Michael Mangino. Bloom World Wonderful Green Roses For Me Myself

About

In quaint Frenchtown, NJ, 19-year-old artist Michael Mangino has reinvented abstraction. Mangino’s highly consistent style of painting was created intuitively without knowledge or understanding of the broader art world or history of abstraction; it was self-developed and is completely non-representational. 

All of Mangino’s paintings and drawings come to life at Studio Route 29, a local art studio and creative hub for individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities in Frenchtown. Michael began attending the progressive studio following classes at FIERCE, his high school’s instruction program, and he quickly took to the tools before him– paint, markers, paper, panels and canvases. Almost immediately, he began painting abstractly in an extremely consistent style. Making art has become a primary means of expression and sharing for Micheal, as he is living a nonverbal life, where speech is not an option for deeper communication.

The fact Michael Mangino has so quickly evolved into such a competent artist through the invention of a private, non-objective language feels both rare and profound. The power of art and art-making to shape and heal someone open to the call is immense, and it often opens doors that just as easily could have been left shut without a little helping hand. Michael’s story is amplified by the sheer confidence and power evoked in his paintings, which possess a competency and level of distinction that belies his years and experience.