Ekphrasis

For a number of years, spanning from the mid 1990's through the mid 2000's, John Varriano walked the streets of New York with a sketchpad in hand.  His usual method was to take the subway to a particular neighborhood, exit there, and then explore. While on his way to any given location, he had the opportunity to closely study the subway system as well, of which he did numerous sketches and subsequent paintings.

He became enthusiastic about a kind of mental gymnastics in which he would try to memorize moving objects such as people and cars, and then sketch them down as quickly as possible. He would then take these drawings back to his studio from which he would make paintings. He executed these oil paintings in muted tones and varying shades of grey, and came to refer to them as “My Ghosts." 

Varriano came to realize that these paintings have a wonderful aesthetic

quality in their own right, and began to develop a new style using this technique. He would give these works arbitrary names based on the feeling that the image would evoke.

This piece, inspired by Manhattan’s Lower East Side, with its many Schools and Universities, he named “The Professor."

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