Enrico Castellani: Interior Space (2016) explored how painting can occupy three-dimensional space with recent and historical works by the artist, many of which were on view in New York for the first time in the exhibition at Dominique Lévy. Castellani’s work presents a complete amalgamation of form and concept: in the artist’s words, a “total interior space, lacking contradictions.”

A selection of Castellani’s large-scale shaped relief canvases, Superfici bianche (White Surfaces), were presented in juxtaposition with recent angular metallic paintings Biangolare cromato (Bi-angular Chrome) and Angolare cromato (Angular Chrome), the latter of which Castellani installs in corners. These white and metallic works were placed in dialogue with one another, highlighting the ambient light and shadow effects that occur as they activate the space. The exhibition further paired three-dimensional paintings with the sculpture Spartito (1969/2004). Here, Castellani references a seminal work made in 1969 by bolting hundreds of sheets of paper to create a biomorphic minimalist form. Punctuating the monochromatic white and silver works were two early red shaped canvases, Superficie rossa n. 8 (1966) and Superficie angolare rossa (1961), both of which announce Castellani’s break with the trajectory of painting to that point by rupturing the rectangular or square format.