Artist Bio:
Vincent Salvati is a multi-media artist who uses abstraction as a language to portray his feelings, dreams, and sentimentalities. Salvati was born and raised in close proximity to New York City, which would become a big influence on his work. From an early age, the personality and hardiness of the city and its extremes made a lasting impression.
Salvati began his art education at the Fashion Institute of Technology at the age of sixteen where he began to explore his abilities and refine his aesthetics. He then attended Pratt Institute where the foundation of his painting practice solidified.
Salvati has always sought to have an exchange with his audience via conversation, interactivity, or collaboration.
Among his many solo and group exhibitions are The Paterson Museum, George Segal Gallery at Montclair State University, The Montclair Art Museum, and his inclusion in the New Jersey Arts Annual at the New Jersey State Museum. He served for seven years on the board of directors for the Jersey City-based non-profit, Pro Arts. He received his graduate degree from William Paterson University, and currently lives and works in New Jersey.
Artist Statement:
“It’s the things we play with and the people who help us play that make a great difference in our lives.”
-Fred Rogers
The Play series is my newest body of work. For the last handful of years, the pandemic and the political divide in this country had guided my previous work in a specific direction. The atmosphere around me seeps into my work, and I welcome that. While my work is not about those things, the energy and emotion are borrowed from them.
Once we began to emerge, I welcomed the renewed vitality that surrounded me. And from that spark, I created the Play series. The series consists of twenty-four pieces—fourteen oil paintings on canvas and ten works on paper. They range in size from 8×10 inches to 42×42 inches.
This series focuses on the idea of play and the emotions involved in the act of playing. We often forget the importance of relaxing the mind, of letting go of our troubles, of being in a state of joy.
In these paintings, I try to capture the sensation of carefreeness I had as a child simply playing. My use of color, shape, design, and texture all contribute to the painting’s ability to convey that sensation.
My use of oil pastel and oil stick is something I have developed over years. I love the direct contact I have with the surface utilizing the oil stick or a stump or even my fingers.