A glassy magma deposited over imaginary millennia covers the six canvases that comprise José Maria Sicilia’s most recent show. The cracked and rough appearance of these works suggests the prehistoric formation of the world. In these canvases the still amorphous material seems yet to coalesce into distinct forms and colors. For Sicilia the investigation of origins implies the dissociation of the material from its possible attributes, and yet neutrality of color, and the transformation of chalky grounds into earthier and damper tones paradoxically achieves a certain visual plenitude. At times