Times Square III 2015

Patrick Pietropoli created ‘Times Square III’ with a painterly approach to capturing the essence of an urban landscape. I see that the brushstrokes are visible, which gives us a peek into the artmaking process. There’s a real physicality to the painting. The texture isn’t super smooth, you can see the layers and strokes where Pietropoli has built up the image. Take a look at the base of the buildings – there’s this scumbled grey area, like the city’s breath or a kind of industrial fog. The greys and muted blues create a mood that is both industrial and contemplative, it is almost a kind of melancholic scene. It's a world away from the bright lights and flashy billboards you might expect from the title. This work reminds me a little of some of the early cityscapes of Mondrian, before he went totally abstract, maybe if he’d spent more time hanging out in a dockyard. But while Mondrian was interested in deconstructing the city, Pietropoli seems more interested in capturing its atmosphere.