Zinsser’s abstractions reflect a calculated process in which the artist has carefully and intentionally laid thick lines and swathes of paint to create gridded networks or clusters of paint and texture. An emphasis on the materiality of paint itself is enhanced by monochromatic compositions in a varied range of colors, from creamy white to metallic gold and fiery orange. Zinsser has been a devotee of postwar Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism for decades. His works reflect visions of the city from a very distinct angle. “I have always been attracted to colors as they exist in the world, rather than making imitative color,” Zinsser once explained. “All of these colors have associations to observed experience—a garage door, the wall of a warehouse, the side of a truck.”
American artist John Zinsser refers to his painting as a "wide open dialogue", with the multifaceted exhibition scene of New York City supplying the resources for this painting-oriented discourse. Thus, since the early 1980s, Zinsser has been building up a list of reference persons. His "circles of influences" include friends, colleagues of different generations as well as role models. With them, he carries on a form of discourse and counter discourse, and they motivate him to conduct painterly monologues, even challenging him to an antithesis when necessary.
The fundamental element that connects the works shown is their exploration of the pure materiality of paint and the essence of color. His paintings are derived from an intense process of brushworks in which Zinsser uses impasto oil technique with a thick- textured paint, that is almost three- dimensional in appearance. These paintings are striking and have a presence all their own.
John Zinsser has exhibited extensively in Europe and the United States since 1980. His paintings are in the Richard Brown Baker collection at Yale, the Sammlung Goetz in Munich, the Mint Museum In Charlotte and the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford.
Passion Wall I is a striking work in deep red, one which reflects a calculated process in which Zinsser has meticulously and intentionally laid down paint of varying thickness to create a painting rich in texture and tone. This contemporary and edgy work expresses its intent upfront using strong color which is undoubtably an expression of passion and intensity. Zinsser’s paintings are rule-based – exploring grids, interwoven networks, and repeating patterns. A devotee of postwar Abstract Expressionism and Minimalism for decades, Zinsser finds inspiration for such works in New York City where he lives and paints. He is known to draw color inspiration from the urban environments that surround him such as warehouse walls and the bustling traffic located just outside his studio. This approach gives his work a distinct urban sensibility and contemporary relevance.
Zinsser places a strong emphasis on the materiality of paint itself which is enhanced by the monochromatic color range seen here in Passion Wall I. He cites influences from both the visual and literature world, notably the present-tense consciousness of writers like James Joyce and Samual Beckett, which he relates to the immediacy of Abstract Expressionism.
Zinsser studied art, art history, and literature at Yale University, where he wrote his senior thesis on Andy Warhol. He co-founded the Journal of Contemporary Art in 1987 and is active as a writer, critic, and educator, teaching contemporary art at The New School. Zinsser has exhibited extensively in Europe and the United States since 1980. His paintings are in the Richard Brown Baker Collection at Yale, the Sammlung Goetz in Munich, the Mint Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, and in the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut.
Provenance: Studio of the Artist, c. 2000
Private Collection of the Pressman Family, New York
Private Collection Abby Taylor, Fairfield, CT 2017 to 2025