“Working Pattern”
Gianna Commito
Pentimenti
May 23 - July 19, 2025
Pentimenti is proud to present Working Pattern, Gianna Commito’s first solo exhibition at the gallery.
In everyday life, the ubiquity of stripes on objects, clothing, or signage serves various functions: they warn, adorn, and direct us. They are, in essence, a constant working pattern. In Gianna Commito’s work, stripes become underlying structures, forming a foundation upon which compositions are built. Influenced by architecture and building materials, her practice explores the tension between public and private spaces, and the evolution and disintegration of the built environment.
Commito orchestrates intersecting fields of color, setting them in dynamic contrast with gestures formed by looping shadows, twisting brushstrokes, and pointillist dabs. Her works on paper and paintings are created with casein, a milk-based medium used since ancient times to decorate wood surfaces, applied to paper or wood panels primed with a traditional ground of marble dust and hide glue. Casein’s quick-drying and sometimes erratic behavior encourages spontaneity, allowing Gianna to engage in a tactile, layered process that fosters immediacy and physical connection with the work.
