Don Localio, New Works: A Journey of Love & Passion by Foltz Fine Art

September 15 - October 7, 2017 Opening Reception:

Saturday, September 16 th , 6-8:30 pm

Artist Talk:

Saturday, September 30 th , 2- 4 pm

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AN ABSTRACT POINT OF VIEW B y D o n at o “ D o n ” B e r n a r d o L o c a l i o The abstract expressionist action painter is the elite in the GRAND style of painting, a romantic homage to past and present artists. It is very much human but carries the mantle of the history of tradition, not past tradition but the visionary tradition - to preserve the romantic cult of the individual.

The critic or writer of this generation of art feels compelled to build and then to dismantle this illusion of the heroic art and artist. The abstract expressionist views his own world in this narrowed perimeter, which is his own human experience touching all the nerves that are most sacred to the human condition. The abstract expressionist is self-absorbed, “prone to a go to hell philosophy,” not concerned with the meaning of the universe, but only as far as his brush can push the confines of his own world.

Abstract painting is constructed of paradoxes on all levels of life's dramas - including radical and conservative. There is a beginning but no end to life itself. When is the picture finished? When does one stop feeling and loving? Ending is permanent, fixed and closure – There is no closure to abstraction and if there is, it is death (past). Each painting has its own identity, never resolved but asking more questions of the artist and the viewer. It asks the viewer to participate, not to be a bystander to the event. The personal drama of the painter's life is all encompassing and the painting becomes larger than life, always an epic in time and place. The painting slides between past and present icons and traditions. Before abstract art—“Art meant everything that was in it, not what you could take out of it.” The abstract expressionist has little patience with the mundane; he is the aggressor, adventurer searching for truth and honesty, a working view of endless possibilities and perfection. The abstraction of nature is what the artist sees naturally. The great painters such as Goya, Turner, and Rembrandt came to the conclusion that abstraction is the true progression of art.

The only real true American art is abstraction. The school of New York started as a radical rebuke of European ideas, a revolution against the old guard and its traditions: This art was formed not just by European immigrants such as Gorky, DeKooning, but also by Americans such as Jackson Pollock and Graham. The great depression cultivated these artists, their freedom of expression, ideas, thoughts, and a back lash against the social order of that time, which prevails today. What should be versus what can be!

Being an abstract expressionist is to produce a highly ambitious art. It is painting in the grand style, challenging the past masters to believe he is the best, not to borrow but to steal. I believe that the abstract expressionist is a solitary figure in a commercial world that is out of touch with social graces, but has intelligent communication with this society. The movement is not dead—he just stands alone.

The artist, particularly the abstract expressionist of the social order has bonded with the blue collar working class people in relation to art. There is no distinction between them. The artist relates to their pain. Seeing it first hand when Mallord Turner observed a hurricane while strapped to a mast of a ship and then painted the picture. A critic said, "It was a mishmash of mist, fog, and distortion. But an old sailor standing next to the critic said, ''No sir, Mr. Turner knows actually what he has painted." I take that same emotional structure of working from within, a decipherer of human experience.

My paintings are about human experience - a direct statement. However, to the painter, the approach in itself is very traditional. I get oil on the canvas with brushes and pallet knives, sometimes using just my fingers, yet I keep it simple. I don't want to complicate the vision with too many visual pretexts as an excuse, such as landscape, human forms or lettering that people can cling to and justify in their lives. I want to mystify people, get them to wonder by searching within themselves for their own truth. This vision can be beautiful, glorious and also distinctly sad. And so, action painting becomes a vibrant burst of energy attacking a canvas as a shark goes towards its prey. One can only challenge his art if the artist has some point of reference, such as life itself and its many complexities.

The abstract expressionist is truly obsessive with his focus of ideals, pushing aside social ethics in order to obtain his only desire, the illusive masterpiece. He knows he will never achieve his "Mona Lisa," because it is the unattainable that is his glory. I believe my paintings are timeless; I am just one of many who carry the torch of the abstract expressionists. My paintings are larger than life, exemplifying their own ideals and space in society as it would be in any given time or age.

The search for truth and honesty must be the very core of art today as it was in the past.

No. Title of Work Date Medium Size (inches) 1

A Sweet Love 2012 oil on canvas 21.5x25

Abstract 102 2012 oil on canvas 10x10

Abstract 103 2015 oil on canvas 10x10

Abstract 104 2012 oil on canvas 12x12

Abstract 105 2017 oil on canvas 10x10

Abstract 106 2016 oil on canvas 10x10

Abstract 107 2012 oil on canvas 10x10

Abstract 108 2017 oil on canvas 10x10

Abstract 109 2011 oil on canvas 12x12

An Emotional Heart 2014 oil on canvas 29x27.5

Broken Hearts & Broken Dreams 2013 oil on canvas 70.75x56.75

Complex Life in Green 2014 oil on paper on board 32x40

Einstein 2017 oil on canvas 30x30

Fairytailes of Dodd 2014 oil on panel 24x24

Friendship 2016 oil on canvas 10x10

Hudson School 2012 oil on panel 24x24

In Like Flynn

In Love 2014 oil on canvas 10x10

Laura's Symphony 2012 oil on canvas 62.25x58.5

Love in Blue 2012 oil on canvas 24x30

Moment 2012 oil on canvas 10x10

Open Desire 2016 oil on canvas 12x12

Perspective 2012 oil on panel 24x24

Pirate's Chest 2014 oil on canvas 35.25x45.25

Sensative Feelings 2015 oil on canvas 20x20

The Bounty 2013 oil on panel 24x24

The Lovers of Verona 2013 oil on canvas 20x20

Timeless 2016 oil on canvas 10x10

Treasure Island 2013 oil on canvas 34.5x30.25

Tsarina 2013 oil on canvas 68x52

Woman 2012 oil on canvas 68x51.75

2017 oil on panel 8x8

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