Leslie Sacks Gallery is pleased to present Still Water, an exhibition of exquisite works on paper by renowned California artist, Marc Katano. Born in Tokyo, Japan, Marc Katano’s paintings demonstrate a sensibility of Japanese mark making with a distinctly evident influence in calligraphy. These stunning gestural works on paper are awash in acrylic and ink. His works are emotional and expressive, without requiring superfluous meaning with an emphasis on the act of inscription. The compositions are organic, though they are not intended to emulate nature. They are inspired by the human condition and the necessity of physical expression. The practice of Japanese calligraphy underscores simple, but precise flicks of the wrist and arm to create the gesture. However, Katano defines for himself, “Each line represents nothing more than its own creation, and each piece finds meaning in the harmony of its own structure.”

The organic nature of these gestural paintings is further accentuated by Katano’s deliberate paper choices. Some of the works are on heavyweight, handmade Nepalese paper. The presence of soft rag is relegated to the outermost edges exposing the paper pulp, but the predominate surface area is dense and textured. As realized in Tricky Times, 2014 (left), it is weighty and impenetrable. And though purely an abstract configuration, the handmade paper delivers a coarse and mountainous landscape where the ink and paint pool and seep in wide crevasses. Conversely, others works are painted on soft, supple Onkawara paper. It is perceptibly smooth and delicate, but the sheet is fibrous and strong. The marks stain the sheet with a kind of spontaneity and chance. There exists a successful accord in Katano’s well-conceived marriage of media and material. The paper density and his application of paint and ink are not predictably fragile and careful as is often expected in works on paper.

Marc Katano’s paintings and works on paper are held in numerous prominent public and private collections and institutions, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA, Legion of Honor, Achenback ­Collection, San Francisco, CA, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA, Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, HI. Katano’s work has been exhibited at the Skirball Museum, Los Angeles, CA, San Diego Museum of Contemporary Art, La Jolla, CA, San Jose Museum of Modern Art.

Leslie Sacks Gallery is located in the Bergamot Station Arts Center in Santa Monica (2525 Michigan Avenue, B6). Gallery hours are Tues-Fri 10-6, Sat 11-6. The gallery is online at lesliesacks.com. Email gallery@lesliesacks.com or call 310 264 0640.

Hi resolution jpeg’s available upon request.