About Joseph R. D'Apice                  Artists Statement   •   Resume

Joseph has been an artist ever since he picked up his first pencil at a very young age. Since then, he has explored oils, pastel and charcoal. He graduated from Montserrat College of Art with a BFA in Painting with honors.

From his apartment in Boston, Joseph paints and draws nightscapes of real and imagined places. Joseph credits George Gabin; mentor, professor at Montserrat and accomplished artist with having the largest influence on his artistic development. Joseph admires Claude Monet's work with color and Georges Seurat's drawings. Joseph is a serious young painter who continues to develop ambitious work. His paintings are luminous cityscapes that capture the night-time color and evoke a specific mood. He uses small pieces of color, sensitively applied, to develop work of impressive scale and complexity. His hope is that when people view his work that they have an emotional experience.

Joseph is a member of the Copley Society of Boston, and a former member of the Cambridge Art Association.(1999). Joseph's painting, "Down Town Crossing" was a featured work in the Arts Festival of Boston (2003). He also was a participant in The Collection Art and Wine Series, DaVinci Designer Gallery (2003). Joseph was chosen to participate in the juried Cambridge Art Association National Prize Show (November 1999). He also won the Montserrat College of Art, Dana Confalone Prize (1995). Joseph shows at the Copley Society of Boston and is actively pursuing representation in New York City.

 

Artists Statement

I am a graduate of Montserrat College of art with a Bachelor degree in Fine Art in painting and am an associate member of the Copley Society of Boston.

My medium is oil on canvas and charcoal on paper. I also use photographs for reference, which I take myself.

Almost all of my works are of cityscapes and landscapes done at night.  I choose to do this because I do not see many artists totally dedicated to exploring lights shining at night.  To me, lights at night are sharp and luscious and offer many variations of intensity.  I enjoy painting these scenes; not only for the vibrant colors that they contain, but also for the way the colors play on various kinds of architecture.  The use of architecture in some of my work is like a backdrop because what I am really after is the light.  The only time I focus on the architecture is when that place means something to me.  I am intrigued with night’s mystery, the fact that you can’t see everything and things are not always what they seem.  This mystery, at night, invites people to focus with some imagination on what they are looking at. Night paintings force me, as a painter, to think abstractly.  For example; when the painting I am working on has a shadow that is almost completely black, I have to improvise on what is in that space.  I do not believe that in any of my work there should be any completely black spaces void of any color because this is not true in nature.

The process in my work is that when I find a scene to paint I take panoramic photographs of it. I take photographs of it without using a flash and have my camera set on a long exposure, maybe 10 to 12 seconds.  Then, after the pictures are developed, I tape them together and arrange them as one large photo collage.  I then reproduce the scene on canvas or paper. I am not, however, a slave to the photo collage.  I use the photo collage for reference, to help with information, a study, because if I were going for photo-realism I would have become a photographer.  Sometimes I add to a scene by enhancing the color or changing the composition a little.

Depth is an important part of the focus of my paintings.  To me, a painting is not successful without causing the viewer to experience a sense of stepping inside the canvas.

My hope is that when a person sees one of my paintings that they have an emotional experience.

I would like people to reexamine what they are looking at the next time they go out at night.

My goal is to be able to paint what inspires me and to build a client base that allows me to continue in this pursuit.

 

Resume

Objective:
To enhance my exposure as an independent artist through corporate and gallery exhibitions.

Education:
Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA, 1992-1998 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting (GPA 4.0 1998)

Exhibitions:
Copley Society Red Room Show, February, 2004
Copley Society Group Show, November, 2003
Dorchester Open Studios, September and October, 2003
Arts Festival of Boston, 2003
The Collection Art and Wine Series, DaVinci Designer Gallery, June, 2003
Copley Society Group Show July 2003 Cambridge Art Association National Prize Show, November 1999

Memberships:
DeCordova Museum's Corporate Program, February 2005
Copley Society of Boston, Associate Member, 2003
Certified Artist, 2003
The Cambridge Art Association, 1999

Honors:
Montserrat College of Art, Painting Award, 1998 Who's Who in American Colleges and Universities, 1998
Montserrat College of Art, Honors Award: Spring 1998, Fall 1997, Spring 1996, Fall 1996
Montserrat College of Art, Dana Confalone Prize, 1995 Boston Herald Second Annual Scholastic Competition Award, 1989