Tony Pinto | Artist Seen

About

For his residency and solo exhibition Artist Seen at Shoebox Projects at the Brewery, LA artist Tony Pinto will create a series of portraits of artists, gallerists, curators, critics and writers— people he considers his tribe — as they share his values and interests in art. He sees the creation of this body of work as a chance to document these important relationships and it reinforces his sense of connection and belonging to the art community.

Pinto begins with photographs. Sometimes he asks his subjects to pose, other times he snaps a candid image. Each photograph is then transformed into a large scale oil painting. Pinto isolates and carefully cuts the shape of the head from the wooden panel transforming the works into quasi sculptures. Each portrait has a unique shape that is derived from the specificities of the subject's head. Pinto is an accomplished painter who finesses his expressive brush strokes to create realistic representations. For example the portrait of Jane Magdalena Bauman includes a bit of neck whereas the image of Andi Campognone is closely cropped so the shape is defined by her blond hair and slightly protruding chin. Each painting captures the essence of the sitter and together the disembodied images become a compelling portrait of the local art community.

Tony Pinto is an established artist, designer and educator currently living in Anaheim Hills, California. He received a BA from the University of Massachusetts, Boston and an MFA from California State University, Los Angeles. He currently teaches courses in painting and art appreciation at Coastline Community College in Newport Beach, courses in digital foundations at California State University, Fullerton as well as design classes at Irvine Valley College, Irvine, CA. In addition to working as an Art Director/Creative Director at Grace/Pinto Communication Design Pinto also exhibits his paintings on a regular basis. Recent group exhibitions include Illicit Liaison at the Museum of Design, Atlanta, GA (2017); Like Mark, Coastline Community College, Newport Beach, CA (2016) and MAS Attack 13, Torrance Art Museum, CA (2015).