art collecting / art collecting

I have some longtime favorite characters that you’ll find in my work like Mr. Bunny and of course my old buddy Luis The Rat. I also have many meaningful characters that take on people I know, people I’ve met or encountered over the years.

“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.” -Elizabeth Peterson, Director at Akus Gallery, Eastern Connecticut State University.

For more information about this artist, for inquiries or to commission an art piece contact vito@vitobonanno.com

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’m proud to announce my representation with ArtBlend Gallery of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Several art pieces from my Obsessions & Meditations series are on exhibit and available through the gallery. In addition to my artwork on display, I’m excited about the gallery’s upcoming events including a Summer Exhibition and magazine party.

“Staying true to his hyper focused hybrid dream-state style, Vito Bonanno takes his abstract expressionism aesthetic to a level where silent images shout for your attention from off the canvas and demand that you take a closer look into the secrets and treasures hidden in plain sight; leaving you to ponder the wonders of the human mind and psyche as experienced by Bonanno and others who live and work with the daily challenge of autism. Bonanno’s most recent works are comprised of  multiple layers of painted and drawn images on canvas that resemble the multi-layered, chaotic thought process of images and thoughts that call his mind their home.  His mind is a place where images, thoughts and words float around in a bumper-car like world, crashing and speeding in all directions.” -ArtBlend Gallery

ArtBlend’s Summer Exhibition 2015 opens on Saturday, June 27th from 6-8pm. The evening will feature the artworks from the exceptionally talented artists that the gallery currently represents. Boasting an outstanding diversity in paintings, photography and sculpture by artists from around the world, I am very happy to be part of the ArtBlend family.

You can encounter various mediums, subject, styles, colors, sizes and prices. The evening will have complimentary wine & cheese and a special, custom-made cake from Fabulous Cake Couture. The event is free, open to the public and plenty of parking – located at 2736 East Oakland Park Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33306.

The gallery is owned and operated by longtime gallery owners in the neighborhood. The fine art gallery has 4,250 square feet of event space spread across two rooms with contemporary design details such as polished marble floors, granite countertops, and stainless steel track lighting, as well as garage doors that are large enough to fit a car into the space! The gallery has a built-in sound system and Wi-Fi, and the art changes quarterly.

I am proud and honored to have been asked to participate in an 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 will be showcased as part of the celebrations for the 25th Anniversary of the ADA and 40th Anniversary of VSA and will open on Friday, July 10, 2015. This exhibition will include the work of up to 20 artists who will represent the past 13 years of the VSA Emerging Young Artist Program. I was an awardee in 2009. Curated by Stephanie Moore. She has chosen Daffy Goes to Waterbury with a Ninja Turtle and SECR Toilet to be part of the exhibition that will run somewhere from June-August.

Stephanie Moore is currently the Executive Director of The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design in Asheville, NC. Moore was previously the Director of Visual Arts for VSA, an affiliate of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, for 18 years. While in this post she was responsible for providing the overall direction and production of all visual arts exhibitions and activities at a national level.  Moore established the VSA emerging artist program supported by Volkswagen Group of America in 2002 and curated over 40 exhibitions including Revealing Culture, a groundbreaking exhibition held at the Smithsonian Institution’s International Gallery and designed by Michael Graves & Associates.  Moore holds a BA in art history and studio art from James Madison University and an MA in museum studies/nonprofit management and the art of underrepresented cultures from George Washington University.

Since 2002, VSA and Volkswagen Group of America have teamed up to recognize and showcase the work of emerging young artists living with disabilities, ages 16-25, who are currently residing in the United States. This collaboration creates opportunities for these artists at a critical time when many are making the life-defining choice to pursue arts-based careers. VSA and Volkswagen are committed to sustainability and investing in the future of young artists living with disabilities.

Skate Park Krusty is off to Tokyo, Japan! I’m super excited to announce that my art piece was chosen for Art Olympia – アートオリンピア 2015, an exclusive international art competition. Artworks from approximately 240 artists were selected from three major cities – Tokyo, New York and Paris. All of us who were chosen to participate will undergo the final review in Tokyo by a panel of judges invited from around the world. The exhibition is tentatively scheduled for June 13 – 28, 2015 at the Toshima City Government Office Building in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.

There are two rounds to this contest. The first round is regional, conducted in New York, Paris and Tokyo. 80 pieces (60 open category/20 students) from each regional market base were selected to proceed to the final round in Tokyo. Art Olympia aims to promote global cultural exchanges through art. is an open art competition held as a biennial event with the goal of discovering talented artists around the world and supporting their activities. The judging will be conducted by domestic and foreign art experts as jurors. My art piece was selected for this amazing competition, Skate Park Krusty, from my Obsessions & Meditations series. This piece was made with acrylic, craypas, paint pen, and archival glitter on canvas – 24” x 24” unframed.

With three entry bases in Tokyo, New York, and Paris, Art Olympia is a public art contest open to artists from all over the world with the goal of discovering talent. Established as a biennale, the contest will be held every two years. Prizes will be distributed to the winners to help them advance their path and their creative scope. Using a fair and transparent judging process to determine the winners, Art Olympia aims to achieve an international and multidimensional approach in judging. A universal point system is used and applicants will know their standing, points and ranking.

Having been selected for this prestigious international art competition has officially propelled me into the global art circuit. I’m so proud to participate in this incredible contest and exhibition in Tokyo, it validates for me that my work has mass appeal and crosses cultural borders. I’m really happy that people are able to connect with a part of me through my artwork, and as a globally recognized artist, I now have the opportunity to touch art aficionados all over the world.

It is an honor to have been selected by Saatchi Art for their new collection. My art piece Downtown Traffic Lights Plague the Milford Building from my Obsessions & Meditations series was chosen to be included in Saatchi Art’s ‘In Celebration of Basquiat and Street Art’ – Curated by Jessica McQueen, the Assistant Curator at Saatchi Art.

Write-up via Miami’s No. 1 Art Blog, Miami Art Scene: “New England & New York-based mixed media artist Vito Bonanno‘s Downtown Traffic Lights Plague the Milford Building was selected by Saatchi Art for inclusion in their new collection: ‘In Celebration of Basquiat and Street Art’. Curated by Jessica McQueen, the Assistant Curator at Saatchi Art –> Bonanno’s mix of hyper-focused Autism inspired work blends street art, pop culture and dreams from his unfiltered world. A nationally recognized artist who taps into the daily emotional and social challenges of living with autism, placing his innermost feelings onto canvas.”

Saatchi Art created this new collection in honor of the Basquiat exhibition now on view at the Brooklyn Museum, inspired by street art and the works of Jean-Michel Basquiat. Saatchi Art is the world’s leading online art gallery, connecting people with art and artists they love. Saatchi Art offers an unparalleled selection of paintings, drawings, sculpture and photography in a range of prices, and it provides artists from around the world with an expertly curated environment in which to exhibit and sell their work. Based in Los Angeles, Saatchi Art is redefining the experience of buying and selling art by making it easy, convenient and welcoming for both collectors and artists.

What a spectacular event in the Miami Downtown Arts District at McCormick Place, Autism Awareness Art Night was held on March 6, 2015 from 6-10pm in the heart of Downtown Miami. The event was hosted in collaboration with the University of Miami Center for Autism and Related Disabilities – (UM-NSU CARD), which is an organization that provides support and assistance with the goal of optimizing the potential of people with autism and related disabilities.

It was an awesome night of art, entertainment and festivities. Thank you to McCormick Place for such a successful event, also a very big thank you to Miami Art Scene™ for the strong media coverage and support! I attached some snippets from social media posts about the event –> “A recap of our March ‪#‎autismawareness‬ art night event here at‪#‎McCormickPlaceMiami‬!! Thank you to all participants! Maridith Imbasala @photographybypaloma Mariana Bara @madchillerworld @azucaricecream @ronbarcelo_rd, the UM Center for Autism and Related Disabilities and of course, @vitobonannoart!!” via McCormick Place on Instagram @mccormickplacemiami

‘What is AUTISM YOU + I? Autism You + I represents the image we at CARD have embraced as an organization since our inception in 1993.  Our mission is all about “You + I” and what we as families, friends and community partners can accomplish together to make our community a better, more inclusive place for people affected by autism and related disabilities. Together, You + I are making a difference every day in the lives of so many.’