The expressive paintings of Nino Angelo revolve around struggles and clashes. Colours, animals, memories, and emotions alternate on his large canvases. Much of what he paints stems from his own emotions and memories. For instance, when Nino was a child, he was told that his father had only two months to live, due to terminal cancer. His father promised to fight and didn't give up. During that time, Nino spent a lot of time in his room, surrounded by wallpaper with animals. Many of the animals in his work originate from the memory of this wallpaper.

By making memories tangible, they gain new meaning and become part of the present and the future. Besides the fact that his memories play an important role in his work, intuition often takes over while painting. Each time, he creates a new environment, and the analytical mind fades away. The works reveal themselves slowly and continually to Nino. While painting, he seeks a balance between abstraction and figuration. The chaos that unfolds in this process invites the viewer to keep looking and to continually discover something new.

*Written by: Hagar Schuringa.

Survival of the Strongest
Acrylic, pastels and oil pastels on canvas.
180 x 160 cm, 2023

Clash
Acrylic on canvas.
180 x 160 cm, 2024

Artist statement

Memories, emotions, and struggle play a significant role in my painting practice. Within my work, the intertwining of these elements is evident. Many of the animals and figures in my canvases refer to the wallpaper of my childhood bedroom, a place where I spent a lot of time after receiving bad news about my father, who was given only two months to live due to cancer. He promised to fight and not give up. These selected works are personal visual echoes that capture fragments of the past and bring them back to life.

Communicating personal memories through a visual language, where this sense of emotion and struggle is visible in the paint. Just as memories are fragments of a whole, I play with this in my work through open/closed forms that flow into each other and come into their own. This tense relationship between figuration and abstraction manifests itself in the compositional richness of my large canvases. One of the most important things I want is for my work to slowly and continually reveal itself, so that you never feel like you are truly done looking.

Ambitions

Exhibiting my work in renowned galleries and museums, achieving financial stability with a full focus on painting. I will continue to strive for personal and artistic growth in my paintings. And last but not least, gaining international recognition.

Everything you can imagine is real!

Learned during the studies

Never listen to those who try to discourage you from what you believe in and live for. No one is born a great painter. You develop your talents over time. If you combine this with incredible curiosity and a drive to become great, you have a recipe for someone who will achieve amazing results.

List of publications / exhibitions / prices / concerts / shows etc.

2023 Ratatouille
De maak ruimte
Utrecht, The Netherlands

Visual Echoes

Visual Echoes Capturing fragments from the past and bringing them back to ‘life’ with paint.

An exploration of how memory and emotion play a significant role in my painting, and how this develops.