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| BIOGRAPHY |
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Ray DiCecco, formerly of Pennsylvania, has been living and working in New York City since May 1998.
DiCecco is one of the most diverse painters on the contemporary scene. Throughout an incredibly productive career he has experimented with virtually every painting medium, perfecting techniques to stunning results. The psychological landscape has been his mainstay, with imagery that tackles the human psyche, transporting its viewers to sensuous locales and to the more inhospitable recesses of the subconscious. Most of these paintings are now in the hands of private collectors.
DiCecco has always been preoccupied with art history's greater themes of birth, life, and death. Though paint is his holy grail, recently he has incorporated digital photography in his work. From a 1990s series of crucifixions to the most recent Madonna and Child paintings, DiCecco presents a renaissance aesthetic twisted by contemporary light. The existential and the erotic are constantly interwoven in these images. From the darker, emotional dialogues between mother and child to sex on the cross, DiCecco makes paintings that confront us. |
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| EDUCATION |
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| BFA Penn State University |
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| REPRESENTATION |
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| SOLO EXHIBITS |
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Selected Solo
2002 Portraits/Unlands Time/Life Bldg. New York NY
1997 The Planets II Rodale Press Emmaus PA
1996 The Planets I Pelak Studio Allentown PA
1991 Stations of Couples Crossing Moose Lounge Allentown PA
1988 An Existential Romance Open Space Gallery Allentown PA
1987 Earth Water Sky Springer Gallery Allentown PA
1987 Palms Perspectives Americus Center Allentown PA |
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| GROUP EXHIBITS |
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Selected Group
2006 Skarry Nite KFMK Gallery Chelsea NY
2002 15 New Painters LICK Gallery Long Island City NY
2001 New Directions Gale Martin Gallery Chelsea NY
2000 Visions Atmosphere Gallery Chelsea NY
1997 Mayfair Juried Muhlenburg Cntr Allentown PA
1993 Works on Paper Heilender Gallery New York NY
1991 Current Trends Bauhouse Gallery Baltimore MD
1984 Museum Juried Allentown Museum Allentown PA |
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| ARTICLES |
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Portraits of Self and Others
September 2006
by Mary Hrbacek
Ray DiCecco's recent series of portrait paintings diverges radically from tradition in process and intention. He starts with a digital photograph and then develops key elements that disclose the character of his subjects by applying layers of acrylic and oil. The artist delves beneath the surface of the face to expose his own emotional response to the image. This process might be a defense mechanism to create distance between him and the subject, a kind of psyche protection, or an attempt to explore the conflict inherent in the power that these faces hold over him.
Striving for authenticity DiCecco first takes photographs to capture his subjects, rather than painting them. Using a layer of machine mediation, he alters the photo on the computer, honing the dark and light tones to make a reproduction that echoes the original. Then he applies paint in a process of deconstructing the face creating a heightened level of abstraction reminiscent of the kind of painting he is most known for. The resultant portraits show the darker side of humanity, evoking haunting apparitions that palpitate with fear and desire.
By establishing direct eye contact between the viewer and the subject -- these faces look right at us -- DiCecco demands that his audience confronts their own needs and vulnerabilities. He discloses that which we try to conceal and in so doing forges a connection with us. The message here is that we must take responsibility for our own dichotomies.
These paintings are not about pleasing the subject or the observer. The sense of separation expressed is in the spirit of Jean-Paul Sartre and Ingmar Bergman. They affirm the accountability we should assume for the meaning we bring to our lives and remind us that we are ultimately free to create our own particular circumstances. This painter is not inhibited to pursue the age-old questions of mortality.
His faces extend an invitation for us to participate in a journey to a place more forbidden where appearances dissolve and what's left is that subconscious that forces us to look at what we would rather avoid. In the end we can only ask who are these paintings really about. DiCecco's portraits remind us that in our most honest moments when we are alone and facing our own reflections, the last question will always be - Who am I?
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| OTHER INFO |
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| SCHOOL INFO |
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