About the artist:

Born in Philadelphia in 1953, Tony earned his B.F.A. from the Philadelphia College of the Arts in 1976, and immediately began his career as a professional illustrator. He has received a number of awards from such organizations as the Society of Illustrators, and the Art Directors Club of Philadelphia. Member, Philadelphia Artist Guild. Tony Mascio is an exciting artist of a new genre. Mascio is an airbrush artist. Airbrush rendering is an exacting, elusive, deceptive, mechanical and laborious job, as the artist meticulously draws and masks, then blows transparent layers of color. The attraction of airbrush rendering is that it reproduces so well. A finished rendering has a fine grain in the tints and heavy stain areas on the paper surface. The color is so translucent and the density so clear that the result is a very refined image. The overlapping of color and shading are interesting keys to understanding the quality of the finished image. The technique of layering color shapes requires that each color area be designed and simplified so that it can be worked into a composition. Because of that simplification, the airbrushed image yields easily to becoming a cartooned reality, a fantasy. Artists like Macic live within their imagination, preoccupied with technique, intrigued by the surface and daydreaming with the media. The airbrush phenomenon has been gaining in momentum since the early 70's. The merchandising of products on television and in publishing has built an enormous new graphic visual vocabulary. An artist like Mascio is a problem solver, a conceptualist and above all, a person who can communicate. The genre of art. Mascio is communicating so effectively that it is becoming subliminal in the collective awareness of our society. Collections Aitkin Kynett N.W. Ayer New York Bell Telephone Eastern Airlines Rohm & Haas Random House Philadelphia Philies Organization CBS Records Warner Brothers Records Fantasy Records Capitol Records Playboy Magazine Philadelphia Inquirer Borden's Ice Cream, Inc. Selected Exhibitions Berg Gallery Locks Gallery Logman Gallery Hill Gallery Rose Gallery Charve Gallery Late in January, 1979, his work was exhibited at The Michener Company for their 30th Presentation of "Creativity" Delaware Valley".