Steven Parrino
(Born 1958; Died 2005)
Steven Parrino was born in New York in 1958. He received his BFA in 1982 from Parsons School of Design, New York. In the late seventies, he began attacking, slashing, tearing, and twisting the canvas, disrupting the traditional Greenbergian celebration of flatness. With an uncompromisingly nihilist attitude, Parrino in many ways mirrored the rebellions of the American punk music scene and subcultures, translating that chaotic spirit in his work. Despite the embrace of chaos, his keen awareness and understanding of modernism, semiotics, and the theoretical texts of minimalists such as Donald Judd and Frank Stella, awoke the possibilities of painting as an object or a real fact. Parrino’s multifarious interests – comic books, hot rods, noise music – are brought together in his practice and oeuvre. Parrino tragically died at the age of 46 in a motorcycle accident in January 2005.
Parrino’s work has been exhibited in museums and exhibitions worldwide: Power Station, Dallas TX, 2017; Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland, 2009; Palais de Tokyo, Paris, 2007; Gagosian Gallery, New York, 2007; Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, 2006; Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva, 2005–07; PS1 Contemporary Art Center, New York, 2005; Museum für Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany, 2005; Le Consortium, Dijon, France, 2004; Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, 2003; Massimo De Carlo Arte Contemporanea, Milan, 2003; Nuremberg Museum, Germany, 2002; Swiss Institute, New York, 2002; Contemporanea, Milan, 2001; Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany, 2000; Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, Switzerland, 2000.
EDUCATION
1982 BFA | Parson’s School of Design, New York
1979 AAS | SUNY Farmingdale, New York
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019
Steven Parrino: Paintings & Drawings 1986 - 2003, Skarstedt, New York
2017
Steven Parrino: Dancing On Graves, The Power Station, Dallas, TX
2013
Steven Parrino: Armleder, Barré, Buren, Hantaï, Mosset, Parmentier, Toroni, Gagosian Paris, France
2009
Born to Be Wild: Hommage an Steven Parrino, Kunstmuseum St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland
2008
Steven Parrino, Art & Public–Cabinet PH, Geneva, Switzerland
2007
Steven Parrino, Gagosian Gallery, Madison Avenue, New York
Steven Parrino (curated by Marc-Olivier Wahler), Palais De Tokyo, Paris, France
2005
Steven Parrino: A Retrospective (curated by Fabrice Stroun), Musée d’Art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland
2004
Plan 9, Team Gallery, New York
2003
Massimo DeCarlo Arte Contemporanea, Milano Galerie Jean Brolly, Paris, France
2002
Steven Parrino: Videos 1979-Present, Circuit, Lausanne, Switzerland
Exit/Dark Matter FriArt, Fribourg, Switzerland
2001
Exit/Dark Matter, Grazer Kunstverein, Graz, Austria
Team Gallery, New York
2000
Sicilian Fresco Number One, Massimo DeCarlo Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
The Box, Torino, Italy
Galerie Rolf Ricke, Cologne, Germany
1999
Team Gallery, New York
Elizabeth Cherry Gallery, Tucson, AZ
It, Le Box, Bourges, France
1998
Can. Neuchatel, Switzerland
1997
Team Gallery, New York
1996
Kunstlerhaus Palais Thurn und Taxis Gartnerhaus, Bregenz, Austria
1995
Misfits, Tre Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden
Amphetamine Monster Mill, Art & Public, Geneva, Switzerland
De(Forming), Galerie Rolf Ricke, Cologne, Germany
Massimo DeCarlo Arte Contemporanea, Milan
Kees Van Gelder Gallery, Amsterdam
1994
Win Van Der Abbeele Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium
John Gibson Gallery, New York
1993
Galerie Rolf Ricke, Cologne, Germany
Art & Public, Geneva, Switzerland
Kees Van Gelder Gallery, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
1992
L'Usine, Dijon, France
Galerie Sylvana Lorenz, Paris, France
Massimo DeCarlo Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
1991
Galerie Arnaud Lefebvre, Paris, France
Daniel Newburg Gallery, New York
1990
Galerie Rolf Ricke, Cologne, Germany
Massimo DeCarlo Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
1989
Metro Pictures, New York
1988
Galerie Sylvana Lorenz, Paris, France
Massimo DeCarlo Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
1987
Holes and Slots, Nature Morte Gallery, New York
1984
Nature Morte Gallery, New York
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2019
Inaugural Exhibition, Skarstedt 64th Street, New York
2018
Brand New: Art and Commodity in the 1980s, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
2017
Free the Women, FRAC Bourgogne, Dijon, France
2015
Prototypology: An Index of Process and Mutation, Gagosian, Rome, Italy
Ce fabuleux monde moderne, MAC Lyon, Lyon, France
Chromophobia, Gagosian, Geneva, Switzerland
2013
Endless Bummer II / Still Bummin’, Marlborough Chelsea, New York
2007
Steven Parrino, Peter Halley, John Mc Cracken, Paul Morrison, Art & Public, Geneva, Switzerland
Painting as Fact, Fact as Fiction (curated by Bob Nickas), de Pury & Luxembourg, Zurich
2006
Cosmic Wonder (curated by Betty Nyugen), Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Black & Blue: Steven Parrino & Yves Klein, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, NY
2005
The Painted World (curated by Bob Nickas), P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City, NY
What's New Pussycat (curated by Udo Kitelman), Museum of Modern Art, Frankfurt, Germany
La Piste Noire (curated by Marc-Olivier Wahler), Galerie Loevenbruck, Paris, France
2004
None of the Above (curated by John Armleder), Swiss Institute, New York
Following and to be followed, Le Consortium, Dijon, France
Aux frontieres du degre zero. Magasin, Grenoble, France
100 Mona Lisa valient mieux qu’une, Espace Paul Ricard, Paris, France
Steven Parrino and John McCracken, Massimo DeCarlo Arte Contemporanea, Milano, Italy
Before the end, Le Consortium, Dijon, France
Global world/ Private universe, Kunstmuseum, St. Gallen, Switzerland
2003
Eugene Binder Gallery, Marfa, TX
The Lyon Biennale, Lyon, France
In Conversation, University Art Museum, Brisbane, Australia.
The Melvins (curated by Bob Nickas), Anton Kern Gallery, New York
Vom Horror der Kunst, Grazerkunstverein, Graz, Austria
Perpetuum Mobile, Galerie Rolf Ricke, Cologne, Germany
Following and to be followed...one more time, L’Usine, Dijon, France
We Love Painting — American Contemporary Art from the Misumi Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
Transnational Monster League (curated by Banks Violette), Derek Eller Gallery, New York
2002
Black Bonds: Jutta Koether and Steven Parrino, The Swiss Institute, New York
The Rolf Ricke Collection, Nuremberg Museum, Nuremberg, Germany
From the Observatory (curated by Bob Nickas). Paula Cooper Gallery, New York
Olivier Mosset and Steven Parrino, Filles du Calvaire, Paris, France
2001
The End of All Things, Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
Vivid, Richard Salmon Gallery, London, England
Here and Now, Galeria Sztuki Wspolczesnej Zacheta, Warsaw, Poland
How is everything? Everything's going to be...alright, Elizabeth Cherry Gallery, Tucson, AZ
2000
Gegen Den Strich, Ludwig Museum, Cologne, Germany
Endgames, Kunstmuseum, St. Gallen, Switzerland
Punk and Bloat, Molloy College, Rockville, NY
Painting Function: Making it Real (curated by Saul Ostrow). Spaces, Cleveland, OH
Hex Enduction Hour by the Fall (curated by Bob Nickas), Team Gallery, New York
1999
efny99, Tomio Koyama Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Das XX Century: A Century of Art in Germany, Altes Museum, Neue National Galerie Hamburger-Banhof Kulturforum, Berlin, Germany
Following and to be Followed, L'Usine, Dijon, France
Tang, Turner & Runyon, Dallas, TX
30th Anniversary of Rolf Ricke Galerie, Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany
Tam Ochiai and Steven Parrino, Team Gallery, New York
1998
Dijon/Le Consortium: coll tout centre l'art Contemporain, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France
1997
Ca-ca poo-poo, Kölnischer Kustverein, Cologne, Germany
Wetterleuchten, Galerie Evelyne Canus, Nice, France
Irredeemable Skeletons, Shillam & Smith 3, London, England
504, Centrum fur Kunst, Medien und Design, Braunschweig, Germany
1996
Romantic, Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichschafen, Germany
a/drift: scenes from the penetrable culture (curated by Joshua Decter), Center for Curatorial Studies Museum, Bard College, New York
The Speed of Painting, Pat Hearn Gallery, New York
Art & Public, Geneva, Switzerland
Calm Water/Distressed Fields, Artsplace, Nova Scotia, Canada
The Most Important Thing in the World, Oasis vs Blur and Artists Who Rock (curated by Bill Arning), Galerie Rolf Ricke, Cologne, Germany
Trois Collections D’Artistes, Musee des Beaux-Arts, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
1995
Pittura Immedia, Graz, Austria
Estate 1995, Massimo DeCarlo Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy
Smells Like Vinyl, Roger Merians, New York
1107, John Gibson Gallery, New York
Material Abuse, Trans-Art, Jersey City, NJ
Altered States, Forum, St. Louis, MO
Here, New York City, The Joy of Painting (curated by Alix Lambert and Ami Arnault), Neurenberg Museum, Germany
1994
Object, le Materiau de L’Oevre, Villa Du Park, Geneva, Switzerland
Drawings & Drawings, Kees Van Gelder Gallery, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Adieu, Les Frontieres!, Bob Van Orsouw Gallery, Zurich, Switzerland
Dysfunction USA (curated by Peter Halley and Bob Nickas), Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Punishment and Decoration, Höhenthal und Bergen, Cologne, Germany
The Use of Pleasure, Terrain Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1993
Galerie Jousse-Seguin, Paris
Panorama, Galerie Martina Detterer, Frankfurt, Germany
SUPERVISION, Raume Fur neue Kunst, Wuppertal, Germany
L'Usine, Dijon, France
Galerie Martina Detterer, Frankfurt, Germany
FURKART 1993, Furkapasshohe, Switzerland
Chateau d’Oiron, France
Ecart, Galerie Susanna Kulli, St. Gallen, France
A Grand Tour, Swiss Institute, New York
The Nightshade Family (curated by Damien Hirst), Museum Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany
Prospect, Frankfurt, Germany
Live in Your Head, Heiligenkneuzerhof, Vienna, Austria
American Fine Arts Company, Colin De Land Fine Art, New York
1992
And What Do You Represent?, Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London
1968, Le Consortium, Dijon, France
Dumb Painting, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Netherlands
Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Mele Chaud ou La Collection en Poche, Galerie Arnaud Lefebvre, Paris, France
Paintings & Paintings, Gallerie Kees Van Gelder, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Kinder! macht Neues!, Galerie Rolf Ricke, Cologne, Germany
Steven Parrino with Blair Thurman, Speedway Gallery, Boston, MA
Works-Concepts-Processes-Situations-Information, Galerie 1900-2000, Paris
American Art Today: Surface Tension, Art Museum at Florida International University, Miami, FL
Stones of Power, Gallerie Kees Van Gelder, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1991
Home for June, Home for Contemporary Art, New York
Le Consortium Collectionne, Chateau d’Oiron, Oiron, France
Histoires d’Oeil, Museum of Contemporary Art, Lyon, France
The Painted Desert, Galerie Renos Xippas, Paris
Galerie Kees Van Gelder, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Daniel Newburg Gallery, New York
Valses Nobles et Sentimentales, Ancienne Douane, Musee de la Ville de Strasbourg, France
1990
Collaborations, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York
Recent Acquisitions, Musee de Nimes, France
Red, Galerie Isy Brachot, Bruxelles, France
Information, Terrain Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Steven Parrino with Olivier Mosset, Galerie Pierre Huber, Geneva, Switzerland
1989
Amerikarma, Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY
Le Consortium, Dijon, France
Daniel Newburg Gallery, New York
Gallery 1709, St. Louis, MO