Our fourth ‘@ Home series’ post is just on cue with Gallery Weekend Berlin, and we are super happy and thankful to share an insight into Scott Miller and Tina Ruggieri’s collection with a work by Bernard Piffaretti that they have acquired from the gallery.

Bernard Piffaretti, Sans titre, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 170×170 cm | 67×67 in.
Installed at Scott Miller and Tina Ruggieri’s house in Birmingham, AL.

„Bernard Piffaretti’s painting run counter to any unity of style while simultaneously pursuing a consistent artistic strategy (…)“

Bernard Piffaretti, Sans titre, 2018, acrylic on canvas, 170×170 cm | 67×67 in.

(…) In 1986, Piffaretti made the decision to divide each of his canvases into halves with a narrow strip of paint. On one side, he develops an abstract composition with rapid strokes, alla prima, often in high-contrast color. Once complete, he executes the same motif, with precision and in a light hand, on the other half. Thus, a double with minimal differences—varying drip traces, for example, or a slightly divergent line—emerges. Piffaretti sometimes begins an image on the right side, at other times on the left; the viewer is left unsure which half is the original and which is the copy. Such strategic play results in self-plagiarism, as interesting synoptic juxtapositions and distinct dynamics and rhythms exceeding the original motif unfold. (…)