Chelsea 2014

This cityscape, Chelsea, by Patrick Pietropoli uses monochromatic shades to build an urban vista. The layering of tones creates a sense of depth that dissolves as you look at it, a feeling I understand so well as a painter. The canvas has these gorgeous neutral colors, almost like looking through an old photograph. You see the texture of the paint, thick in some spots, thinner in others, especially in the skyline where Pietropoli almost etches the details of the buildings with a dry brush. It's a dance between representation and abstraction, and there's a real beauty in that tension. The lower part of the painting, maybe the river, has a soft quality like a wash, grounding the picture and setting off the busy architectural details above. I think of Giorgio Morandi when looking at this piece, another artist who built a career out of looking closely, building up a signature through color and repetition. Like Morandi, Pietropoli reminds us that art is a process of seeing and feeling, more than just rendering.