RJ Messineo

RJ Messineo makes paintings involving observation and abstraction. Concerned with experiences living in and moving through public and interior spaces, the works implicate the body and reference landscape, the street, windows, beds, and blankets. Messineo engages a wide, and sometimes incongruous range of scale relationships, mark-making, and compositional structures to make the paintings, from expressionist gesture, to process-based systems and chance encounters. Many of the large paintings incorporate sheets of plywood adhered to the surface of the canvas, often extending beyond the rectangular picture plane to create idiosyncratic shapes. The rigid elements allow Messineo to push the application and texture of the oil paint – thick, impasto sections are scraped onto the surface or carved into, scribbling marks fade into shifting moments of washy, brushed-on color.

RJ Messineo (b. 1980, West Hartford, CT) currently lives and works in Greenfield, MA. The artist received an MFA from the University of California, Los Angeles (2009), and a BFA from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY (2002). Messineo has been included in exhibitions at CANADA, New York, NY; James Cohan Gallery, New York, NY; Ceysson et Benetiere, Koerich, Luxembourg; and Artist Curated Projects, Redling Fine Art, REDCAT Gallery, all in Los Angeles, CA. Messineo is a Shandaken: Paint School Fellow, and also completed the Fire Island Artist Residency in 2014. Messineo’s work is included in the Dallas Museum of Art’s permanent collection.

Artworks

Rj Messineo
4:00 Universe, 2020
Oil and wood on canvas
96 x 230 inches
(243.8 x 584.2 cm)
Courtesy of Morán Morán

Rj Messineo
Untitled (note), 2020
Oil on canvas
78 x 50 inches
(198.1 x 127 cm)

Rj Messineo
Untitled (Fugue), 2022
Oil on canvas and wood with magnets
97 x 65 inches, 4 parts, each 97 x 16 inches
(246.4 x 165.1 cm, 4 parts, each 246.4 x 41.27 cm)

Rj Messineo
Untitled (piano), 2020
Oil on panel
20 x 16 inches
(50.8 x 40.6 cm)

RJ Messineo
Ever Ever Ever Green Song, 2021
Oil, wood, and magnets on canvas
62 x 40 inches
(157.5 x 101.6 cm)
Courtesy of Morán Morán

RJ Messineo
Blue and Yellow and Leaves and Sunshine, 2019
Oil and wood on canvas
85 3/4 x 65 inches
(217.8 x 165.1 cm)
Courtesy of Morán Morán

RJ Messineo
Lover Self Love (For HH), 2019
Oil and wood on canvas
96 x 69 inches
(243.8 x 175.3 cm)
Courtesy of Morán Morán

RJ Messineo
Counterpositions, 2019
Oil and wood on canvas
96 × 69 inches
(244 × 175.5 cm)
Photograph by Joe DeNardo

RJ Messineo
Untitled, 2019
Oil and wood on canvas
85 × 65 inches
(216 × 165 cm)
Photograph by Joe DeNardo

RJ Messineo
Bed (For Louise), 2019
Oil and wood on canvas
76 × 54 inches
(193 × 137 cm)
Photograph by Joe DeNardo

RJ Messineo
Bracket / Dog Bed Blue / I Want to Live in the Country, 2019
Oil and wood on canvas
85 × 65 inches
(216 × 165 cm)
Photograph by Joe DeNardo