and representation, structure and spontaneity, and the conceptual and the visceral. It highlights his ongoing engagement with the history of painting and his capacity for innovation within the medium's contemporary context.
