Tai Chi

joseph piccillo’s "Tai Chi" is a wonderfully gestural Abstract Expressionist painting that achieves an enticing balance between color and neutral space and action and restraint. I can't quite tell where the palette knife comes into play (perhaps in gauges to the thick impasto?), but piccillo seems to primarily employ the drip and splatter method favored by Jackson Pollack. The forms appear to have exploded onto the canvas instead of being applied with careful brushstrokes. It is inherently improvisational and frenetic; dashes and drips of paint overlay a center that recalls Sam Francis’s early work. Had piccillo not restrained his mark-making to the center or indulged in a kaleidoscopic color scheme, the painting would be overcrowded and overwhelm the viewer. Instead, he maintains a harmonious and unobtrusive palette that draws the viewer in and brings the action of the splatters to life.