Ghost Pi
2003
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
color drypoint on gampi chine collé on Somerset paper
Dimensions
plate: 15.2 x 24.3 cm (6 x 9 9/16 in.) sheet: 36.9 x 42.2 cm (14 1/2 x 16 5/8 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Kathan Brown
Accession Number
2006.122.52
Art Historical Context
Tom Marioni's *Ghost Pi* (2003) is a captivating color drypoint print that exemplifies the artist's conceptual approach, blending mathematics and mysticism. Marioni, a pioneering figure in Bay Area conceptual and performance art since the 1960s, often explores ephemeral ideas through tangible media. Here, the title evokes the infinite mathematical constant pi (π), rendered as a "ghost" image—perhaps a faint, spectral trace—inviting viewers to ponder the boundary between the visible and the infinite. The work's technique is a highlight: drypoint, a direct intaglio method where the artist scrat...
About the Artist
Tom Marioni
Tom Marioni (born 1937) is an American conceptual and performance artist based in San Francisco who has been a pivotal figure in West Coast conceptual art since the late 1960s. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, he studied at the Cincinnati Art Academy before moving to San Francisco, where he became deeply involved in the city's experimental art scene. In 1970, Marioni founded the Museum of Conceptual Art...