Entering the studio of John Varriano, American Artist, one finds oneself reverently impressed with the sublime contrasts in his abstract works. Some paintings, like “Red Square,” have a decidedly geometric and linear aspect.  Not surprisingly, since Varriano possess an affinity for higher mathematics and physics.  Unexpectedly though, in “Red Square” it is not the shapes that take up space, it is the color. In this painting, one finds Varriano has substituted color for gravity, granting one a transcendental experience where art and science align. We are not quite sure if the objects are moving or pulsating, whether they belong to this reality or another.  Varriano calls this style of painting, Abstract Structuralism, one of the many forms of abstract art that he has created during his prolific career as an artist.  In viewing "Red Square,"  I am reminded of the 19^th century novel, Flatland, by Edwin Abbott Abbot and I desire to know if these forms are aware of their existence. Varriano’s paintings seem to intentionally arouse these types of fantastic ruminations. 

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Representing a different type of artistic achievement than his sharply constructed dimensionalities is “Catharsis,” a free-wielding explosion of artistic force which highlights Varriano’s mastery of abstract expressionism.   In its creation, Varriano attacked the canvas, applying paint with a mixture of brushes, palette knives, and diverse tools to achieve a unique expression. The work required an intense measure of physical endurance, mental concentration, and emotional energy. 

Among others, there is Varriano’s “Abstract Crystalism” a style he defines as the faceting, dissecting, and restructuring of form and space with the flattening of shifting perspective and the use of brilliant color.  The Crystalism paintings pop with extraordinary vibrancy and motility.  I find myself marveling at all his makings as my eye comes to rest on “Fall of Icarus,” a powerful and evocative telling of the mythological story in abstract terms.

Fall of Icarus, stands at 30 inches by 36 inches and is one of Varriano’s earlier paintings completed in 1999. Mythological motifs have occupied a substantial part of Varriano’s work from the onset of his career to the present, and represent some of his most profound and powerful images.  As he prepares for an upcoming exhibition which will feature a number of his new mythological themes, it is fitting for us to examine the first fruits of this labor, a study that includes the man as well as his art.

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Enamored with heroic and mythological motifs since childhood, Varriano has had a long and intimate relationship with their deeper meanings and nuances.  The stories and symbols that bubble up from the unconscious and are part of humanity's shared heritage appear to Varriano in what can only be termed, visionary form.  For Varriano, what is particularly enthralling about myths are their ability to speak and direct us toward higher, loftier truths.  “Each time we turn to them, they reveal something new, which can never be completely discerned or exhausted.”  Like many ancient stories, Icarus’s fall resonates deeply with the artist, and its creation coincided with a period of severe and intense inner struggle. One Varriano describes as “A soul yearning to fulfill its destiny and finding itself burned in the process.” From one observation, the fall should not have happened. From another, it was inevitable. 

Varriano presents Icarus in those fleeting moments when he realizes the cost of his ecstatic, soaring desire. Having flown too close to the sun, the wings fashioned by his father, Daedalus begin to burn. Varriano uses a fiery palette of crisp oranges, reds, and icy steel blues to bring the ferity of the sun and the emotional state of Icarus sharply into focus.  At first glance, there appears little that is human in Varriano’s depiction.  Completely rendered in abstraction, Varriano has chosen to give us an external portrayal of Icarus’s inner turmoil.   We see, what may be depicted as an eye, in the center of the head.  Why one eye, we may wonder? As we quietly muse over the question, Varriano gently guides us to an answer we have intuitively perceived…. “When we are in extreme distress, do we not become singularly focused, and do we not begin to see with penetrating perception?”   The answer is straightforward, literal, and excellently fashioned.  This is part of Varriano’s mastery, the ability to reveal things explicitly as well as implicitly. We are drawn in and captivated by layer after layer of artistic expression.   

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Moving our sight down the center of the canvas, we encounter what we can assume to be the body, puffed up and slightly rounded, as though bursting with innumerable, uncontrollable feelings. Varriano awakens our emotional understanding through shape, color and movement. The wings that once stood as a symbol for Icarus’s freedom have become his downfall and are now jagged and ravished by the flames. They too, seem to cry out in anguish.  Then there is the sea: dark blue and green, ominous and violent in mood and texture but also mysterious and undoubtedly deep. For millennia the fall of Icarus has been a cautionary tale about flying too high and being cast down by our folly. Varriano has thoughtfully and provocatively conveyed this idea but one can also recognize a subtle intimation that the painting communicates something more. Varriano’s abstract paintings require time to contemplate and an opening of the mind if we are to experience their rich, layered meanings and the mastery of the artist. 

According to the Greek myth, Icarus’s father, Daedalus built the paradigmatic labyrinth for King Minos of Crete to secure the man-bull Minotaur begotten by his wife Pasiphae.  Initially pleased by the craftsman’s work, at a later date Minos becomes angry with Daedalus’s and decides to imprison him and his son in the maze. Possessing an ingenious mind, Daedalus creates two pairs of wings for him and his son to escape and fly to the island of Sicily.  He cautions Icarus not to fly too high lest he be burnt by the sun nor too low lest the sea water dampen and weigh down his wings.   Overcome with enthusiasm and exaltation in stature, Icarus accidentally flies too high and close to the sun. With this general outline of the story let us return our attention to the palette Varriano used in this painting.  We find deep, somber reds melding into vivid, vibrant, oranges, which in turn transform into silvery blues, and finally iridescent whites.  With his choice and application of color, Varriano presents us with the transmutation of fire: as it burns hotter it becomes brighter, altering its qualities in progressive stages from red to white.  In the script of the ancient world, this type of transformation is an alchemical process whereby the baser characteristics of an individual are purified and the soul is elevated to new heights and greater understanding. 

If we look to the upper left portion of the canvas, we encounter a sky that is dark and filled with smoke. Interestingly, on the right, the sky is opalescent, so much so that we might imagine a benevolent voice speaking to us through the parting clouds.  While the story of Icarus is one regarding the cost of overzealous ambition, the warning not fly to low is equally perilous.  In its most literal interpretation, the myth is meant to remind us to maintain balance. But! And this bears a very resounding exclamation mark for Varriano, “Anyone who has sought higher heights knows that balance is not easily achieved nor maintained. “ Punishment from the gods, in the form of pain and loss, are often part of the path we tread.  However, who the gods punish, they may also redeem. 

All people who have stretched out their hand toward a higher aim have, in their turn, faced the trials of fire in one form or another.  Like our tragic hero Icarus, there is often great suffering associated with our rising. However, through that suffering, there is a possibility of future redemption.  This is the imparting idea Varriano subtly communicates through the transformation of fire, and partially luminous sky.   He is telling our hero, and us, to hold on. There is a second act.  The story of Icarus does not end with his burning, for out of the ashes a phoenix may be born. The painting stands as a reminder to arise from adversity and transfigure life’s challenges into the illuminating fire of courage and creativity. 

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Fall of Icarus, by John Varriano

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