Tony Chimento
My formative years as a realist painter in college put me at
odds with the prevailing views of the time concerning painting.
Realism was thought to be dead. Anyone who pursued painting
recognizable imagery was labeled a hack or worse.
At best I was tolerated. At worst, ignored.
Though defensive and insecure, I was undeterred in my passion for
illusionism and narrative in painting. In the intervening years, the
resurgence of realism, its embrace by a younger generation, and
a generally more eclectic art world are wonderful developments!
In this most recent series of black-and-white oil paintings of
interiors, I have left behind the saturated colors of my previous
work in favor of a focus on light and its effect on objects. In
these paintings, I strive to portray the energy of light as it plays
hedonistically across an interior . . . bouncing, reflecting, defining.
I continue to use the interior as a metaphor for contemplation,
stillness, and the exploration of beauty.