A beige abyss. Hot pink solitude, suspended in time. A geometric poem, woven with threads that connect technology, memory, and abstraction. In Antonietta Grassi\u2019s work, all of these separate entities become neatly tied together in a mathematical, painterly, and thoughtful exploration of colour and light; shape and line. But within this orderly unit, there is an undertone of inner turmoil, like a system that has overheated and is in meltdown mode. In Lifelines in the Age of Anxiety<\/em>(2020), we are face-to-face with a machine that is a shell of its former self. Trapped, vibrating in infinite lockdown, it is steeped in its own obsolescence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The machine and its history are common themes in Grassi\u2019s paintings. But while acknowledging the sad fate of discarded parts, these machines are anything but disheartening. They are gloriously bright, autonomous beings that seem to be very much alive. It is not simply their form, but also the inner workings of their operating systems that speak to Grassi. Inspiration comes from women mathematicians and computer scientists like Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper. The Jacquard loom, one of the earliest computer systems, also makes its way into Grassi\u2019s practice. Not only do many of her machines resemble its form, but it also provides a link to her roots. Grassi\u2019s mother and aunts worked in the garment industry, and she herself worked as a textile designer. The recurrent threads in her paintings seem to hold these influences and memories together at the seams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Antonietta Grassi\u2019s use of colour and the grid speak to the works of women artists from the canon of twentieth- century modernist abstraction \u2014 another coding system in its own right: Helen Frankenthaler and Agnes Martin can be glimpsed underneath the multicoloured horizontal lines. Like Eva Hesse, she adds her own personal touch to a seemingly impersonal subject by imbuing the machine with life and feeling. Her approach to painting is both intuitive and intentional, charged with memory, but also mathematically and technically precise. And there is always an expression of hope and connection, despite the age in which we happen to find ourselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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