Ripped from a piece of pie

A distinct line divides the work of Monique Prieto. Prior to 2003 she produced great form and color studies, abstracted silhouettes but obviously something. After a two year hiatus her work now tends toward the text-based, lifted from the diary of Samuel Pepys (the true beginning of self-indulgent obsessive performance art?), and equally abstract yet relatable. She pulls a classic abstract artist move and refrains from commenting on the interpretations of her art, as her vague allusions lend themselves to. Prieto works in a lot of areas that I also try to focus on – the ability of color and form to stand alone, opaque meanings, stylized strings of text out of context. I’m unsurprisingly more drawn to her abstract pieces, but as I think more and more about how and if I should be using text in my art, Prieto’s catchy sayings (such as “BELLS RANG EVERYWHERE” or “WALKING BOTH FORWARDS AND BACKWARDS”) rendered in non-uniform sizes and partial legibility are important for me to keep in mind. She is an artist that I can both look to for what I am doing and focusing on now, as well as directions I may want to head.

On the Other Side, 1997. Found on the blog of some MFA student in Ontario.

Last Night's Dream, 2007. From the ACME gallery's website, where a show of her work was recently held.

Opus, 2002. From an essay on artlies.org called "Dumb Art: The End of Representation." I'd recommend reading it, a recap of the debate between conceptual artists and painters. Guess which side I align with.