“DISEGNO / DIO ~ SEGNO”

August 22 to October 11, 2002
Connelly Center, Villanova University

An Exhibition of Drawings, Models,
and Maquettes by Anthony Visco

The Italian word “Disegno” is a loaded term. It carries so much yet in the Modernist era had lost most if not all of its meaning. Stemming from Quatrocento Italy, it was a term that held both qualitative and quantitative ideas of any given work whether it be architecture, painting sculpture, drawing, gardening, jewelry or tapestry. Disegno was, as it remains, everything must serve the whole, that content serves composition as one does the other. In essence, one translation holds disegno to mean where content and composition, sign and symbol, light, color, form, and space, all serve each other so that they can be seen as one. Perhaps because of this one aspect of all serving and of everything extending itself equally to all, because of the act of creation imitating Creator, “disegno” came to mean “Dio Segno”, “Sign of God”.

Here at Art Gallery at Villanova University are the career works of one of Philadelphia’s finest practitioners of disegno, artist Anthony Visco. After being awarded a Fullbright for study in Florence Italy in 1970, Visco has dedicated his life to the art of drawing, to the art of disegno. While there, he studied the Old Master techniques of drawing from the antique, drawing from life, drawing from nature, chiaroscuro, and brought new light to them. As for his sculpture, his sense of form and composition reveal an innate sense of ability to link subject and object. Here Visco has single handedly revived the art of relief, something that was considered non existent in America and had all but disappeared by his return from Italy in 1971. His relief work in this exhibit is singular and shows the hand of a sculptor draftsman and above all a true composer.

Visco is a thinking artist at work here. Yet his thoughts never belabor us to merely Modernist conceptualizations. His drawings, whether figure studies, paneggio studies, or multi figure compositions, they remain about themselves and never force our attention to the artist. This is not “gallery art” or “art institution art” by any means. This is a renascent art form, not burdened artist’s ego, not “art about art”, or “art about artist”. Because for Visco it is always about the work, it is in his commissioned pieces that Visco continues to summit. Each done as a site-specific work, here we see scale models and maquettes for many of his commissions in the area. As a “church artist”, his sense of animation brings a sense of witness to his figures that is so often missing from contemporary works. His liturgical commissions are numerous throughout the city and outlying communities of Philadelphia.

From his first the Stations of the Cross at Old St. Joseph’s National Shrine to St. Rita, Mr.. Visco displays an incredible array of talent here. His triptych for the Catherine Pew Memorial Chapel at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian shown here in the original plasters is astounding. We can see Visco’s attention to the lessons still unfolding and extending from his studies of Ghiberti’s Gates of Paradise. On display are models of both raredose and doors. In his maquette, “The Door of Miracles” ten reliefs depicting the miracles of Christ would be an asset to any church or greater still cathedral and hopefully one day we will see them realized.

When asked what drawing meant to him Visco responded, “Drawing is a non-stop search, a relentless homily on the human autonomy, a lone “song of myself” as it were. But it can never become so autistic that it loses its universal appeal of longing, of resilience, and of surrender to what it seeks. It is the art of exacting in the fullest sense the best and the worst with both eyes opened and yet with wonderment to it all. In short, it is a visual poem by, for, and to those vigilant in the world. It becomes for me searching, finding, and returning that hand, mind, and heart may as well be one. I have been drawing for as long as I can remember. I can’t imagine ever not drawing.”

As an instructor and director of The Arts Atelier, an extension of his studio where he offers workshops in the fine arts, Mr. Visco has lent his teaching talents to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the University of the Arts, and the New York Academy of Art. His anatomy courses are the first to reinstate the curricula of Eakins lectures along with bringing ecorche, relief composition, advanced cast studies, and compositional drawing to the forefront.

For his studio work, it remains full of works at various stages in which, much like this exhibit where commissions at their various stages of development span from drawings to maquettes, from modeling to finishing bronzes. He continues working on his commissions for St. Rita of Cascia National Shrine.
For further information please write or call:

The Art Gallery
Villanova University
800 Lancaster Avenue
Villanova PA 19085-1699
Gallery Office: 1.610.519.4610

Or:
The Atelier 1426 Christian Street
Philadelphia, PA 19146-2221
Tel: 1.215.546.5160
avisco@anthonyvisco.org

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