Composition M-234

An Abstract Expressionist and member of the New York School of the 1950s and ’60s, Sal Sirugo uncharacteristically discarded both the use of color and oil paint in his semi-abstractions, evoking landscapes, celestial bodies, and figures. Working only with black and white casein, spray paint, and black ink, he focused entirely on form and gesture, working in a layering process that yielded suggestions figures or recognizable natural objects. Influenced by Eastern art, Sirugo also experimented with Chinese ink, creating calligraphic paintings that were at once portraits and suggestive of figuration.

Sicily, Italy