January Issue 2002
Sassafras Southern Bistro in Greenville, SC, Features Works by Christopher Rico
Newly arrived to the Upstate, former Memphis artist Christopher Rico debuts his unique form of painting currently on view in an exhibition entitled, Road Sketchbook: North America, June 2000-July 2001, at Sassafras Southern Bistro in Greenville, SC. The 14 works selected for the show represent a sampling of a larger collection, which Rico said was inspired by his cross-country year of travels in America.
Rico's painting style is a form of oxidation or patina techniques applied to metal, and his primary medium is sheet copper. Applying various forms of media onto the surface, such as sawdust, or soil, Rico then applies chemical mixtures with spray bottles to elicit color from the metal. Additionally, he works the surfaces with hammers, "painting with impact" as he puts it. The result is a composition within a composition, the blending of force and pigment.
Rico has exhibited in Tennessee, Texas, and most recently Seattle, WA. He usually works on an enormous scale, with canvasses reaching up to 8' x 12', and relies primarily on corporate commissions. The works in this exhibition are smaller, intimate pieces: each one is 17" square, and without the corporate price tag.
He and his partner now call Laurens county home, where she is a newly appointed professor at Presbyterian College in Clinton, SC.
For additional information check our SC Commercial
Gallery listings, call 864/833-5717 or on the web at (http://freakengine.com/rico).
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