vito bonanno / vito bonanno

I am proud to announce the launch of Truck’N With Vito!, a Cultural Awareness Campaign. I transformed an ordinary van into a mobile art gallery and I am spreading the word through my art that Autism is a magical gift of secret resources of creativity and inspiration. The event is called TRUCK’N WITH VITO! and we’re launching on Saturday, May 24th at the exclusive Umbrella Arts Gallery in New York’s East Village, located at 317 East 9th Street. The gallery is known for its rare shows of extreme talent and is bringing my art showcase and cultural awareness project into the limelight. Umbrella Arts is a place of discovery, movement and change and they are committed to keeping the artistic spirit alive in the community, I’m very proud and excited about this project.

The exhibition will kick-off on May 24th at Umbrella Arts Gallery and my mobile project TRUCK’N WITH VITO! will travel on wheels to be seen all over Manhattan and Brooklyn at Bushwick Open Studios, The Howl Festival, The Dumbo Arts Festival and in New York’s East Village. The exhibition is taking place from May 24th through July 31, 2014 – the opening reception at Umbrella Arts on May 24th will showcase small, intimate paintings that I made on the road and in my New Haven, Connecticut art studio. View the fundraising campaign here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/truck-n-with-vito – we invite the public to join the movement and help to continue TRUCK’N WITH VITO! going and spreading the word about Autism and artistic talent.

During this traveling exhibition, the Artmobile will make stops at Fountain Gallery, LAND Gallery, the Bushwick Open Studios, and the HOWL Festival in Tompkins Square Park. Additional stops in the Summer of 2014 include the SoNo Arts Festival in Norwalk, CT. In the Fall, we will visit the DUMBO Arts Festival, the IAM Festival, OpSail, Envision Fest, LAMP, the SOFA Fair, and in The Wynwood Arts District during Art Basel Miami Beach at Spectrum Art Fair this December 3-7, 2014, as well as METRO Curates in January 2015.

My solo exhibit at the Akus Gallery at Eastern Connecticut State University, “Unfiltered V: Vito Bonanno Riding with the Train Girls” on view from January 19 through March 1, 2012.  An Interactive Mural project, which is a Dean’s Cup event, takes place Thursday, Feb. 2 from noon to 5 p.m. in the Akus Gallery, bottom floor of Shafer Hall.

Students, staff, faculty and members of the community are invited to join me in creating the mural. Guests are invited to enjoy a Reception on Thursday Feb 2 from 5- 7 p.m. in Akus Gallery. Thank you to all my fans and supporters, it was a great moment. As part of the solo exhibition is a unique installation that was created expressly for the Unfiltered V exhibition at Eastern. It is a recreation and mash-up of several of the ‘shrines’ that I build in my studio and living space including the installations Raining at JCC, Elo, Jim Morrison and the Apps 40 Years in the Future, Pledge, and Empire State. Also included in the free-standing kiosk are a series of my journals and other objects. These installations and their contents give insight into my visual vocabulary. They also give a sense of the systematic, obsessive, and rhythmic way that I work and collect objects that inspire me.

I am very proud of this Review by renowned Gallery Director of Akus Gallery, Elizabeth Peterson – “Vito Bonanno’s art contains the essence of his life, feelings, thoughts and dreams, centered around objects or topics that ‘get stuck in his head’, including traffic lights, grids, ceiling fans and graffiti. His work is image and concept driven and may incorporate any media which will fuel this expression. Using spray paints, gouache, India inks, oils, acrylics and other media, Bonanno works on paper, canvas or whatever support may suit. Most of the characters or topics he draws are important to his life and embedded in his personal philosophy. His work has been described as raw, unfiltered, unedited, truthful, comedic, irresistible, bold, playful and charming, much like the man himself. He has found a way to tap into the intensity of focus and insight afforded him through Autism Spectrum Disorder to unleash a formidable creative power and vision.”  — Elizabeth Peterson, Director of the Akus Gallery.

Luis the Rat was born on 01/01/1900. I met him the day after my 26th birthday while I was shopping in a strange offbeat novelty store in Middletown, CT on 05/15/2007. He’d been living there since 05/15/1968 and was ready for a change. I liked him right away and wanted to take him home. I always carry a small messenger bag with me filled with lots of things I can’t bear to be without. These things change from day 2 day, but because of my OCD tendencies, the bag is always full. Luis the Rat squeezed his way into the front zipper pouch. Right away he liked how cozy it was in there and was very happy to be going on a road trip. And so I took him home.

One day I was doing my usual worrying/fretting about paying my bills. You see, I have autism and even though I am very independent, I still need some help doing some things and 1 of those is paying my bills. I have to wait for my support counselor to come and do that with me. Sometimes the bills come in and I have to wait days before my counselor is coming and so while I wait for that day to come, I worry, worry and worry some more. Waiting to pay a bill makes me freak out because I am always afraid that the electric, phone, gas or cable company is going to disconnect me because I don’t pay the bill on time. The bills give me a headache and heartburn!

Then I remembered that street rats can give the plague. It gave me the idea that maybe Luis the Rat, 110 yrs, could help me with my bill anxiety! So I asked Luis if he could sit on the top of the electric bill that had come in that day. Luis said, “Don’t worry, I’m gonna give ’em the plague if they shut off your electricity!” So Luis the Rat sat on the bill until I could pay it and I did not worry or have a headache or heartburn because I knew Luis the Rat was protecting me with the POWER OF THE PLAGUE (POTP).

Luis the Rat was very happy to help me and so I began to take Luis with me everywhere for his plague protection. He loves to travel in the zipper pouch of my messenger bag and anytime something happens or someone comes around and does something to make me worried or anxious, Luis the Rat sticks his head out of the pouch and protects me with plague power. At home he sits by the t.v. and plague protects me from reality and news shows that bother me. He sits on the newspapers to help plague protect me from all the negative news and coupons that I don’t like and make me anxious.

Nowadays I don’t leave home without him and when I am at home he is always close by, busy deciding where to use his POTP. Its been over 6 years we have been together, and Luis is happier than ever. He has lots to say and always has lots of plaguing work to do. Stay tuned to this blog for more on Luis the Rat and his point of view-coming soon.