Tony Chimento
Biography & Works
- Tony Chimento, Inn at Castle Hill, 2022, Oil on Canvas, 30 x 30 In.
Tony Chimento has a diverse portfolio and is widely known for his contemporary hyper-realist style. His work includes extremely detailed and complex interior and still life scenes of amazing detail, clarity, composition and color.
Born and raised in New Jersey, he graduated from Rutgers University and then moved to Woodstock, NY where he began his career as an artist. Chimento has built his career and raised to fame as a realist painter after moving to the Miami area 30 years ago.
He was a resident artist of ArtCenterSouthFlorida for many years. From 1994-2000 he served on ArtCenter's Board of Directors and was Vice Chair of the Board from 2000-2005. He is a member of the International Guild of Realism. He has also been a member of: The Wynwood Art Association, Provincetown Art Association & Museum, and The Woodstock Artist Association.
Chimento has shown in numerous one man shows, and been chosen for many regional and national juried shows and competitions including being the recipient of the 2008 Pollack-Krasner Award. Most recently, he was chosen 2nd Place overall winner of 2021 IGOR Spring Salon Show. He has been chosen twice as a winner in the “New American Paintings” competition for the Southern Region. The Winsor & Newton Company chose his work as the winning entry in their 3rd Annual Competition. He has been written about in a large variety of publications including American Artist Magazine and the New York Times. His awards include The New York Graphic Society Award at the National Academy of Design Show in NYC, and the Grand Prize for painting in the prestigious Silver mine Guild Center for the Arts Competition. He has been chosen for awards by jurors like Ted Stebbins, Curator of Paintings, Boston Museum, Vivian Raynor, Art Critic, New York Times, and John I.H. Baur, Director Emeritus, Whitney Museum of Art, NYC.
Art Critic Hilton Kramer, in reviewing a show for the New York Times, containing Tony Chimento’s work commented in a review, “...still there are paintings of some interest here by artists who were new to this writer.... Tony Chimento’s “Sunday Afternoon” is a solid realist work”
In one of the first reviews of his work, Sylvia Day writes in Lifestyle Magazine: “My first introduction to Chimento’s work was at a show at the Woodstock Artist’s Association. There.... was a large painting which made an immediate impression of elegance and uncommon technique... Chimento paints large canvases, their dramatic subject matter and impeccable draughtsmanship a feast for the eye... He owns an original and unmistakably unique style.”
Born and raised in New Jersey, he graduated from Rutgers University and then moved to Woodstock, NY where he began his career as an artist. Chimento has built his career and raised to fame as a realist painter after moving to the Miami area 30 years ago.
He was a resident artist of ArtCenterSouthFlorida for many years. From 1994-2000 he served on ArtCenter's Board of Directors and was Vice Chair of the Board from 2000-2005. He is a member of the International Guild of Realism. He has also been a member of: The Wynwood Art Association, Provincetown Art Association & Museum, and The Woodstock Artist Association.
Chimento has shown in numerous one man shows, and been chosen for many regional and national juried shows and competitions including being the recipient of the 2008 Pollack-Krasner Award. Most recently, he was chosen 2nd Place overall winner of 2021 IGOR Spring Salon Show. He has been chosen twice as a winner in the “New American Paintings” competition for the Southern Region. The Winsor & Newton Company chose his work as the winning entry in their 3rd Annual Competition. He has been written about in a large variety of publications including American Artist Magazine and the New York Times. His awards include The New York Graphic Society Award at the National Academy of Design Show in NYC, and the Grand Prize for painting in the prestigious Silver mine Guild Center for the Arts Competition. He has been chosen for awards by jurors like Ted Stebbins, Curator of Paintings, Boston Museum, Vivian Raynor, Art Critic, New York Times, and John I.H. Baur, Director Emeritus, Whitney Museum of Art, NYC.
Art Critic Hilton Kramer, in reviewing a show for the New York Times, containing Tony Chimento’s work commented in a review, “...still there are paintings of some interest here by artists who were new to this writer.... Tony Chimento’s “Sunday Afternoon” is a solid realist work”
In one of the first reviews of his work, Sylvia Day writes in Lifestyle Magazine: “My first introduction to Chimento’s work was at a show at the Woodstock Artist’s Association. There.... was a large painting which made an immediate impression of elegance and uncommon technique... Chimento paints large canvases, their dramatic subject matter and impeccable draughtsmanship a feast for the eye... He owns an original and unmistakably unique style.”
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"As a young man at college I was encouraged to accept the notion that art could only be valid if it somehow "pushed the envelope". To be avant-garde and new seemed by far the most important criterion to my professors. However, it seemed to me that once that art-historical timeline ended in the late 60's with the minimal artists and the final blank white canvas, then the whole idea of artists making marks on canvas should have ended along with it.
As we all know it didn't. For me, that began to erode the power that the so called "Avant-Garde" held in my thinking about my validity as a realist painter and opened the door for new ways of thinking about art along with my own self- respect as an artist. The question for me then became: Why was it so important to be an artist? If not the agreed upon consensus, what was my work to be about? Initially, I was insecure about the answers that I slowly felt forming inside me with each new painting I completed. Allowing the work to talk to me, I began to be aware on a conscious level of something which was always there intuitively: that my work is mostly about the exploration if beauty and the space we make for its contemplation. In a world where the ugly and violent seem increasingly more intense, the exploration of beauty and serenity, not as escape...but as antidote, certainly must be as valid a reason for making art as any other. |
Initially, I was insecure about the answers that I slowly felt forming inside me with each new painting I completed. Allowing the work to talk to me, I began to be aware on a conscious level of something which was always there intuitively: that my work is mostly about the exploration if beauty and the space we make for its contemplation. In a world where the ugly and violent seem increasingly more intense, the exploration of beauty and serenity, not as escape...but as antidote, certainly must be as valid a reason for making art as any other.
Earlier on, when I felt that if the finished painting was beautiful and special to me, then I succeeded no matter how difficult the journey might have been. As I learn more about the process of painting, I'm finding the process has its own beauty.... (that of becoming), so that the act of painting itself can be seen as a metaphor for what is best about life."
Tony Chimento
Earlier on, when I felt that if the finished painting was beautiful and special to me, then I succeeded no matter how difficult the journey might have been. As I learn more about the process of painting, I'm finding the process has its own beauty.... (that of becoming), so that the act of painting itself can be seen as a metaphor for what is best about life."
Tony Chimento
Tony Chimento - Realism in Painting
Education
BFA Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
Professional Associations
2020 Juried as Member, International Guild of Realism, Scottsdale AZ
2011 Member, Board of Directors, ArtCenter/SouthFlorida
2008-2006 Member, Wynwood Art Association, Wynwood Art District, Miami, FL
2005-2000 Vice-Chair, Board of Directors, ArtCenter/SouthFlorida, Miami Beach, FL
2000-1994 Board member, Board of Directors, ArtCenter/SouthFlorida, Miami Beach, FL
1986-1984 Member, Provincetown Art Association & Museum, Provincetown, MA
1982-1979 Member, Woodstock Artist’s Association, Woodstock, NY
Solo and Group Exhibitions
2021 IGOR Spring Salon Online Exhibition, International Guild of Realism, Scottsdale AZ
2019 One Person Show, Simie Maryles Gallery, Provincetown, MA
2018 One Person Show, Simie Maryles Gallery, Provincetown, MA
2017 One Person Show, Simie Maryles Gallery, Provincetown, MA
2016 One Person Show, Simie Maryles Gallery, Provincetown, MA
2015 One Person Show, William Scott Gallery, Provincetown, MA
2014 I See a Pattern, Robert Lange Gallery, Charleston, SC 2013 North/South Invitational, Robert Lange Gallery, Charleston, SC
2013 Contemporary Realism Invitational Group Show, Miller Gallery, Cincinnati OH
2011 Art Chicago, Merchandize Mart, Chicago, IL 2 Newly Juried Artists Show, ArtCenter/SouthFlorida, Miami Beach, FL
2009 One Man Exhibition- Museo Vault Project Room, Wynwood, Miami, FL.
2007 ArtsUnited Juried Show, Fort Lauderdale,FL
2006 Bridge Art Fair, Miami Beach, FL
2005 12th Annual Realism Invitational, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2004 Art Miami, Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, FL
2004 Art and the City, ArtCenter/South Florida, Miami Beach, FL
2001 New American Paintings Summer Edition, Open Studio Press
1999 The Art of Work, ArtCenter/SouthFlorida, Miami Beach, FL
1997 New American Paintings Winter Edition, Open Studios Press
1995 One Person Show, Ellen Harris Gallery, Provincetown, MA Views From 600, South Florida Art Center, Miami Beach, FL
1994 One Person Show, Ellen Harris Gallery, Provincetown, MA Realism and the Figure, South Florida Art Center, Miami Beach FL Drawings, Ritter Art Gallery,
Florida Atlantic University, Tampa, FL
1992 One Person Show, Lane Gallery, Key West, FL
1990 One Person Show, Lane Gallery, Key West, FL Two Person Show, Lane Gallery, Key West, FL
1989 38th Annual All Florida Juried Exhibition, Boca Museum, Boca Raton, FL 31st Annual Hortt Competition, Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
1988 New Paintings, Ellen Harris Gallery, Provincetown, MA The Summer Show, OK South Gallery, South Miami, FL 25th Anniversary Florida Artist’s Show,
Foster Harmon Gallery, Sarasota FL 3
1987 New Paintings, Rhode Island College, Providence, RI National Juried Competition, Pindar Gallery, New York City, NY Young Artist’s Exhibition,
Provincetown Art Assn., Provincetown, MA 4th Annual Prize Competition, Provincetown Art Assn., Provincetown, MA Art USA Juried Exhibition, Western
Colorado Center for the Arts, Grand Junction, CO
1986 Recent Paintings, University of Lowell, Lowell, MA 1985 Group Show, Tennyson Gallery, Provincetown, MA
1984 Group Show, Jack Gallery, Prince Street, New York, NY
1983 Salmagundi Club Annual Show, New York, NY Large Works Show, Woodstock Artist’s Assn., Woodstock, NY Painting, Drawing, & Photography, Kleinert
Gallery, Woodstock, NY Art in the Upstate, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY Couples, Terrain Gallery, 141 Greene St., New York, NY
1982 The Opposites this Summer, Terrain Gallery, 141 Greene St., New York NY Painting & Sculpture Awards Show, Woodstock Art Assn. Woodstock NY New
Paintings, Night Gallery, Woodstock, NY 47th Annual Exhibition, Cooperstown Art Assn. Cooperstown, NY Realism, Woodstock Artist’s Assn., Woodstock.
1981 Hudson Mohawk Regional Art Exhibition, Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY Salmagundi Club Annual Exhibition, New York, NY Milford Fine Arts
Council Juried Exhibition, Milford, CT Audobon Artists 39th Annual Exhibition, National Arts Club, New York, NY Summit Art Center Juried Show, Summit, NJ
National Academy of Design 156th Exhibition, National Academy, New York Recent Works-All Media Award Show, Woodstock Artist’s Assn., New York
Painting & Sculpture Awards Show, Woodstock Artist’s Assn. New York 23rd National Exhibition of Academic Artists, Springfield, MA 31st Annual Exhibition
of “Knickerbocker Artists” 47 Fifth Ave., New York
1981 Ann. Exhibition, Berkshire Artist Assn. Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield MA 44th Ann. Artists of Central NY, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica NY 43rd
Ann. Ex. of Cont. American Ptg, Society of the 4 Arts, Palm Beach, FL 4 1980 43rd Artist’s of Central NY, Museum of Art, Munson Williams Proctor Institute
Utica, NY 29th Fall Exhibition, Berkshire Art Assn., Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA Awards 2021 Second Prize, IGOR Spring Salon, International Guild of
Realism, Scottsdale AZ
2008 Pollock-Krasner Award ($25,000.00 Prize for Painting), Pollock Krasner Foundation, NYC, NY 2007 Arts United Juried Exhibition (Best of Show) ArtServe
Exhibition Space, Ft. Lauderdale, FL Juror: Jorge Santis, Curator of Collections, Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale
2001-1997 New American Paintings Competition Open Studios Press Juror: James Rondeau, Curator, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT 2001 Juror: Claire
Bell, Director of Collections, Museum of the City of N Y
1995 Award for Painting Winsor & Newton 3rd Annual Art Competition Juror: Stephen Doherty, Editor in Chief, American Artist Magazine
1986 Award for Painting Art of New England Juried Competition Cape Cod Art Association, Barnstable, MA
1985 Award for Painting Summit Art Center Juried Show Juror: Vivian Raynor, Art Critic, New York Times
1982 Antoinette Shultis Memorial Award Realism Woodstock Artist’s Association, Woodstock, NY Juror: Robert Morris, Sculptor
The Silvermine Guild Award (1st Prize, Painting) The 33rd New England Exhibition of Painting Silvermine Guild Center for the Arts, New Canaan CT Juror:
Ted Stebbins, Jr. Curator of American Paintings, 5 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
1981 Mortimer L. Medrich Memorial Award for Painting Mamaronick Artist’s Guild 25th Anniversary Show Jurors: Roy Gossow, Sculptor, Louis K. Miesel, dealer,
historian New York Graphic Society Award 32nd New England Exhibition of Painting Silvermine Guild Center for the Arts Juror: John I. H. Baur, Director
Emeritus, Whitney Museum of Art
Purchase Award 46th Annual Exhibition Cooperstown Art Association Jurors: Isabel Bishop, Frank Eckmair, Carol Kline
1980 Woodstock Artist’s Assn. Award All Media Juried Art Show Juror: Bud Hopkins
Honorable Mention Springfield Art Assn 62nd National Exhibition Springfield, MA Jurors: Marilyn Hoffman, Director, Brockton Museum, Brockton, MA Norman
Rice, Director, Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, NY
Certificate of Merit National Art Show Terrance Gallery, Columbia Greene College, Hudson NY
Excerpts from Publications
Hilton Kramer
New York Times, March 6, 1981
REALISTS ENLIVEN SHOW AT ACADEMY “Still there are paintings of some interest here by artists who were new to this writer...Tony Chimento’s ‘Sunday Afternoon’ is a solid realist work...”
\Mikhail Horowitz The Daily Freeman, Sept. 16th, 1983 AT KLIENERT: FOUR ARTISTS STRONG IN THEIR MEDIA “Chimento is a great presence in the Woodstock art scene, literally and figuratively. His paintings are giant in conception, scale and impact on the viewer.”
Sylvia Day Lifestyle Magazine THE REALIST VS THE SURREALIST 6 My first introduction to Chimento’s work was at a show at the Woodstock Artist’s Association. There....was a large painting which made an immediate impression of elegance and uncommon technique...Chimento paints large canvases, their dramatic subject matter and impeccable draughtsmanship at feast for the eye...(He) owns an original and unmistakably unique style.
Jack Pearson.
Education
BFA Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ
Professional Associations
2020 Juried as Member, International Guild of Realism, Scottsdale AZ
2011 Member, Board of Directors, ArtCenter/SouthFlorida
2008-2006 Member, Wynwood Art Association, Wynwood Art District, Miami, FL
2005-2000 Vice-Chair, Board of Directors, ArtCenter/SouthFlorida, Miami Beach, FL
2000-1994 Board member, Board of Directors, ArtCenter/SouthFlorida, Miami Beach, FL
1986-1984 Member, Provincetown Art Association & Museum, Provincetown, MA
1982-1979 Member, Woodstock Artist’s Association, Woodstock, NY
Solo and Group Exhibitions
2021 IGOR Spring Salon Online Exhibition, International Guild of Realism, Scottsdale AZ
2019 One Person Show, Simie Maryles Gallery, Provincetown, MA
2018 One Person Show, Simie Maryles Gallery, Provincetown, MA
2017 One Person Show, Simie Maryles Gallery, Provincetown, MA
2016 One Person Show, Simie Maryles Gallery, Provincetown, MA
2015 One Person Show, William Scott Gallery, Provincetown, MA
2014 I See a Pattern, Robert Lange Gallery, Charleston, SC 2013 North/South Invitational, Robert Lange Gallery, Charleston, SC
2013 Contemporary Realism Invitational Group Show, Miller Gallery, Cincinnati OH
2011 Art Chicago, Merchandize Mart, Chicago, IL 2 Newly Juried Artists Show, ArtCenter/SouthFlorida, Miami Beach, FL
2009 One Man Exhibition- Museo Vault Project Room, Wynwood, Miami, FL.
2007 ArtsUnited Juried Show, Fort Lauderdale,FL
2006 Bridge Art Fair, Miami Beach, FL
2005 12th Annual Realism Invitational, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2004 Art Miami, Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami Beach, FL
2004 Art and the City, ArtCenter/South Florida, Miami Beach, FL
2001 New American Paintings Summer Edition, Open Studio Press
1999 The Art of Work, ArtCenter/SouthFlorida, Miami Beach, FL
1997 New American Paintings Winter Edition, Open Studios Press
1995 One Person Show, Ellen Harris Gallery, Provincetown, MA Views From 600, South Florida Art Center, Miami Beach, FL
1994 One Person Show, Ellen Harris Gallery, Provincetown, MA Realism and the Figure, South Florida Art Center, Miami Beach FL Drawings, Ritter Art Gallery,
Florida Atlantic University, Tampa, FL
1992 One Person Show, Lane Gallery, Key West, FL
1990 One Person Show, Lane Gallery, Key West, FL Two Person Show, Lane Gallery, Key West, FL
1989 38th Annual All Florida Juried Exhibition, Boca Museum, Boca Raton, FL 31st Annual Hortt Competition, Museum of Art, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
1988 New Paintings, Ellen Harris Gallery, Provincetown, MA The Summer Show, OK South Gallery, South Miami, FL 25th Anniversary Florida Artist’s Show,
Foster Harmon Gallery, Sarasota FL 3
1987 New Paintings, Rhode Island College, Providence, RI National Juried Competition, Pindar Gallery, New York City, NY Young Artist’s Exhibition,
Provincetown Art Assn., Provincetown, MA 4th Annual Prize Competition, Provincetown Art Assn., Provincetown, MA Art USA Juried Exhibition, Western
Colorado Center for the Arts, Grand Junction, CO
1986 Recent Paintings, University of Lowell, Lowell, MA 1985 Group Show, Tennyson Gallery, Provincetown, MA
1984 Group Show, Jack Gallery, Prince Street, New York, NY
1983 Salmagundi Club Annual Show, New York, NY Large Works Show, Woodstock Artist’s Assn., Woodstock, NY Painting, Drawing, & Photography, Kleinert
Gallery, Woodstock, NY Art in the Upstate, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY Couples, Terrain Gallery, 141 Greene St., New York, NY
1982 The Opposites this Summer, Terrain Gallery, 141 Greene St., New York NY Painting & Sculpture Awards Show, Woodstock Art Assn. Woodstock NY New
Paintings, Night Gallery, Woodstock, NY 47th Annual Exhibition, Cooperstown Art Assn. Cooperstown, NY Realism, Woodstock Artist’s Assn., Woodstock.
1981 Hudson Mohawk Regional Art Exhibition, Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY Salmagundi Club Annual Exhibition, New York, NY Milford Fine Arts
Council Juried Exhibition, Milford, CT Audobon Artists 39th Annual Exhibition, National Arts Club, New York, NY Summit Art Center Juried Show, Summit, NJ
National Academy of Design 156th Exhibition, National Academy, New York Recent Works-All Media Award Show, Woodstock Artist’s Assn., New York
Painting & Sculpture Awards Show, Woodstock Artist’s Assn. New York 23rd National Exhibition of Academic Artists, Springfield, MA 31st Annual Exhibition
of “Knickerbocker Artists” 47 Fifth Ave., New York
1981 Ann. Exhibition, Berkshire Artist Assn. Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield MA 44th Ann. Artists of Central NY, Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute, Utica NY 43rd
Ann. Ex. of Cont. American Ptg, Society of the 4 Arts, Palm Beach, FL 4 1980 43rd Artist’s of Central NY, Museum of Art, Munson Williams Proctor Institute
Utica, NY 29th Fall Exhibition, Berkshire Art Assn., Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA Awards 2021 Second Prize, IGOR Spring Salon, International Guild of
Realism, Scottsdale AZ
2008 Pollock-Krasner Award ($25,000.00 Prize for Painting), Pollock Krasner Foundation, NYC, NY 2007 Arts United Juried Exhibition (Best of Show) ArtServe
Exhibition Space, Ft. Lauderdale, FL Juror: Jorge Santis, Curator of Collections, Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale
2001-1997 New American Paintings Competition Open Studios Press Juror: James Rondeau, Curator, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT 2001 Juror: Claire
Bell, Director of Collections, Museum of the City of N Y
1995 Award for Painting Winsor & Newton 3rd Annual Art Competition Juror: Stephen Doherty, Editor in Chief, American Artist Magazine
1986 Award for Painting Art of New England Juried Competition Cape Cod Art Association, Barnstable, MA
1985 Award for Painting Summit Art Center Juried Show Juror: Vivian Raynor, Art Critic, New York Times
1982 Antoinette Shultis Memorial Award Realism Woodstock Artist’s Association, Woodstock, NY Juror: Robert Morris, Sculptor
The Silvermine Guild Award (1st Prize, Painting) The 33rd New England Exhibition of Painting Silvermine Guild Center for the Arts, New Canaan CT Juror:
Ted Stebbins, Jr. Curator of American Paintings, 5 Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
1981 Mortimer L. Medrich Memorial Award for Painting Mamaronick Artist’s Guild 25th Anniversary Show Jurors: Roy Gossow, Sculptor, Louis K. Miesel, dealer,
historian New York Graphic Society Award 32nd New England Exhibition of Painting Silvermine Guild Center for the Arts Juror: John I. H. Baur, Director
Emeritus, Whitney Museum of Art
Purchase Award 46th Annual Exhibition Cooperstown Art Association Jurors: Isabel Bishop, Frank Eckmair, Carol Kline
1980 Woodstock Artist’s Assn. Award All Media Juried Art Show Juror: Bud Hopkins
Honorable Mention Springfield Art Assn 62nd National Exhibition Springfield, MA Jurors: Marilyn Hoffman, Director, Brockton Museum, Brockton, MA Norman
Rice, Director, Albany Institute of History & Art, Albany, NY
Certificate of Merit National Art Show Terrance Gallery, Columbia Greene College, Hudson NY
Excerpts from Publications
Hilton Kramer
New York Times, March 6, 1981
REALISTS ENLIVEN SHOW AT ACADEMY “Still there are paintings of some interest here by artists who were new to this writer...Tony Chimento’s ‘Sunday Afternoon’ is a solid realist work...”
\Mikhail Horowitz The Daily Freeman, Sept. 16th, 1983 AT KLIENERT: FOUR ARTISTS STRONG IN THEIR MEDIA “Chimento is a great presence in the Woodstock art scene, literally and figuratively. His paintings are giant in conception, scale and impact on the viewer.”
Sylvia Day Lifestyle Magazine THE REALIST VS THE SURREALIST 6 My first introduction to Chimento’s work was at a show at the Woodstock Artist’s Association. There....was a large painting which made an immediate impression of elegance and uncommon technique...Chimento paints large canvases, their dramatic subject matter and impeccable draughtsmanship at feast for the eye...(He) owns an original and unmistakably unique style.
Jack Pearson.
