Alessandro Papetti
Text by Steven Biller

If you have ever watched a movie as the film became tangled in its projector, when one flickering frame tried hopelessly to advance to the next, you can begin to understand the perspective from which Alessandro Papetti approaches his canvases. While artists typically strive to capture a moment, or the essence or reduction of one, Papetti aims for that elusive black strip between frames -- a millisecond he parlays into an effect akin to that awkward suspension of motion: quick, frenetic brushstrokes that reflect his perceptions in expressionist and impossibly contemplative fashion.

His paintings eschew or, more accurately, transcend the still-life perspective. The balance betwee...