Steven Parrino Retrospective Planned for Geneva Following Artist's Death

Steven Parrino died in a motorcycle accident near his Brooklyn home on January 1, 2005. The artist, whose work combined formalist painting with contemporary cultural references, will be honored with a retrospective at the Musee d'Art Moderne et Contemporain in Geneva in 2006. Parrino's career included 37 solo exhibitions since 1984, with greater recognition in Europe than in the United States. His distinctive paintings often featured black gloss paint, twisted canvases, and deliberate holes, referencing influences from Gilles Deleuze's philosophy to The Velvet Underground. Parrino also created films, drawings, and installations, including a semi-abstract homage to Kenneth Anger's "Scorpio Rising." An informal commemorative gathering is scheduled for January 20, 2005, at The Swiss Institute. His work was represented by Team gallery, and one exhibition announcement featured an image of Chloe Sevigny from the film "Gummo." A 2001 exhibition review noted unexpected parallels between Parrino's "misshaped" paintings and Bernini's sculpture "The Ecstasy of St. Teresa."