Steven Parrino

Steven Parrino (1958, New York City - January 1, 2005, New York City) was an American sound and visual artist. Steven Parrino grew up on Long Island and earned an associate of applied science degree from SUNY, Farmingdale, in 1979 and a bachelor of fine arts degree from Parsons in 1982. While in art school he began making the work for which he is best known: "misshaped paintings" or big modernist monochrome paintings, mostly black ones, that had been violently slashed, torn or twisted off their stretchers. In addition to painting, Parrino exhibited painted environments, films of the making of these environments, sleek metal sculptures and photographs of his desktop strewn with the newspaper stories, magazine spreads and music albums that often inspired him. He also played electric guitar in several downtown bands, most recently Electrophilia, a two-person group he formed with painter and keyboardist Jutta Koether.