Pittura GR 1979

This is Pino Pinelli’s "Pittura GR", and what strikes me is the deliberate simplicity – it’s like he’s daring you to find something interesting in just a few strokes. Pinelli seems to revel in the physicality of paint; you can see the texture, the way the pigment sits on the surface. In this piece, the brushstrokes are really visible – you can almost feel the artist’s hand moving across the surface, each gesture leaving its mark. Look at the way each T ascends from the surface, almost like a deconstructed alphabet on the verge of spelling something out. It reminds me a little of Agnes Martin, but where she goes for ethereal and subtle, Pinelli is more grounded, more about the process of making. He's showing you how paintings come to be, one mark at a time, embracing the beauty of the imperfect.