art / art

Hello friends and collectors, I’m making beautiful art in my studio with my new little friend Angel. I started on a few paintings that are documenting my dislike of the coronavirus.

If there’s one place I don’t mind being in day and night it’s my art studio! Working on making new art and wishing everyone peace, good health & safety at this time. I have a lot of new work available for sale, feel free to take a look and see if something catches your eye: http://www.vitobonanno.com/new-works/ email me for shipping details & info at Vito@VitoBonanno.com

I’m always in the studio working on my new series, ‘Dreams & Reminiscing‘, it’s been a while since I’ve worked on a new series of art, but I’m feeling inspired and painting everyday creating a whole new collection of work.

Working primarily in india ink, oil paints and oil sticks, these new pieces shout out from the canvas in both vibrant color and abstract impression of my dreams and reminiscing of real people, places and things.

I am excited to share photos of my original art pieces that were recently acquired by a new corporate client, the one and only Amazon! They have made a purchase of 6 of my original art pieces for one of their corporate buildings in Seattle, Washington. The artwork was recently installed!

Other corporate clients that have purchased my artwork include The Hartford NC, CBRE Nashville and City Block. None of this would be possible without my relationship with ArtLifting, and I want to send a big THANK YOU to everyone there for these tremendous opportunities and their dedication to myself and the other artists they represent. I was introduced to this incredible organization through The Art of Autism — Artlifting is a very special non-profit whose mission is to empower individuals living with disabilities through the celebration and sale of their artwork.

I’m always in my studio working on new paintings. I have a lot of new pieces in progress, I’m working on a large scale series, where I start with a layer of India ink, then I layer over with acrylics and I’m considering to even add an oil paint overlay.

If you could take a look inside everything I am, mind, body and soul, you would see the images and feel the emotions that I put onto the canvas. My art is a true example of who I was and what I was feeling during the days any one piece was created. Those factors determine the images and colors that are used and is why many of my pieces are multi-layered, because they resemble the multi-layered, chaotic thought process of images and thoughts that call my mind their home.

My mind is a place where images, thoughts and words float around in a bumper-car like world, crashing and speeding in all directions. In wanting to clear my head sometimes of all this noise, I get some relief by taking these images and feelings and putting them down onto the canvas. Over the months of working on a series of works, this process gets repeated and layers are added over layers, sometimes obliterating the entire drawing underneath, other times allowing some of the under drawings to peak through.

Hi everyone, I’m fundraising for Vista Life Innovations to help raise money for this wonderful organization that puts a great deal of effort in helping people with disabilities participate in the community and community functions, that they would otherwise not have the chance. I’m proud to be riding in the 11th Annual Vista Tour de Shore, taking place on October 6th at 7:30am in Westbrook, Connecticut. Please help me reach my fundraising goal by making a donation today! Here’s the link: https://www.classy.org/fundraiser/2211793

This helps people feel useful, wanted and part of something bigger then themselves. I am grateful for Vista everyday. My life has been very richly improved in all areas since I became part of the Vista family.

About the Vista Tour de Shore

What? Ride 5, 25, 40 or 60 miles along Connecticut’s beautiful back roads and shoreline views.

Where? Rides start and finish at the Westbrook Elks Lodge. Post-ride party and festivities to follow!

Why? Ride to support Vista’s Mission:

Providing services and resources to assist individuals with disabilities achieve personal success.

Hello friends and collectors, I am very excited to announce that several of my original art pieces have been acquired by a new corporate client, the one and only Amazon! They have made a purchase of 6 of my original art pieces for one of their corporate buildings in Seattle, Washington. The art will be installed this fall, and I hope to have photos I can share with you once the installation is complete. Other corporate clients that have purchased my artwork include The Hartford NC, CBRE Nashville and City Block. None of this would be possible without my relationship with ArtLifting, and I want to send a big THANK YOU to everyone there for these tremendous opportunities and their dedication to myself and the other artists they represent. I was introduced to this incredible organization through The Art of Autism — Artlifting is a very special non-profit whose mission is to empower individuals living with disabilities through the celebration and sale of their artwork.

‘King Kong’, 2014 Obsessions & Meditations series.
Aerosol, acrylic, craypas, paint marker, archival glitter on canvas, 53.5“H x 63.5”W

King Kong pictured above is one of the handful of my artworks purchased by Amazon. Prints can be purchased directly from ArtLifting, they are produced on demand on either mounted wrapped canvas or giclee fine art paper in a variety of sizes here in the United States. High-quality print reproductions of my work can be purchased for your home or office. “From the 2014 Obsessions & Meditation Series, King Kong is a small part of the story of the series where the artist, who is autistic, tries to expel from his brain the constant barrage of images and thoughts that fight to be the dominant. The images, words and emotions on the canvas derive their life from either obsessions the artists struggles with, or the images and memories he uses to meditate on in order to bring order to the feeling of chaos and helplessness he feels dealing with the day to day life of living on the spectrum. The name, King Kong, hails back to a happy time when the artist was young and visited the King Kong ride at Universal Studios in FL. The graffiti that decorated the faux subway of the ride you passed by as you waited in line made an impression on him, and over 20 years later found itself with a new life on this canvas.”

‘Traffic Lights Plague Trolley Square’, 2015 Anxiety & Dreams series.
Spray paint, acrylic, paint stick on canvas, 46″H x 46″W x 1.5″D

Traffic Lights Plague Trolley Square is another piece purchased by Amazon. “From the Anxiety and Dreams series, the artist is autistic and struggles with typical images and happenings of daily life becoming obsessions that turn to anxiety. Trolley Square housed his studio, but graffiti got painted on the back of the building that slowly overtime caused anxiety, mostly because it reminded the artist that his disability prevented him from being independent enough to do his own tagging and youthful things. In his dreams, or on the canvas, he can find a feeling of control over these truths of things he missed out on in the past, or future. His mind has gone back to teenage years, of bands of that time. Bold images of traffic lights and toilets are there to protect him from the emotional upheaval he can feel when he thinks too hard about life.”

‘Daily Anxiety’, 2015 Anxiety & Dreams series.
Spray paint, acrylic, paint stick on canvas, 50″H x 50″W x 1.5″D

Prints can be purchased of my work directly from ArtLifting, whose mission is to empower individuals living with disabilities through the celebration and sale of their artwork. Prints are produced on demand on either mounted wrapped canvas or giclee fine art paper in a variety of sizes here in the United States. High-quality print reproductions for your home or office, available at: https://www.artlifting.com/collections/vito-bonanno

I also have many original art pieces for sale, and are adding to my new pieces all the time. Please check out my website, www.vitobonanno.com, to view available original art and contact me at vito@vitobonanno.com with any questions regarding availability, pricing, commission work and shipping.

Thank you everyone. Love and Be Safe–Vito

Internationally recognized artist Vito Bonanno taps into the daily emotional and social challenges of living with autism, placing his innermost feelings onto canvas. The New England-based artists’ work is image and concept driven and embedded in his personal philosophy. His art contains the essence of his life, feelings, thoughts, and dreams, coupled around objects or topics that “get stuck in his head”, including traffic lights, grids, ceiling fans, graffiti and pop culture.

Vito Bonanno has exhibited in solo exhibitions during Art Basel Week in Miami, Florida, Umbrella Arts Gallery, NYC, and Akus Gallery, at Eastern Connecticut State University (ECSU) in Willimantic, CT. His numerous group exhibitions include a sold-out exhibition at Metro Curates, NYC in 2014, Uarts & CT Places in Hartford, CT; New England ADA in Boston, Mass; The Outsider Art Fair in New York and Intuit Outsider Art Fair in Chicago.

Unfiltered V: Vito Bonanno Riding with the Train Girls, at Akus Gallery at Eastern Connecticut State University, 2012.

In 2009, Bonanno won an Award of Excellence in a juried competition for young people with disabilities, produced by VSA Arts and sponsored by Volkswagen in 2009. He was named one of 15 emerging young artists with disabilities and was honored during the artist reception in Washington, D.C. His winning pieces, ‘Ghost Town on Davenport Avenue’ was exhibited at the S. Dillon Ripley Center of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. and then was part of a traveling exhibition that went on a two-year nationwide tour of the university and independent galleries. Additionally, a second winning piece titled ‘Southhaven People’ was on exhibit at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington, D.C. before also partaking in the nationwide traveling exhibition that ran through September 2011.

’17 Girls on a Train’

In January 2012, Bonanno unveiled his first Solo Exhibition, Unfiltered V: Vito Bonanno Riding with the Train Girls, at Akus Gallery at Eastern CT State University which included works on paper, canvas, video pieces, a student-artist interactive mural project, and installations. Akus Gallery Director, Elizabeth Peterson stated, “The characters, objects, and ideas that inhabit Vito Bonanno’s work act and interact in striking ways. Caught within the grids and map-like structures he imagines, they are often in a struggle between multiple worlds. He has found a way to tap in the intensity of focus and insight afforded him through autism to unleash a formidable creative power and vision.”

Vito was chosen to participate in the prestigious global art competition Art Olympia in Tokyo, Japan 2015. His painting ‘Skatepark Krusty’ from Obsessions & Meditations was a First Round Winner. Bonanno was also chosen to feature his work in Art for Autism at Pan American Art Projects Gallery in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami, Florida in July 2015. He has been featured and spotlighted on Saatchi Art homepage twice in a row since July 2015, hand-picked by Saatchi Chief Curator Rebecca Wilson. In 2015 Bonanno was one of 16 artists in the United States selected for a prestigious exhibition of previous awardees from the VSA Emerging Artists Program in the Kennedy Center’s Hall of Nations with sponsorship from Volkswagen Group of America. This exhibition was showcased as part of the celebrations for the 25th Anniversary of the ADA and 40th Anniversary of VSA, and included the work of select artists who represented the past 13 years of the VSA Emerging Young Artist Program; Curated by Stephanie Moore, ‘Daffy Goes to Waterbury with a Ninja Turtle’ and ‘SECR Toilet’ were chosen to be part of the exhibition.

In 2016 and 2017 Bonanno shifted gears and began creating a prolific collection of works that propelled him into a variety of gallery shows, US exhibitions and projects including Art Expo New York; Love Art Gallery, CT; Lotta Studio in New Haven, CT; Art Access Studio in Ohio; Lesley University group exhibition in March 2016 titled ‘3+ Artists: Celebrating Autism’, curated and organized by Elizabeth Stringer Keefe, Assistant Professor of Graduate Special Education at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Bonanno was invited to participate in a group mural project in New Haven, Connecticut at Yale University in June 2018 as part of a public art initiative. Vito is also an artist with ArtLifting since early 2018, which is a non-for-profit art organization that empowers artists living with disabilities through the celebration and sale of their artwork. ArtLifting is about creating opportunity, empowerment, and validation.

LOVE ART Gallery Exhibition in 2016, the gallery is located at 132 Washington Street in South Norwalk, Connecticut 06854.

Bonanno was diagnosed with PDD/Autism just before his 4th birthday. Because he was language delayed, his parents and teachers developed strategies that tapped into his high visual acuity, utilizing storyboard styles to relay academic and social information. He was also encouraged to draw in storyboard format to express his feelings. The storyboard grid remains prominent in his work and studio preparation today and is a poignant reminder of a boy who was trapped in his own mind.

For years I’ve been writing and drawing in journals everyday, often multiple times a day. I have hundreds of full journals! Using a journal was a way of self-managing my stresses and fears. I still write in a journal daily, but my overall day to day life since I moved to the shoreline is more fulfilling, I have busier and more productive days, so my journal entries are more for pleasure then therapy. Much of the words and imagery found in my journals make their way onto my art.

I’ve been working on a lot of new art in my new studio. I like to work on many pieces at one time, adding layers over layers and images over images. Since 2017, I’ve been represented by Artlifting. Besides being a wonderful organization, they also offer prints of original works they represent for their artists. Most exciting, I was recently informed by Artlifting that they have secured the sale of 6 of my original art pieces to a well known international corporate client. This client is renovating their headquarters in Seattle, Washington, and each floor was assigned a “theme”. One of the themes was “Industrial”, and my work was the perfect fit. I’m very excited and will be able to provide more information about this notable moment in my art career to you all soon. Please stay tuned. Until then, “Be Safe and wish for the buildings!”

I’ve been working on lots of new art since I moved into my new studio in Old Saybrook, CT. It’s great to be setting up my new studio, I had a chance to unpack some artwork that I did not have a chance to finish before I moved, including these two pieces below. All the paint I used for these is gone so I might just get a few new colors and have a go at it!

My studio would not be mine if it did not have my favorite traffic lights. All these lights were given to me from people who understood my passion and life long love of traffic lights. The first was a gift from a police officer who I met in summer camp when I was 14 years old! That started it all!

A necessity for my inspiration and also to help keep me calm is my toilet collection (many gifts from friends who understood my love and obsession with them, it has to do with shape and circles), and of course my Ninja Turtles! I have quite the collection of Ninja Turtles. Working on making a place for a bunch of them in the new studio.

I have a lot of new art pieces available and have been greatly inspired by my new art space, please check out my new work and let me know if you are interested in anything. Browse through my site and see if something catches your eye! Email me for pricing and shipping info at Vito@VitoBonanno.com

Pinky, 2018

India Ink, Paint Pen, Acrylic Pen on Canvas
24″ x 24” x .5”
$695.00

I’m very excited and grateful to be selling my original art pieces and prints of my work with ArtLifting, their mission is to empower individuals living with disabilities through the celebration and sale of their artwork.

Check me out on ArtLifting.com, it’s such an incredible organization that supports artists with disabilities, helping me to showcase and sell my work. Browse amazing artwork and read inspiring stories. If you’re interested in an original art piece, email curator@artlifting.com my direct profile link is: https://www.artlifting.com/collections/vito-bonanno. Please check out my profile and view the work that can be purchased directly from ArtLifting. Prints are produced on demand on either mounted wrapped canvas or giclee fine art paper in a variety of sizes here in the United States. High-quality print reproductions for your home or office.

Dead Triva series, Red

ArtLifting is a benefit corporation founded in 2013 that connects socially conscious companies with talented artists impacted by homelessness or disabilities. ArtLifting is headquartered in Boston, MA but works with nearly 150 different artists across 30 different states. I have several art pieces available through ArtLifting, one is from my Dead Trivia series, ‘Red‘. As an autistic individual, there are things that my mind struggles to process. For example, people who have died a long time ago don’t know about cell phones or modern advances. My series, Dead Trivia, examined this anxiety I had at the time. I put deceased people in my art along with things or events that happened after they died-in an attempt to make this idea in my head that would haunt me a lot, get an answer that my brain could accept. It seemed to help. I don’t obsess about that idea so much anymore.

Airplane series, ‘Church Street South Building’

ArtLifting is about creating opportunity, empowerment, and validation. They offer artists the chance to secure our own income through the sale of original paintings, prints, and products. “By showcasing and selling artwork via ArtLifting.com, our artists gain self-confidence that permeates all aspects of their lives.”

Saatchi Art is the world’s largest online gallery, connecting people with art and artists they love. I was thrilled to be notified in mid-July that my art piece Family Feud & Graffiti from my newest series Anxiety & Dreams was chosen by Saatchi Art Chief Curator Rebecca Wilson and the Saatchi Art curation team to be featured in their New This Week 7/20/2015 Collection on Saatchi Art’s Homepage, the ‘Painting, Collage, Printmaking Collection’. Family Feud & Graffiti is made with spray paint, acrylic, and paint stick on canvas with dimensions of 30″ x 30″ x 1.5″.

Family Feud & Graffiti 2015

Rebecca Wilson is Chief Curator and Director, Art Advisory at Saatchi Art. She is based out of Venice, California and was formerly a Director at the Saatchi Gallery, London, where she was instrumental in the launch of the gallery’s online presence. In 2007 she created New Sensations, a prize for art students which identifies and supports the most exciting emerging artists in the UK. Prior to joining the Saatchi Gallery, Rebecca worked for 14 years in book and art magazine publishing:she was editor of ArtReview, and before that deputy editor of Modern Painters. She has over 10 years of experience working with emerging artists.

It was such a proud feeling to have my work selected and exclusively featured on Saatchi Art’s Homepage. You can imagine what it must have felt like for me when I was notified a second time in late-July that my art piece Trolly Square & Traffic Lights, also from my Anxiety & Dreams series, was chosen by Saatchi Art Associate Curator Katherine Henning and the Saatchi Art curation team to be featured in their Street Art Collection. Trolly Square & Traffic Lights is made with pray paint, acrylic, and paint stick on canvas with dimensions of 30″ x 30″ x 1.5″

Saatchi Art Associate Curator Katherine Henning is based in Los-Angeles, California. She received her MA in History of Art and the Art Market: Modern and Contemporary Art from Christie’s Education, New York, and her BA in English Literature (Creative Writing) from University of Southern California. Some of her favorite art historical movements are Impressionism, Abstract Expressionism, and Fauvism. She includes in her list of favorite contemporary artists Yayoi Kusama, Richard Serra, James Turrell, and Kehinde Wiley.

I am going to be featured as Artist of the Day on Saatchi Art this Sunday, August 16, 2015.  My last art feature on Saatchi’s Homepage was in April 2015. My art piece Downtown Traffic Lights Plague the Milford Building from my Obsessions & Meditations series was selected to be included in the collection, ‘In Celebration of Basquiat and Street Art’, curated by Jessica McQueen, the Assistant Curator at Saatchi Art.

I was honored to participate in a great event for a wonderful cause on July 24, 2015 in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District, Art for Autism. I was invited to donate artwork for this event, which was organized and hosted by the American Autism Association. Twelve little gems from my Truck’N With Vito! series were donated and exhibited for this spectacular showcase held at the Pan American Art Projects gallery in Wynwood. The evening was dedicated to exhibiting the local, talented artists within the autism community, displaying their artwork alongside professional visual artists on the autism spectrum.

The mission of the American Autism Association is to help families through their journey as they raise a child with autism. The organization offers information, support for families, and free of cost recreational programs or workshops for families. I am happy that the proceeds from the artwork sales at Art for Autism benefit the local autism community, this is something that I truly care about. The American Autism Association was a great organization to work with, they thanked all those who were able to attend the Art for Autism event. Autistic artists from around the world were more than happy to display their hard work for the cause, and equally appreciate the support from our local and national communities. Overall Art for Autism was a success and we could not have done it without our amazing supporters and sponsors Wynwood Brewing, Insomnia Cookies, Sweet Jalane’s, and many more!

Thanks to the event, the American Autism Association will be able to fund two more recreational and therapy programs in South Miami and New York. These programs help to enrich the lives of autistic children in the area and provide support to families. If you are interested in attending, please email programs@myautism.org for any inquiries or more information. Please visit the website to learn about AAA’s recreational programs in Miami and New York here. You can see the photos from the event on AAA’s Facebook page here.  A huge thank you to Miami Art Scene™ who was integral for providing local, national and international coverage of the event. We were lucky to have caught the interest of numerous visual arts organizations and tons of media coverage. Check out more info about the event on WLRN Public Radio and Television, who picked up the story and helped us spread awareness. Read the amazing article here to find out more about the families, artists, and supporters who attended the event.