Paul Yanko

Paul Yanko’s work reflects a desire to reconcile formal painterly concerns with process-derived imagery.  He remains equally influenced by emblems of Modernist geometric abstraction, such as the stripe and triangle, in addition to the characteristically intense, saturated hues found in commercial sign painting and toy construction sets.

Mr. Yanko develops his paintings systematically through an additive process of layering paint mixed with various mediums onto masked areas of either a canvas or panel support. He applies paint in increasingly heavy films using a palette knife, gradually allowing tactile qualities to develop as he registers progressively smaller shapes over larger forms. The resulting imagery of his compositions evolves from a matrix of vertical, horizontal, and curvilinear bands.