VINCENT GIARRANO
City Scenes
On October 4, Susan Powell Fine Art will debut City Scenes, a new solo show for painter Vincent Giarrano, who’s fascinated by views of crowded sidewalks and streets and wonderfully decorated interiors within large cities, especially in New York City.
For Giarrano’s latest show, he will be offering new textures and fresh perspectives on the city that he loves. “I’m continuing to explore my fascination with subjects in New York City. I love the character and dynamic of life there,” he says. “My focus on painting contemporary women in the city is also a big part of this show.”
City Scenes will feature more than 30 paintings, each one a testament to the energy and electricity of big cities, especially to how fashion, design, architecture and a variety of textures all play off of and into one another, from block to block and building to building. In all of the pieces, the figures’ clothing reveals another dimension to the paintings.
“Staging and what my subjects wear is very important. It
takes quite a bit of work to have my scenes look like a sincere, real moment in life…Clothing is big for me. I’ve always had a fascination for how people use clothing to express themselves or define themselves. I love when I find someone who is creative with what they wear. I guess that’s one of the things I like best about young people in the city. They’re bold about doing things in a new way. The city is very much about change. It’s always evolving and transforming. Young people are a big part of that. I love how they come to the city and bring new ideas, and work at making it their own,” Giarrano says, adding that he savors each painting he works on. “I only work on one painting at a time. I like being fully focused on a piece. I also do many studies to figure things out. I find the more I do in preparation, the stronger a painting becomes. I never rush into paining something. Planning a piece is key for me.”
As far as Giarrano’s painting technique goes, how he applies paint and forms his compositions is an ongoing learning process. “I feel my work is continually evolving. It’s an essential part of being a painter, I think. You need to challenge yourself and experiment. It’s great for finding new ideas and techniques. I feel my work is getting stronger all the time,” he says. “I’d say my work is becoming progressively more painterly. I still like a high level of realism at a distance, but then also a painterly quality when you see my work up close.”