Patrick Marasso
Impressive Recreations of a Forgotten Moment
“I find there is a universal sentiment in the veracity of vernacular photography that evokes a shared narrative, further strengthened by painting’s uniquely private/public vision.” - Patrick Marasso
THE ARTISTS: Born 1968 in Chula Vista California, Patrick Marasso grew up in the Sacramento area. Currently represented by JayJay Fine Arts, Marasso has exhibited widely in Sacramento since 1996. Having been previously represented by The Michael Himovitz Gallery, Exploding Head Gallery, and Verge Gallery, Marasso is a full-time instructor of painting and drawing at Sierra College in Rocklin, California.
Marasso carefully recreates the tiniest detail of old photographs that likely once languished away in attics, moldy cardboard boxes, or albums before being pulled out of obscurity. On the surface these paintings seem like little odes to obsession, technically impressive recreations of a forgotten moment. Beneath this technical mastery is a tinge of the painterly, a softening of edges and forms like the fading detail of a memory.
THE ART: The work selected for the wrap project was from a series of paintings called Album Selections, which is a continuing exploration of the poetic possibilities that lie between the conventions of a traditional oil painting process and the analog snapshot. I find there is a universal sentiment in the veracity of vernacular photography that evokes a shared narrative, further strengthened by painting’s uniquely private/public vision. The snapshots on their own, facilitators of social relations, are often delegated to a life in seclusion, but through painting find function as a greater gesture of social inclusion.
THE STORY:
THE PLACE: Soscol Ave.
