THE ART OF RON SCOLASTICO
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BIOGRAPHY In his art, Ron Scolastico combines painterly forms and structural elements to create a new synthesis. Borrowing a term from architecture, he calls this work, Structural Expressionism. Scolastico’s art can be linked to both the Abstract Expressionists and the Hard Edge painters of the 1960s and 70s. Drawing upon those two diverse styles, his paintings set the turbulence of organic, gestural forms against the control and order of geometric elements. The result is compelling contrasts that refer to the ongoing issue of order versus chaos. On the one hand, his paintings allude to the struggle of contemporary society to control its rebellious and chaotic elements, and, on the other, the individual’s desire to bring harmony and order to the disquieting impulses that he or she discovers within the human self. Scolastico began his career as an artist in 1968 while a student at the University of California at Berkeley. He had just returned from a year of study in France at the University of Bordeaux. In France he made friends with young painters and sculptors who introduced him to the world of modern art. Visiting his friends’ studios and accompanying them to museums and exhibitions in Paris brought to life his passion for painting. After his return to Berkeley in 1968, Scolastico began to make political protest paintings done in the Surrealist style. (Visit the Gallery to see a photo of his very first painting) Then, sparked by his admiration for the work of Robert Motherwell, Willem de Kooning, Jasper Johns, and Richard Diebenkorn, he began to explore pure abstraction. He later initiated his first experiments in Structural Expressionism by working with intricate combinations of vertical planes. Now, in an ongoing series of paintings entitled, Inner Planes, he combines the vertical planes with an interplay between his active organic shapes and the precise geometric elements. He often incorporates metallic colors, along with gold, silver, and copper leaf to add vigor and vitality to his paintings. Scolastico’s work is widely exhibited in the United States and abroad. It was selected for inclusion in the historic Salon d’Automne in Paris. Established in 1903, the Salon has been an important venue for presenting the work of artists such as Picasso, Matisse, Gauguin, and many modern painters during their lifetimes.
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Ron Scolastico
Site last updated December 2007 |