Ekphrasis

In this painting, John Varriano elevates the mundane to the realm of art and demonstrates how to find beauty and meaning in the ordinary. Just as he portrays the people rising up the subway stairs, he also provides the rise of an inherent philosophical and metaphorical meaning as well.

The upward lift of the figures is so strong that the viewer feels as though they are right there going up with everyone else. The painting does not give the feeling of Eagles rising to the Heavens, but more the feel of weary souls leaving the Earthly realm for a kind of Purgatory. It is cold and the sky is grey, yet there is hope and the dream of better days to come. As a result, the Artist subtly evokes the unconscious feelings of many people going to work or engaging in their daily chores.

There is a stoicism in all of this. The colors are greyed down and there is a strong contrast in tone between the dark of the hole from which the people emerge, and the harsh, cold light of the winter sky. The viewer sees everything from behind and yet is propelled forward and upward. There is only one person to the far left of the painting who is descending the stairs, and thus we see only one face. That face is not smiling.

For those who have the pleasurable experience of riding to work on public transportation, and especially in New York City, I would raise the challenge of actually looking at your fellow riders and see how many

smiling faces that you see. I would venture to say very few. In that one face, Varriano captures that whole feeling, sometimes, “Less is more."

Yet the overall composition is bold, majestic and dare I say, ... Beautiful. That is the magic and transcendent quality in this fine work.

Details