Out of Register, 1993-1998, the first solo exhibition for Tom Martinelli at David Richard Gallery, 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 color applied one on top of the other. While the pattern may suggest a rigid process, the layers of color are not entirely uniform and often outside of the grid, 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 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.