Nico Monteleone Toronto                                                                                                   from Centre of the City  -  January 2008

Artist Nico Monteleone by name, but if you’re in and around Toronto, you’re likely to see his work. Part of an artistic dream team, Nico travelled east to the coast and back to Toronto skillfully painting more than 100 vibrant murals that don the walls at Loblaws stores, one more unique than the next.

“I love painting murals – the bigger the better. For charity I recently completed a 22-ft by 9-ft mural of calm landscape with a waterfall at Rouge Valley Hospital,” says Monteleone while sipping green tea at a Toronto café. Remember when Mayor Mel turned Toronto into a “moose-eum”? Monteleone created “Beer Moose” that stood on guard at LCBO’s Harbourfront head office, “Wine Moose” at Queen’s Quay, “Spirit Moose” on Spadina Avenue and “Canadian Whiskey” at Yonge and Wellesley – a job he won in a design competition. In support of the Smiles of Innocence fund- raising organization for Sick Kids’ Hospital, he donated “Toronto Maple Leaf Jersey” acrylic on canvas with picture perfect likeness, auctioned off at their tenth annual gala in November. When singer Romina Di Gasbarro saw the tal- ented artist’s “Selva Mala,” a 36-by 48-inch vibrant contemporary painting at Masterpiece Gallery, she requested the image appear on the poster promot- ing Music for Art’s Sake, her concert at Glen Gould artist Nico Monteleone by name, but if you’re in and around Toronto, you’re likely to see his work. Part of an artistic dream team, Nico travelled east to the coast and back to Toronto skillfully painting more than 100 vibrant murals that don the walls at Loblaws stores, one more unique than the next. “I love painting murals – the bigger the better. For charity I recently completed a 22-ft by 9-ft mural of calm landscape with a waterfall at Rouge Valley Hospital,” says Monteleone while sipping green tea at a Toronto café. Remember when Mayor Mel turned Toronto into a “moose-eum”? Monteleone created “Beer Moose” that stood on guard at LCBO’s Harbourfront head office, “Wine Moose” at Queen’s Quay, “Spirit Moose” on Spadina Avenue and “Canadian Whiskey” at Yonge and Wellesley – a job he won in a design competition. In support of the Smiles of Innocence fund- raising organization for Sick Kids’ Hospital, he donated “Toronto Maple Leaf Jersey” acrylic on canvas with picture perfect likeness, auctioned off at their tenth annual gala in November. When singer Romina Di Gasbarro saw the tal- ented artist’s “Selva Mala,” a 36-by 48-inch vibrant contemporary painting at Masterpiece Gallery, she requested the image appear on the poster promoting Music for Art’s Sake, her concert at Glen Gould Studio. “I love the idea of art and music together; they complement each other,” says Monteleone. “Selva Mala” his latest experiment in mixed media achieved by dropping acrylic paint from a brush one after another, produces a three-dimensional look. “If you go into the woods, there are layers of trees and behind those, others. That’s what I’m trying to create you have to search through layers to find the soul,” Monteleone passionately explains. Rarely selling his art, Monteleone considers that commercial. “I’m working because I believe in something – that’s my expression. I put my soul into my work, every piece is part of my body,” he says. His feelings run deep, back to when he was three years old living in Monteleone di Puglia, Italy. One day a gift arrived from a Canadian relative. Monteleone carefully unwrapped the small package containing tiny pots of finger paints in bold colours. “Since then I’ve been painting first with my fingers and then gradually moving to brushes.” At the age of eight he took third prize in an art contest, bested only by artists five years his senior. Later studying with masters in Florence, he specialized in painting and cinema. Captivated by German filmmaker Wim Wenders – known forBuena Vista Social Club and Faraway, So Close! – he had a thirst for his work. “I wrote my thesis on Wim Wenders, he’s my inspiration.” Following in the director’s path, Monteleone began making documentaries and dramas. The emerging filmmaker gained recognition for his short, Strangers in the City at Toronto’s Italian-Canadian Film Festival, Italy’s Independent Foggia Film Fest, and the Montreal Italian Film Festival. He also won praise for Il Canto Delle Pietre (The Song of the Stones) and Il Sole Sopra un Cielo Grigio (The Sun Above a Gray Sky) at the Sacher Festival in Rome. More recently his documentary Il Cavaliere Bianco (The White Night) about a heroic elderly man saving 20 lives during World War Two accompanied the newly published La Resistenza Negata by Paolo Sabbetta based on the same story. What’s Nico’s dream? To work with idol Wim

Wenders, “I already have ideas for my next two films.”

From   http://www.centreofthecity.com

Loblaws Crew

Charity