Lot 110: GUIDO MOLINARI 1933 - 2004

GUIDO MOLINARI 1933 - 2004 MUTATIONS ATHEMATIQUE VERT-OCRE signed, titled and dated 11/65 by the artist on the reverse oil on canvas 172.7 by 127.0 cm. 68 by 50 in.

James D. Campbell, Molinari: Studies, Montreal, New York, p. 24

Private Collection, Toronto

Mutation Athematique Vert-Ocre is a vibrant and iconic assemblage of stripes that are in constant mutation. It becomes impossible for the viewer to safely order the stripes in a static pattern as the colours advance and recede constantly.

James D. Campbell writes about Molinari's serial work:

A single colour literally changes its tenor as we experience different spatial relationships. The colours are, in this sense, alive. Colour, for Molinari, has always been a means of generating an autonomous space – never independent, though, from the subject immersed in and attending it – with its own weight, density and presence.

An avid student of mathematics and philosophy, Molinari rejected the notion that words, objects and art have a fixed meaning and believed that meaning is entirely dependent on the subjective interpretation of the person experiencing it at any given time. Molinari's explorations of this concept, known at the time as the Principal of Non-Identity, greatly informed his striped paintings of the 60s.

These stripes hold tight to the flatness of the canvas and one does not perceive either volume or depth. In this series of paintings, Molinari has created a striking visual experiment which generously, and surprisingly, affords the viewer a new interpretation at every glance.