John Torreano
Encyclopedia
John Torreano is an American
artist from New York City
. He is currently Clinical Professor of Studio Art at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University
. Torreano is known for utilizing faceted gems in a variety of mediums in order to create "movement oriented perception" in his works. Artist Richard Artschwager
described Torreano's works as "paintings that stand still and make you move."
, Michigan
, United States in 1941. He earned his BFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 1963. He received his MFA from Ohio State University
in 1967. In his career Torreano has visited nearly every major art school in the United States and Canada as an "artist in residence." Since 1992, he has been Clinical Professor of Studio Art at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University. He is currently Director of the MFA in Studio Art Program.
Torreano has worked in a variety of mediums and methods including paint
, sculpture
, relief
, furniture
and hand-blown glass
. His works have been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art
, New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
, the Corcoran Gallery of Art
, Washington, DC, the Indianapolis Museum of Art
, Indianapolis
, and many others. His series of paintings titled "TV Bulge" were featured in the 1969 Whitney Biennial.
family and spent much of his youth as an altar boy. Torreano states that the environment of the Catholic Church influenced his art, with his use of jewels serving as a metaphor for vigil lights. Other religious influences appear in his pieces as well: his work in the 1980s included bejeweled crosses, and in recent years his paintings have used gems to create space-like constellations such as Exploding Galaxy (1981) and Star Field in Saggitarius (2003).
Throughout his career Torreano has investigated the properties of real and fake gemstones in the differing contexts of lighting, placement and materials. In 1972, as an artist in residence at the Art Institute of Chicago
, Torreano first began integrating gems into his paintings. Torreano then experimented with jewel-encrusted columns in 1974-5 and later, intricate furniture pieces, such as a bejeweled mahogany table in 1983.
Torreano theorizes that all art "exists somewhere between a totally abstract creation and a total reproduction of physical things in the world." He believes that artists are similar to physicists in their use of theoretical models to gain insight into the physical world. Torreano uses the gem to bring together the world of theory and the world of things. Because gems are a geometric form as well as an object of popular culture
, his use of fake gems can become real art by standing in the gap between the two.
Because of this, Torreano describes his work as "real fake art." Torreano argues that humans have a role in fabricating and refining gems, just as the artist fabricates a sculpture. Because of this, Torreano's works can be considered more valuable than real gems because there are fewer of them and they are created by an individual artist, "making art value the highest value."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He is currently Clinical Professor of Studio Art at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. Torreano is known for utilizing faceted gems in a variety of mediums in order to create "movement oriented perception" in his works. Artist Richard Artschwager
Richard Artschwager
Richard Artschwager is an American painter, illustrator and sculptor, born in 1923 in Washington, D.C.. Artschwager is best known for his stylistic independence; although he has associations with the Pop Art movement, Conceptual art and Minimalism....
described Torreano's works as "paintings that stand still and make you move."
Career
John Francis Torreano was born in FlintFlint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, United States in 1941. He earned his BFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 1963. He received his MFA from Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
in 1967. In his career Torreano has visited nearly every major art school in the United States and Canada as an "artist in residence." Since 1992, he has been Clinical Professor of Studio Art at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University. He is currently Director of the MFA in Studio Art Program.
Torreano has worked in a variety of mediums and methods including paint
Paint
Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...
, sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, relief
Relief
Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
, furniture
Furniture
Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...
and hand-blown glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
. His works have been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago is a contemporary art museum near Water Tower Place in downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The museum, which was established in 1967, is one of the world's largest contemporary art venues...
, the Corcoran Gallery of Art
Corcoran Gallery of Art
The Corcoran Gallery of Art is the largest privately supported cultural institution in Washington, DC. The museum's main focus is American art. The permanent collection includes works by Rembrandt, Eugène Delacroix, Edgar Degas, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent, Claude Monet, Pablo...
, Washington, DC, the Indianapolis Museum of Art
Indianapolis Museum of Art
The Indianapolis Museum of Art is an encyclopedic art museum located in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. The museum, which underwent a $74 million expansion in 2005, is located on a campus on the near northwest area outside downtown Indianapolis, northwest of Crown Hill Cemetery.The...
, Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
, and many others. His series of paintings titled "TV Bulge" were featured in the 1969 Whitney Biennial.
Major themes
Torreano grew up in a large CatholicCatholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
family and spent much of his youth as an altar boy. Torreano states that the environment of the Catholic Church influenced his art, with his use of jewels serving as a metaphor for vigil lights. Other religious influences appear in his pieces as well: his work in the 1980s included bejeweled crosses, and in recent years his paintings have used gems to create space-like constellations such as Exploding Galaxy (1981) and Star Field in Saggitarius (2003).
Throughout his career Torreano has investigated the properties of real and fake gemstones in the differing contexts of lighting, placement and materials. In 1972, as an artist in residence at the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
, Torreano first began integrating gems into his paintings. Torreano then experimented with jewel-encrusted columns in 1974-5 and later, intricate furniture pieces, such as a bejeweled mahogany table in 1983.
Torreano theorizes that all art "exists somewhere between a totally abstract creation and a total reproduction of physical things in the world." He believes that artists are similar to physicists in their use of theoretical models to gain insight into the physical world. Torreano uses the gem to bring together the world of theory and the world of things. Because gems are a geometric form as well as an object of popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
, his use of fake gems can become real art by standing in the gap between the two.
Because of this, Torreano describes his work as "real fake art." Torreano argues that humans have a role in fabricating and refining gems, just as the artist fabricates a sculpture. Because of this, Torreano's works can be considered more valuable than real gems because there are fewer of them and they are created by an individual artist, "making art value the highest value."
Solo exhibitions
- 2009: Remembering: Neighborhoods and Factories, Flint, Michigan. Gallery Space at NYU Wagner School of Social Service
- 2008: Looking Close, Looking Far: A Survey of Artworks by John Torreano. Elaine L. Jacob Gallery, Wayne State University
- 2007: Scapes. Feature Inc., New York, NY
- 2005: John Torreano. Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, FL
- 2003: Center for Creative Studies, Detroit MI
- 1999: John Torreano: Material World. JCCC Gallery of Art, Overland Park KS
- The Columns: Choreography of Perceptions. The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown OH
- Paintings, Oddballs, and Wallgems.
- 1997: John Torreano. Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis IN
- 1993: Every Gem is a Hand Held Star. Norton Gallery of Art, Palm Beach
- 1989: John Torreano: Natural Models and Material Illusions. The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC
- 1988: Diamond Vases, An Installation. Museum of Modern Art, NY, NY
- John Torreano: Gems, Stars and Perpetual Thinking. Grand Rapids Art Museum, Grand Rapids MI
- 1987: 100 Diamonds. Jamie Wolf Gallery, New York NY
- 1968: The Whitney Museum School, New York NY
Grants and awards
- 2003: The Nancy Graves Foundation Grant for Visual Artists
- 1991: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
- 1989: National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, Washington DC
- 1982: National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, Washington DC
- 1979: Creative Arts for Public Service Program, New York NY
Publications
- 2007: Drawing by Seeing (Abrams Studio)
- 2006: American Art Since 1900 (Blanton Museum of Art)
- 1992: John Torreano: Metaphors and Oxymorons (The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC)