Notes From The City: An Abundant Life

I met the Artist Marco Luccio when I attended the opening of his solo show at Paul Calendrillo Gallery in Chelsea a few months ago. Marco is from Australia, and he visits New York City every year for a few months to work on the iconic images he paints and creates prints of through the very painstaking process of drypoint etching, a form of intaglio that he he has become a master of. Marco is what is referred to as a fine artist, not just because of the quality of his work but also because of the detail and skill and precision that go into each piece. He has collectors all over the world, and when I first walked into Paul Calendrillo's gallery, I knew immediately that this was a very special show because I was drawn into the pieces in a way that is not always the case. Quite simply his creations are masterworks, individual prints and etchings carefully made from scenes that he has engraved by hand live outside of some of the most iconic buildings and works of architecture as well as from sculptures within galleries, and for the purposes of this show they were printed on old vintage and antique postcards he has collected over the years.

After seeing his work and beginning to discuss it with him, he invited me to visit his studio where he works when he is in New York. He said it was in the Chrysler Building, and I had some vague idea that it must have a lovely view in some part of it because I had seen some of his posts on Instagram, but I had thought that perhaps he had a studio in a different area and that the photos were from one off moments when he was working on a specific piece. I wasn't prepared for being escorted into the elevator and walking out of it into a stunning space with gorgeous windows and views on every side of what is to my mind one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I have had a love affair with New York City since I was a child - one school vacation when I was nine, my mother asked me what I wanted to do, and I said I wanted to go to New York City, ride a train from Grand Central, climb the Statue of Liberty and go to Wall Street. Though I was born in New England, New York City is in my blood. My family for generations was born and raised in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and their history includes coming through Ellis Island, walking over the Brooklyn Bridge, and in later years taking the Westchester County and Long Island trains to and from work and college and play. There's something about Marco Luccio's work that brings back what is deeply imprinted in my DNA, as well as reminding me of all of the wonderful things I've loved about New York as I read about it and finally moved to my earliest apartments and lived the life I'd always dreamed of living and that so many other people dream of world over.

There is an old ad campaign that uses the song "New York State Of Mind," and though the rest of the state is a large focus in the photographs and videos for it, New York City is always the place where I feel the message is about. All I need is to see the Empire State Building or the Chrysler Building on any given day in any weather and I feel like something special is about to happen. If we can make it here we can make it anywhere to paraphrase the often heard Frank Sinatra song, and yes, the sight of the New York City skyline makes us feel that way. Daunting and exciting, it calls to us, luring us in and promising that we can and will achieve our wildest dreams. And Marco's pieces have that same draw - I was reminded during the show of Andy Warhol's images and slide shows, the long film that showed only the Empire State Building without any other motion, the camera trained on a face or place in time. There are so many levels and layers in Marco's work because of the love he has for the city and for its history, for the art and Artists who have gone before and whose work still astonishes and inspires us today.

Marco is a painter as well as a photographer in addition to the drypoint etchings he creates, and during my visit he took some photographs of me that remain some of the most lovely memories I have. The natural architecture of the Chrysler Building is astonishingly gorgeous inside as well as outside, and the variety of shaped windows create views that are one of a kind every day because of the changing light and landscape. Marco himself has created work in different media in that space as well as traveling to others to get different perspectives, and the result is that his work is as varied as the ever changing views surrounding him. A visit with Marco Luccio is not only inspiring, but it results in a deep sense of wonder and the beauty of life as each piece begins to speak and tell its own story and reminds us of the stories we have always known.

Marco Luccio

In His Studio At The Chrysler Building

New York City
http://www.marcoluccio.com.au/