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55 Orchard Street, New York, New York 10002 212 989 5467 fax 212 989 5642
 
 

Paul Corio: Ivan and the Devil
March 23 - April 29, 2018



At first glance the work of Paul Corio appears focused on geometry and form, but the true subject is color. He employs a vocabulary of simple geometric shapes, squares and triangles, but it functions primarily as an organizing framework for the arrangement of color in his paintings.  Corio’s color sequences are disciplined and ordered in terms of value, hue and saturation to explore aspects of movement, space, light and atmosphere.   
 
Color choices are often system-driven:  in the “hue-circle” paintings, for example, the rotation and positioning of light to dark value sequences are determined by the numbers of winning horses from a particular day at a New York racetrack.  The chance-driven rotational sequences create visual disruptions to the geometric patterns and impart an optical shimmer to the overall composition.  In other works, color choices are intuitive, generating rhythmic pulsations as colors advance and retreat in an almost musical manner.  This is not surprising, as Corio is a jazz drummer and in an earlier life performed with a number of New York punk bands.  In other paintings, there is an emphasis on trompe l’oeil spatial effects created in the movement of light to dark tonal values of a single color, or by ribbons of colors which project and recede in space, zipping back and forth across a white ground while progressing through their color values.  Corio notes that, “systems are only interesting to me to the extent that they create a compelling image.  If they don’t, I discard or amend them to that end.”  
 
The titles of Corio’s paintings have no intrinsic relationship to the imagery but instead reflect his various interests outside of painting: horse racing, jazz, detective fiction, literature, film, 70s punk rock, and philosophy.  Certain philosophies inform his approach to art making. He views the labor-intensiveness of his paintings as a rejection of ‘alienated labor’ as described by Marx and instead embraces Nietzsche’s formulation of the Dionysian: that life is an astonishing gift, full of wonder and art and music, an endless parade of experiences for all the senses and predilections.  Corio notes that his true objective is for the work to be “an over-ripe Dionysian celebration of life, and I want my labor to smear my personality all over it.”  
 
 
  Paul Corio, Ivan and the Devil
Ivan and the Devil, 2018
Acrylic on canvas
62 x 62 inches
Paul Corio, Out of the Afternoon
Out of the Afternoon, 2017
Acrylic on canvas
57 x 50 inches
Paul Corio, Black Nitron
Black Nitron, 2017
Acrylic on canvas
60 x 48 inches
  Paul Corio, Poinciana
Poinciana, 2018
Acrylic on canvas
46 x 34 inches
Paul Corio, Tadd's Delight
Tadd's Delight, 2018
Acrylic on canvas
71 x 53 inches
Paul Corio, Schoolyard Cat
Schoolyard Cat, 2017
Acrylic on canvas
36 x 24 inches
  Paul Corio, Cool Samurai
Cool Samurai, 2017
Acrylic on canvas
36 x 24 inches
Paul Corio, Princess Rooney
Princess Rooney, 2016
Acrylic on canvas
45 x 35 inches
Paul Corio, Stella by Starlight
Stella by Starlight, 2017
Acrylic on canvas
36 x 24 inches
  Paul Corio, Old Devil Moon
Old Devil Moon, 2017
Acrylic on canvas
36 x 24 inches
Paul Corio, Princess Violet
Princess Violet, 2017
Acrylic on canvas
12 x 12 inches
Paul Corio, One More Chief
One More Chief, 2017
Acrylic on canvas
12 x 12 inches
  Paul Corio, Chatter Pattern
Chatter Pattern, 2016
Acrylic on canvas
14 x 14 inches
  Paul Corio, installation 1
Installation view
Paul Corio, installation 2
Installation view
Paul Corio, installation 3
Installation view
  Paul Corio, installation 4
Installation view
Paul Corio, installation 5
Installation view
Paul Corio, installation 6
Installation view
  Paul Corio, installation 7
Installation view
Paul Corio, installation 8
Installation view
Paul Corio, installation 9
Installation view
  Paul Corio, installation 10
Installation view
Paul Corio,installation 11
Installation view


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55 Orchard Street, New York, New York 10002 212 989 5467 fax 212 989 5642
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