Tom Martinelli

Tom Martinelli's, Out of Register, 1993-1998, features a selection of paintings and works on paper created in New York from 1993 to 1998. This work is comprised of painted circles, or dots, of uniform size and regular all over grid patterns with many layers of transparent color applied one on top of the other producing what appears as black or near-black circles on a white background. While the pattern may suggest a rigid process, the layers of color are not entirely uniform, often outside of the grid and appearing as accidental; hence, there is a blurring of the circular boundaries with subtle layers of more translucent colors out of registration. The process employed by the artist creates not only a series of striking patterns that appear black and white with optical effects from a distance, but also beautiful and interesting colors, both inside and outside the dots, and raised surfaces when viewed up close. There is something reductive and elegant about Tom Martinelli’s paintings, a simple circular form repeated in a regular pattern, but through his painstaking process and passion for and control of color, he imbues them with a complexity that challenges the viewer, holding our attention and drawing us in closer to realize and experience the radiant color underneath the apparent black and white facades from a distance. Tom Martinelli, a New York City–based artist now lives and works in New Mexico. His art-making practice has largely focused on abstract painting, but more recently has incorporated elements of photography. Martinelli has had numerous solo exhibitions in New York and his artwork included in many group exhibitions in New York, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh, among other cities. His paintings have been exhibited internationally in Vienna, Austria, London and Manchester, England. Martinelli has received many grants and fellowships, including the distinguished Pollock-Krasner Foundation Award twice. His artwork has been reviewed in numerous publications including New York Magazine, ARTnews Modern Painters, New York Times, Art + Auction, Review Magazine and THE Magazine.