Sky Corner #17

54" x 27"

oil on linen

2008

                         ** Additional Works Available, please contact the gallery

    The juxtaposition of images of reflected light in office buildings, rich layered neutralized hues, and the dichotomy between ethereal clouds and hard lines in my ‘Sky corner’ series might seem ordinary, but they are all vital elements to a study of man’s place in a post-modern world. The Sky corner series are meditations on the nature of that reality.

These paintings reflect the happenstance of seeing common everyday structures in a new light. Compositionally, I crop down the image to express the coming together of dramatic lighting, the ethereal sky, and man-made structure, as a statement itself on man’s place in the universe.

The structures I paint are a metaphor for the re-creation, or sanctification of a fallen creation. There’s no decay, dirt, or brokenness here, just pure, clean, dynamic, beautiful architecture, man restored to his original intent.

Biography: 

      Joseph Guggino was born in 1952 in Seaford, Long Island, New York. After living all around America, he settled in Ellensburg, Washington.

      Artistically, Guggino is influenced by Hopper, Monet, Sargent, Lucien Freud, Nerdrum, and Rembrandt, to name a few. Paul Cezanne’s art is the most influential on his life and art. “One critic who I think nailed it, said Cezanne’s paintings weren’t so much studies of nature as they were meditations on the nature of reality.” “This cuts to the heart of my life quest, what is the nature of reality, what are we here for?”

      “I began taking classes from EJ Krisor which developed into a one on one mentorship. I really credit him with taking me to the next level.” Krizor is a master of old master type figurative oil painting who happened to be living in Ellensburg for a period of years between receiving his master’s degree in N.Y.C. and Rome, and moving on to Hollywood to work in the movies.

     Painting feverishly Guggino found his work motif changing dramatically. “Buildings, for that matter anything man-made, were the last thing in the world I ever wanted to paint. I happened to include a building in a landscape because it happened to be there across from my studio, and I liked how it came out, so I did a few more. I liked playing with the surfaces, finding color in shadowed surfaces etc.” Guggino hasn’t looked back. He’s painted all sorts of buildings, pool steps, cathedral doorways, usually focusing on one small part. “The fun is to find some interesting design or pattern and then crop the composition to accentuate it.

     Guggino’s architectural paintings have been juried into numerous national shows and won many awards. In addition to pieces purchased for private collections, pieces have been purchased by the Swedish Medical Center for their facilities in Seattle and Issaquah. Guggino won second prize in a NYC art show jurored by the curator of the Guggenheim Museum. He’s been juried into the last two American Contemporary Realism shows at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art in Indiana, of which one piece was purchased for the museum’s permanent collection.

     Guggino is a current member of La Familia Gallery in Seattle, Washington.

Education

Private Study with E. J. Krisor, 1996-2001

San Diego School of Fine Art, San Diego, California, 1977

Selected Exhibitions