Vito Piacente

Vito Piacente is a Toronto-based artist whose works provoke psychological juxtapositions between two extremes, such as fortitude and fragility, pain and pleasure, fulfillment and self-annihilation. Born in 1976, Piacente demonstrated an avid interest in art at a very early age. He attended Chaminade College High School where he met his mentor, Pietro Adamo. He began developing his unconventional artistic signature that would later dominate his canvases by first working in pencil on paper, conté on paper and oil on canvas; eventually moving into the digital art space during his
studies at the International Academy of Design for Advertising and Graphic Design–an influence that would later impact his unique approach to art and art production.

Piacente is a proactive, self-actualized artist whose execution of the human form demonstrates his many influences, from Impressionism and Cubism to commercial art and modern media. He uses the energy of his surroundings and the cities he visits to drive his work,

"From the earliest scratches into some wall of rock, to the digital creations which are my focus, visual art in particular has left an indelible mark on how we, as humans, think, feel, and behave.  At its core, visual art is meant to engage, to solicit a reaction, a thought, or an even deeper feeling. I hope that my visual creations, which are produced from what I believe to be a similar type of creative and emotional wellspring deep inside me - represent a reflection of who I am, and the time in which I exist. It’s my hope that these works, too, spark reaction, inspiration, and provoke thoughts and feelings from their viewers."