About the Artist

BARBARA BONANNO Catskill, NY barbara@barbarabonanno.com

Studied under: Dean Richardson Lorraine Shemesh Michael Smith Louisa Chase Roland Belhumeur

Degrees

BFA, Rhode Island School of Design MFA, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Illinois

Collections

Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Illinois

Awards and Grants

Ford Foundation Grant

Bio

I have been painting continuously since graduate school, in addition to writing short stories and running an historic restoration business. I have chosen not to pursue showing my work in the past due to the bias against women in the art world. Things have changed in recent years and I am hopeful that I will able to show my paintings. The most recent five paintings are part of a series entitled Coastal Spirits. They are in oil and all measure 3 by 4 feet.

As for my short stories, several have been published in Voices In Italian Americana and Painted Bride Quarterly.

The Historic Restoration company is a contracting business that restores the facades of historic buildings in NYC and Brooklyn. I have run the business with my husband, Jeff Weinman, for 22 years.

Artist’s Statement

I paint in the purely western tradition of figurative painting. I am influenced by Rembrandt, Goya, Soutine, and Bacon….among others. My recent work explores the idea of life after death and pays homage to the lingering presence of those I have lost. Less recent work explores the attitudes and emotive possibilities of the human figure in motion.