Round Plants Exp16 2017

Alfio Giuffrida’s ‘Round Plants Exp16’ is a painting composed with flat colour in hard edge forms. It embraces the idea of artmaking as a visual laboratory, a space for experimentation. Giuffrida lays down shapes and lines in yellows, blues, greens and creams which are both abstract yet somehow familiar. There is a back and forth, like a dance, as our eye is drawn to the blue semi-circular forms that hold the composition together. The paint is applied thinly and evenly, with no visible brushstrokes. The surface is smooth and uniform, which adds to the sense of detachment and objectivity. The effect is a world of pure, unadulterated form. The various shapes are arranged in a way that suggests a hidden order, a logic that is just beyond our grasp. It reminds me a little of the work of Mary Heilmann, in the way it combines abstraction with a playful, almost childlike sensibility. But where Heilmann's work is often messy and improvisational, Giuffrida's is more precise and controlled. Ultimately, this is a painting that resists easy interpretation.