Osvaldo Mariscotti’s art is an art of fundamentals: color, line, and the possibilities inherent in their variation and repetition. Using this economy of means, Mariscotti creates an expressive world that draws on sources as diverse as nature, classical music, and the early pioneers of abstraction.

Reductive in means but expansive in effect, Mariscotti’s painting is best situated in the tradition of the early abstractionists. In the first decades of the twentieth century, artists Kasimir Malevich and Piet Mondrian each sought to reduce painting to its essential elements. They developed abstract styles, “Suprematism” and “Neo-Plasticism” respectively, that facilitated the clearest expression of universal aesthetic principles. The original language of abstraction—Malevich’s forms floating through space, and Mondrian’s exclusive use of flat planes bounded by horizontal and vertical lines—finds an entirely new and contemporary reimagining in Mariscotti’s work.

Through all the works featured, it becomes clear that while Mariscotti’s painterly method is deliberate, the results are never systematic. The flexibility of his art allows him to translate motifs across media, as his work in printmaking and sculpture demonstrates.

The works in Leitmotif evince the themes consistent through Mariscotti’s art: color, line, emotion, and time. Like a composer, Mariscotti develops these themes through an array of variations of a wide dramatic range: sometimes solemn, occasionally serene, oftentimes playful, always generously expressive.

Mariscotti has exhibited with prominent galleries internationally, and his work is included in major collections around the world including the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, Rome; the Department of State, Washington, DC; the UBS Art Collection; the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, Hagerstown, MD; the Asheville Art Museum; the Tampa Museum of Art; and the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL, among many others.

On the occasion of Osvaldo Mariscotti: Leitmotif, a full color exhibition catalogue will be published in collaboration with the artist, with contributing essay by David Sweet. For further information, please contact: [email protected].

Upsilon Gallery is located at 23 East 67th Street, New York, NY 10065. Exhibition hours are Tuesday to Friday 10:00 AM-6:00 PM, Saturday 10AM-5PM & by appointment. Please contact the gallery at (646) 476-4190 or email at [email protected] for further details.