Your cart is currently empty.
Sianti Gallery proudly presents “CHROMA”, the first-ever solo painting show of the American abstract sculptor and painter Peter Reginato in Athens, Greece.
With over 60 solo exhibitions and hundreds of group shows worldwide, Reginato has established himself as a pivotal figure in American abstraction. Throughout his career, he has embraced an uninhibited sense of play, merging spontaneous movement with technical mastery to create visually striking and emotionally resonant works of art. While widely recognized for his sculptural practice, CHROMA shines spotlight exclusively on his recent paintings, offering audiences an opportunity to engage with a body of work that has been deeply personal to the artist.
The exhibition brings together a group of works that span the last eight years, some of which Reginato was holding back as part of his personal collection—paintings he considers to be among his most favorites—now presented to the Greek public for the first time. Through these polychromatic paintings, Reginato welcomes us into his whimsical world of color and form, encouraging viewers to smile, lighten up, and see the world with a new sense of playfulness.
“At 79 years of age, I feel like I am making the best work of my life,” Reginato says. “The development of these new paintings started as a joke of Cubism that I humorously called cubism for dummies. I found myself putting down a series of stripes or columns and saw that I was painting a painting on top of a painting. This created an interesting formal idea that felt as if there were two grounds on top of each other. In a very new way, I introduced a figure-ground relationship that I see as something new.”
The showing pieces of CHROMA exemplify Reginato’s relentless pursuit of innovation, where technique gives rise to image, and image evolves into an aesthetic experience. The bold interplay of colors, the rhythmic movement of form, and the spontaneous yet deliberate compositions suggest an active dialogue between creator, observer, and the work itself. It’s what the American art critic David Cohen first coined as ‘Reginato’s wildness’—a quality that defies static interpretation, offering a continuous journey where abstraction becomes a conduit for revelation.
At the heart of Reginato’s process is a balance between spontaneity and structure. Using techniques of pouring and brushing, and sometimes spotting, he allows the paint to flow naturally across the canvas, creating forms that emerge “accidentally” through the act of play. This fluidity enables him to build compositions that feel both organic and highly structured, evoking emotions, memories, and a sense of joy. Unlike traditional abstractionists who sought to eliminate recognizable forms, Reginato embraces the unexpected emergence of figures—sometimes suggested by color relationships, sometimes by his own perception after the fact.
Reginato’s artistic influences are rooted in Abstract Expressionism, particularly the gestural and color-driven explorations of the 1940s and 1950s. He draws inspiration from a lineage of artists who redefined modern painting, including Jackson Pollock, Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, Clyfford Still, Hans Hofmann, and Richard Diebenkorn. These figures have aspired to his painting approach of creative freedom, where color, line, and movement become the primary language of expression. With this new work, Reginato is especially influenced by Pollock when he started using the brush again, along with throwing paint and mixing these two. What Reginato is trying with this collection is to draw in a way where the first thing you see might be the colors but then the drawings are what the eyes end up picking up.
In an exciting cross-disciplinary dialogue, the exhibition will feature three original poems by American poet and academic Michael Sickler, each responding to Reginato’s paintings. Sickler, known for his lyrical yet intellectually rigorous writing, explores the interplay between form, movement, and meaning—mirroring Reginato’s own approach to abstraction. His poetry will serve as a bridge between the visual and the verbal, inviting viewers to engage with the works in a deeper, more introspective way. This collaboration transforms CHROMA into more than an exhibition; it becomes an immersive experience where color, rhythm, and language converge, revealing new dimensions of interpretation and emotion.
CHROMA is more than just a retrospective look at recent works; it is a celebration of Reginato’s ongoing journey in abstraction. These paintings, held back as part of his private collection, now take center stage, revealing the evolution of his practice and his unyielding commitment to artistic exploration for years. This exhibition offers a rare opportunity to experience Reginato’s work in a new light, where the act of painting becomes an act of discovery. It is a testament to an artist who continues to push the boundaries of color, form, and composition—reminding us that art, at its best, is an invitation to see the world differently, to feel more deeply, and to embrace the joy of the unexpected.
Peter Reginato (b. 1945, Dallas, TX) is an acclaimed American sculptor and painter known for his bold use of color and dynamic, organic forms that challenge convention. Raised in Oakland, CA, he was shaped by the Bay Area’s thriving art scene before studying at the San Francisco Art Institute (1963–1966). His early work, a fusion of painting and sculpture, debuted in his first solo show in 1966. That same year, he moved to New York to fully dedicate himself to sculpture, quickly gaining recognition and earning spots in the Whitney Biennial twice. With over 60 solo exhibitions and numerous group shows worldwide, Reginato’s work is held in major private and public collections, including the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Michael Sickler received his MFA from the University of Wisconsin/Milwaukee and was hired to teach at Syracuse University, where he was a member of the Studio Arts faculty for forty years, eventually becoming chair of that department for ten years. He taught for forty years at Syracuse and has lectured in the US and abroad and is included in the art collections of several universities and museums. For several years, he was an editor of the poetry magazine The Comstock Review and remains their cover editor. Sickler is a published poet and has authored six chapbooks and is included in the review’s archive. He is currently retired and writes poetry for and about other artists’ work.