BLACK BOX THEATER
Arnoff Center for the Arts
650 Walnut Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
RICK MALLETTE and CEDRIC COX
"Constella Music Festival"
April 15, 2016
RICK MALLETTE
ARTIST STATEMENT
This body of work begins with a spontaneous line drawing
that is filled in with black gesso on white gesso. These are finished painting
made with gesso, a neutral ground, which is typically covered up by the actual
painting. Likewise, I consider these drawings, which is usually preliminary to
painting, not the actual art work. I enjoy this underdog quality of drawing and
continually seek fresh expression within these limitations, in a sense
expanding the vocabulary of drawing. By limiting
the colors to black and white, emphasis is placed on the forms that are
discovered in the weave and overlap of a single line. The ultimate effect is a
kind of space that flips between figure and ground. Intentionally spatially and
conceptually elusive, I point a place of infinite possibilities, found in the
interplay of opposites.
1. Black and White #1 (2016) Gesso & Marker on Wood. 36 x 36 inches
2. Black and White #2 (2016) Gesso & Marker on Wood. 36 x 36 inches
3. Black and White #3 (2016) Gesso & Marker on Wood. 36 x 36 inches
4. Black and White #4 (2016) Gesso & Marker on Wood. 36 x 36 inches
5. Black and White #5 (2016) Gesso & Graphite on Wood. 36 x 36 inches
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