John Varriano, American Artist

John Varriano - American Artist

We sat down with John Varriano, American Artist to get his insight and inspiration behind some of his abstract paintings. We had the pleasure of meeting the artist at his gallery space in Manhattan. The walls of this intimate environment are filled with Varriano’s works. A burst of color and movement transports one to other dimensions. There is a sense of overwhelming beauty in Varriano’s works of art. He paints in such a style, that the viewer is drawn-in to take a closer look.

Peering into the mesmerizing imagery of his painting, “The Fall of Icarus,” one can’t help feeling an overwhelming sense of emotion. Varriano shares some of the complex thoughts and creative influences that inspired this incredible work of art.

The story, told through the ages, is a cautionary tale to individuals, particularly inspired souls, not to seek extraordinary heights lest they run the risk of ruin and demise. It was something my own father cautioned me to heed. My father, who was a gifted artist, sculpture, and inventor, was well aware of the challenges artist encounter in perusing their creative impulses. Varriano’s father tried to persuade him to channel is creativity in more secure directions like architecture and engineering. Like Icarus, the artist did not heed his father’s warning.

This sublime painting offers a glimpse into the creative force that Varriano achieves in so much of his abstract work. It is a visually powerful and emotional telling of the ancient Greek myth.

Finding himself and his son Icarus imprisoned in the labyrinth of the savage bull-man Minos, Daedalus constructs wings to make an aerial escape. As they each take flight, Icarus becomes enthralled with his new ability and fails to consider his father’s warning against flying too high. The heat of the sun melts the wax securing Icarus’s wings, and he tragically plunges to his death in the sea.

Varriano presents Icarus in those fleeting moments when he has realized the cost of his ecstatic, soaring desire. John 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. We see the jagged wings being burnt away, the cold sea waiting beneath, the frozen fear that comes when things have gone too far awry.

Another Abstract Painting with Mythological Motif is Varriano’s Laocoon. Varriano’s abstract depiction of the Trojan Priest is a powerful image. John Varriano exhibits the great struggle between Laocoon and the great serpent sent by the gods to kill him and his young sons. Block-like interlocking forms present the viewer with Laocoon’s sense of anguish and the bold and ready stance to battle the forces set out to destroy him. Flowing swirls lend a deeply complex and emotional quality to the painting. And the svelte depths of surface texture lend a heroic feeling. Laocoon may have been too weak to defeat the serpent unleashed by the gods but like all heroic figures he gave all of himself to the fight.

John Varriano’s command of abstract oil painting is otherworldly. He gives his audience a masterful outpouring of explosive forms, shapes, and textures counterbalanced by stark discipline, containment and restrain. To view more of John Varriano’s works visit https://www.johnvarriano-americanartist.com/
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