Andrew Conti @ PTP Artist Studio Gallery
Andrew Conti is a painter based in Pennsylvania who is heavily influenced by Japanese culture and religion. In each work, Conti re-imagines natural shapes and juxtaposes them with the chaotic overwhelming nature of contemporary life. The outcome, Conti believes, is the beginning point for meditative calm.
Conti references natural forms such as rocks, natural monuments, steles, and mounds and then abstracts and flattens them, placing them as central silhouettes in his paintings. Conti then layers these silhouettes with sweeping gestures, obsessive calligraphy, seeping stains of color, and the controlled chaos formed by the Japanese wet-on-wet technique known as tarashikomi.
Conti does not try to resist chaos in his ideas, but instead takes it in, reworks it, and makes something new from it. Conti’s painting transcends to become an object, a marker, a container of impressions and memories. They are monuments to experience, feelings, and the possibilities of life lived – icons of the spirit, the landscape, and the self.
