Frank Minuto: My Toy Robots

May 6 – July 9, 2022

Artist Reception: Saturday, June 11, 6-9 pm

Back when space travel was the dream and robots were made of plastic and tin, toy robots came packed in a box that promised the most amazing adventures for merely a couple of dollars. The box itself was fascinating and much more exciting than the toy inside. I found myself drawing pictures of the robot depicted on the box more often than the toy itself. “Created by man,” and they were right. Those pieces of tin and chunks of plastic activate the greatest toy of all, your mind.

I have always been fascinated by graffiti-style writing, such as the markings I see on buildings as I pass through different towns while riding on the train. To me it says something about the people who live there, whom I may never see. I interpret their messages as an individual testament, that they were here and they exist as individuals, albeit sometimes expressed in a rough, or crude style. While they may be marks made with spray paint, to me they are similar to early art forms, such as marks in a cave or carvings on stone.

I feel that my paintings capture the fun and joy of my first childhood drawings, that wonderful merging of objects with words. My work is driven by the pure joy of art.

In their spontaneity and dramatic intensity, many of these paintings bear similar hallmarks of Jasper Johns, Pablo Picasso, Jean Basquiat and Claes Oldenburg.

Frank Minuto

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Frank Minuto’s education includes Chouinard Art Institute, Otis College of Art and Design and the University of London. He is currently teaching art at Palos Verdes Art Center.

Visitors age five and older must show proof of COVID-19 vaccination. Wearing face masks is strongly encouraged.