In Untitled [Untitled] (1979) [img. 35], Ianelli worked from a monochromatic base to create tonal variations from the accumulation and removal of paint layers. There is a noticeable dialogue between what is represented above and below in the painting, transcending the limits of a two-dimensional surface. Ianelli carefully made studies of the rectangles he would overlap, creating a representation of these differing pictorial elements that ultimately form another rectangle—the dominant theme of his works from the 1970s. Over time, the lines separating the color fields in Ianelli’s work began to disappear, giving place to even subtler tonal nuances. Beginning in the 1970s, Ianelli also began to produce marble and wood sculptures, retaining his interest in the overlapping and interpenetration of rectangles.
— Guilherme Giufrida, assistant curator, MASP, 2018
