1. fTllris exhibition of recent paint
I ings h5' Luigi Carboni marks
his U.S. debut. Trained at
academies in Urbino, since 1979
the thirtv-year-old artist has had
numerous solo shows in the gal-
leries of his native nofthern Itall'.
Together with a concurrent
exhibit at an affiliated gallery in
Wa^shington, DCr, thc New York
show introduces the sensibility of
a painter whose affinities for
abstraction on the one hand, and
classical balance, order, and re-
straint on the othei, comprise the
dynamic and achievement of his
art.
Carboni realizes this dual al-
legiance by inducing dialogue be-
tween contrasting pictorial ele-
ments. Uniform perimeters of a
canvas are abruptly interrupted
by projecting components, a sag-
ging edge, or called into question
by a double border. Linear bound-
aries of a painting's subdivisions
are challengetl and dcnied by
poured or dripped paint and spon-
taneous brushvl'ork, or gestural
scratches through thinly applied
paint that extend across its sec-
lions. Severe and radiant geomet-
ric forms reappear transfcrrmed in
other areas of the canvas, their
blurred contours antl diminished
sheen peering through a veil of
overpainting.
Even the painter's palette is
two-sided. Wnrking in oil and a-
crylic, he allows color to prevail
in some works: often a brilliant
red, or a more muted yellow or
green. In others, the tones are
more subdued and somber
browns predominate, sonretinres
in tandem with various shades of
violet. On occasion, brilliant and
sober hues coexist. Geometrically
circumscribed prinrary colors as-
sert themselves from a foundation
of earth tones, investing rvorks
with the illusion of limited depth.
The side of Carboni's divided
self partial to luminosity and color
reveals itself in L'lttnocuo,
painled in 198(i. An ocher yellor.r',
its glow quieted by an under-
painted layer oforange, is renrinis-
cent of the light of an afternoon
sun. The light is contained by the
nearly square canvas, measuring
56'lr x 69 inches, which in turn is
subdivided by a grid pattern. The
work's asymmetrical dimensions
and inequality of indiridual grids
contest its emphasis on the
;quare. A dip in the top edge of
the canvas undermines its other-
wise linear tendencies and distin-
gnishes the uppermost grids from
their counterparts. Distinctions
are also drawn through color and
TUIGI
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light: Carboni diffuses their inten-
sities irr the journey from the
painting's center to the rows of
grids at its perimeter.
Oddly enough, this continuous
dilfusion also links together the
picture's compartments, as do
striations, a barlike shadow of
underpainting, and drips of paint
that flow across borders along a
vertical axis. The rounded edge at
the top of the painting proves not
to be an isolated instance, echoed
by the cun'es of black oval
situated at the center. Nearby are
two more rounded forms: a small
sphere, also black, and a larger
one, the color of a setting sun,
wtich exposes the rich unmuted
orange of the foundation layer. At
far left, this fiery tone is restated:
a vertical rectangle with a tiny bar
protruding perpendicularly in the
general direction of the circular
cousin that it mimics in tone but
contradicts in angularity.
An array ofbrightly colored ge-
ometric forms, their concentra-
tions on the canvas again just off
center, also characterizes .Serrea
Titulo, a work of 1985-6 measur-
ing 68 x ir8l+ inches. Here it is the
square that in its central state-
ment and subsequent variations
assumes a dominant role. First de-
fined by an area offoundation yel-
low untouched by an overlying
layer of green, lhe slrape is re-
stated by an adjoining shadow
image with margins that are only
faintly visible. Other avatars turn
up at the periphery ofthe canvas,
transformed by infusions of rich
color. These, like the shapes them-
selves, refer back to more subtie
tonal expressions at center.
Though these dualities suggest
an equilibrium, on closer studythe
"call" of one component does not
always meet with a compensating
response. A band at the foot of
the canvas stands in contrast to a
more even vertical division, and
by creating a false border also
throws out of kilter the uniformity
of the picture's margins. Squares
not quite congruent with canvas
corners fail to insist on its outer
limits. Finally, pictorial elements
somelimes fail to find their coun-
terbalance. An errant, green "X"
stands alone, unsettling the dip-
tych's vertical balance, and in its
intrusion across yellor+' bound-
aries seems to dispute the legiti-
macl' of the territory it violates,
suggesting tonal continuity rather
than division.
This is an abstraction that
yields to rigorous analysis be-
cause of the precision lr'ith which
it is constructed. One leaves the
exhibition with the impression o1'
a refined and studied art, or as
critic Luigi Meneghelli writes irr
the December 1986-January 1!)S7
edition of Fl.ash Art: "Carliot.ti's
work does not present concrele
characteristics, dcfinite evident'e:
it doesn't soy the thing, but hort'
the thing came into being . . ."
Agreed, but only to a point, It
can be argued that the evidetrt'e
of these paintings lies in the lc
lationships between elements thc
artist brings into play. Now tlrev
address one another; now a soli
tary voice encounters silence as
its answer. Often, expression atttl
counterstatement coexist in tralr
quility alongside components in
strident contradiction. The pres
ence and triumph of this art at't'
thus derived from a dualit5'ol a
still higher plane, where the c'otr-
flict of a simultaneous tralart<'t'
and disequilibrium are resolvetl itr
paradox.
The immediacy of these rvork:
deserves to be acknowledged
Meticulousness of method does
not in itself preclude expresi')l)
And one imagines and hopes that.
despite commentary to the cttlt'
trary, Luigi Carboni will have a
great deal more to sog. (,lat k
Shainman,Februarll 6-March I l)
Miehael Goodman