Painting as a Butterfly is a continuation of Calzolari’s decades-long poetic fascination with the alchemical. He is seen here growing more transfixed with the narratives embodied by the elements of the natural world; flowers, rain, and celestial bodies are both material and content, like words forming a haiku. While the artist continues to incorporate sculptural elements made of organic matter such as salt, feathers, clover petals, and seashells, it is his striking new use of raw pigment powders and tempera in startlingly saturated colors that imbue these new paintings with an exuberance both radiant and sensorial. The luminous canvases include fields of intense primary yellows, reds, blues, and whites with varying surfaces and textures that call to mind nature in the form of sunlight, fire, and a night sky, making this exhibition a meditation on the transience and delicate beauty of everyday life.
Marianne Boesky Gallery
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