Tony Saladino

Tony Saladino was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he was educated at Louisiana State University. Though his artwork stems from personal experience, he strives to create images that are universally compelling. His use of color and subject matter make for beautifully executed works that are not only pleasing to the eye but thought-provoking as well. Saladino's work can be found in many collections, both nationally and internationally, including the University of Wisconsin, the University of Dallas in Texas and the Museum of International Art in Bahia, Brazil. His work has been exhibited at Concordia University in Austin, Texas, and at the Dallas Museum of Art. His work has been featured in many publications, including the New York Times, American Artist magazine, Artist's Magazine, and The Best of Sketching and Painting (Rockport Publishers, 1998). Saladino has enriched the world with his teaching skills as well as his art. He has taught at a variety of institutions including the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and the Ox-Bow Summer School of Art in Saugatuck, Wisconsin. “Each new piece challenges me to use the pictorial space in such a way that will have impact on a viewer. I enjoy the risk taking aspect of doing varied themes and shifting from medium to medium. This, no doubt, will produce some failures, but a large body of work can compensate if each piece begins with a stimulating idea and is executed with technical mastery. I am interested in visual perceptions. Frank Stella said in "Working Space" that "...Rubens made imagination overcome truth..." I try to use each medium's scale and characteristics to advantage to give my imagination an avenue which can explore truth on a two dimensional plane. With large acrylics I can make bolder color and texture statements. While I consider many of the pieces to be personal I am, nevertheless, concerned that they each posses a spatial energy that compels a viewer to look.”