Inspirational Jam

EXHIBITION STATEMENT
In Inspirational Jam, Carl Ristaino captures the kinetic energy and soulful spontaneity of jazz music and culture through bold acrylic paintings that pulse with rhythm and life. His canvases become stages where musicians lean into their instruments, vocalists throw their heads back in ecstatic song, and the audience communes over the pleasure of spontaneous creativity.

Ristaino's figurative work revels in the both intimate and public rituals of jazz culture: the persona of the musician in the spotlight and the conversations that happen between the notes. His paintings don't just document performance; they are improvisations themselves. Working in acrylics, Ristaino builds layers of bold color that captures the transcendence of live music.

His figures emerge from or create vibrant, sometimes chaotic backgrounds. Each painting is an invitation to feel the heat of the room, hear the phantom melodies, and remember that jazz, at its core, is about human connection: vibrant, beautiful, and alive.

Ristaino’s Ancient Cities take us to unknown, and yet familiar, places. He combines castles and pirate ships with UFO’s and ancient pyramids to build a world of pure creativity. Each Ancient City invites the viewer to imagine a new story and to look closely at the canvas, and within themselves, to discover new corners of imagination.

This exhibition is about a jam, a flow, improvisational music, jazz, and imagination. We invite you to improvise the characters' lives and backstory, and to tell the story of the scenes depicted.

ARTIST BIO
Carl Ristaino is an Artist currently residing in Hopkinton, MA. He has been working on art and cartoons from a very young age. In high school he created a book of hand drawn cartoons and puns called the “Book of Madness”. In his 20s he lived in Somerville and Brighton where he started displaying his paintings in local pubs and coffee houses. Inspiration for his paintings came from concerts of improvisational music and people watching at venues such as Jonny D’s, Wally’s café, the Toad, the Lizard lounge, the Middle East, TT Bears, the Cantab.  Carl also drew inspiration from a number of cross country road trips including trips to New Orleans and Seattle in the early 1990s.

Because of his unique style Carl was asked to do live painting at Chans in Woonsocket for a show with Michelle Wilson and her Evil Gal band.  Carl has been a featured artist on WICN 90.5 Jazz station. A solo exhibition called “Speak Easy” at Apothecary Artist Gallery with live jazz music. These are just a few of his many art shows over the years.

Carl currently paints in his studio in Hopkinton MA, which he has dubbed the “Art Shed”. In 2020 Carl, along with artists Chris Peters and Andy Ristaino, co-hosted a Podcast called “Welcome to the Art Shed”. The podcast was wide ranging conversations with a collection of eclectic guests talking about making art, philosophy, and music. These days you can find Carl in the Art Shed on weekends painting, with improvisational Jams cranked to 11.

ARTIST STATEMENT
Carl draws inspiration from Improvisational Music, Jazz, Nature, Egyptian Hieroglyphics, Primitive Art - the strange and the mundane. He seeks to capture that blurry memory; that corner-of-the-eye hallucination inside of a fever dream, the almost untranslatable feel that is there and then gone.He incorporates an element of mystery in his work that he hopes will inspire the viewer to 'fill in the blanks" of the story in any given painting. These elements have a life of their own, existing before and after the painting was made.

Ongoing themes in Carl's work include expressionistic cityscapes (grown organically across the canvas) and stylistic bar scenes (populated with bizarre characters and charged emotions.) Carl paints through intuition; sometimes a certain line, brush stroke, color or texture just feels and looks right.

GALLERY PROGRAMMING
Opening Reception:
Wednesday, January 28, 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
RSVPs appreciated; click here

Artist Talk
(both Carl Ristaino and Masrah Wilcox of Ancient Light February 21, 2:00 PM, Black Box Theater
RSVPs appreciated; click here