| Tony
Mascio (1953 - )
Born in Philadelphia in 1953, Tony earned his B.F.A. from the
Philadelphia College of the Arts in 1976, and immediately began
his career as a professional illustrator. He has received a number
of awards from such organizations as the Society of Illustrators,
and the Art Directors Club of Philadelphia. Member, Philadelphia
Artist Guild.
Tony Mascio is an exciting artist
of a new genre. Mascio is an airbrush artist. Airbrush rendering
is an exacting,
elusive, deceptive, mechanical and laborious job, as
the artist meticulously draws and masks, then blows transparent
layers of color.
The attraction of airbrush rendering is that it reproduces
so well. A finished rendering has a fine grain in the
tints and heavy stain areas on the paper surface. The color
is so translucent and the density so clear that the result
is a very refined image.
The overlapping of color and shading are interesting keys to
understanding the quality of the finished image. The technique
of layering color shapes requires that each color area be designed
and simplified so that it can be worked into a composition.
Because of that simplification, the airbrushed image yields
easily to becoming a cartooned reality, a fantasy.
Artists like Macic live within their imagination, preoccupied
with technique, intrigued by the surface and daydreaming
with the media.
The airbrush phenomenon has been gaining in momentum since
the early 70's. The merchandising of products on television
and in publishing has built an enormous new graphic visual
vocabulary.
An artist like Mascio is a problem solver, a conceptualist
and above all, a person who can communicate. The genre of art.
Mascio is communicating so effectively that it is becoming
subliminal in the collective awareness of our society.
Collections
Aitkin Kynett
N.W. Ayer New York
Bell Telephone
Eastern Airlines
Rohm & Haas
Random House
Philadelphia Philies Organization CBS Records
Warner Brothers Records Fantasy Records
Capitol Records
Playboy Magazine
Philadelphia Inquirer
Borden's Ice Cream, Inc.
Selected Exhibitions
Berg Gallery
Locks Gallery
Logman Gallery
Hill Gallery
Rose Gallery
Charve Gallery
Late in January, 1979, his work was exhibited at The Michener
Company for their 30th Presentation of "Creativity" Delaware
Valley".
To Artist Showroom
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