Untitled 7.1.25

Bryan Ricci

40″ x 32″

Raw Pigment, Polymer Emulsion and Dyed Linen on Canvas

In Untitled 7.1.25, Bryan Ricci presents a layered abstraction that moves between structure and release. Dense clusters of thick, block-like marks float across the surface, forming rhythmic constellations of yellows, blues, greens, corals, and whites. These gestures are anchored by vertical passages of color that drip, blur, and recede. The composition feels simultaneously grounded and in motion, as though color itself is passing through multiple states of energy.

Central to Ricci’s practice is his material process. He creates his own paint from raw pigments, a choice that gives the surface a distinctive depth and physicality. The colors appear saturated and earthy, carrying a tactile presence that resists uniformity. Each mark holds subtle variation in density and opacity, revealing the artist’s hand and reinforcing the painting’s sense of lived time. This process-driven approach allows color to behave as both substance and signal, contributing to the painting’s internal rhythm.

Untitled 7.1.25 situates Ricci within a lineage of postwar abstraction that values material intelligence and repetition. The work recalls the gestural density of Joan Mitchell and the chromatic urgency of Willem de Kooning, while also engaging with the process-oriented concerns of postminimalist painters who emphasized labor, layering, and accumulation. Ricci’s structured yet intuitive mark-making bridges expression and control, aligning painterly impulse with compositional restraint.

Presented as part of Mash Gallery’s group exhibition Rhythmic Contours, the painting expands the exhibition’s exploration of rhythm through color, texture, and repetition. Here, rhythm emerges through the build-up of marks and the push and pull between vertical flow and clustered gesture. The surface reveals shifting relationships as light interacts with the varied thickness of pigment. Untitled 7.1.25 stands as a testament to the expressive potential of color shaped by hand, time, and intention.