Tony Griffin Exhibition
Park Afternoon
A tell-tale sign of a true artist is the ability to manipulate many different mediums and subjects to create something beautiful. As an artist evolves in their career, their focus and inspiration often shifts causing color palette, content and mediums to adapt alongside them.
The Art Cellar represents over 50 artists of different backgrounds and styles. Some classically trained and some never formally trained at all. Each has a unique center and muse. One notable artist in the gallery known for his range in subject and medium is Tony Griffin.
Tony Griffin was classically trained in Florence, Italy at a young age when he apprenticed with brother in law, Ben Long. Long is a very well known fresco artist throughout the East Coast and Europe, and he took Tony under his wing when he was only eleven years old. While in Italy, Tony was heavily influenced by Italian Renaissance masters as well as Florence’s dynamic community and landscape, focusing on classical realism. Once he returned to the United States, he briefly studied at the North Carolina School of the Arts before continuing onto Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art where the instruction focused mainly on contemporary realism. By combining his training overseas and domestically, he was able to foster his own unique style. He remains faithful to the principles and ideals of his classical background while developing a looser, more confident voice as his career continues to grow.
Tony Griffin is a perceptual painter as his pieces are direct responses to observation. “Everything begins with something observed and felt. Observation is not an end but rather a beginning point for an emotional, formal, or imaginative statement of exploration. I believe in the responsive energy that comes from painting directly in front of the motif, the give and take between painter and subject, painter and painting.” - Tony Griffin. Something that characterizes him as an artist is his exploration through this observation - he is not only a master of landscape but figurative, still life and interiors in ink, oils and pastels. He conveys every subtle nuance of his subjects through his broad brushstrokes from fog in a grassy valley to sun peaking through a window on a summer morning, always reflecting a sense of calm and control.
An exhibition for Tony Griffin will be held at The Art Cellar Gallery Monday, July 12 through Saturday, July 24. Join us for a chance to interact with Tony and his artwork at an open house on Saturday, July 17 from 4 to 6pm. We have prepared a very exciting line-up for this summer season which will feature other artists including Gregory Smith, Noyes Capehart and Raymond Chorneau. Visit www.artcellargallery.com for a full season schedule!