of cars, rain, and movie theaters (sold) Print

Rodolfo Buonocore was born in 1962 in Mar del Plata, Argentina. Though an artist from a young age, he graduated with an advanced degree in psychology from Argentine Catholic University. He worked several years in that field until encouraged by the support of family and fellow artists, he dedicated himself fully to his art. Buonocore studied painting and drawing in Buenos Aires as an apprentice to the Argentine artist, director, and writer Jorge Acha (1946-1996) who became his mentor and most important influence in his development as an artist. Buonocore had several well-received exhibitions in Buenos Aires before immigrating to Los Angeles, California in 1990. From 2004 to mid 2013 the artist lived and worked in Austin, TX and was represented by the Russell Collection and Wally Workman galleries. In the summer of 2013 he and his family moved back to the Los Angeles area. In addition to his original work, Buonocore was commissioned by private collectors around the country. Throughout his early career, Buonocore's focus was on mastering the art of drawing and integrating the play of light and shadow into his work. In his atmospheric, evocative paintings, Buonocore plumbs the inner feelings of the characters who people his urban landscapes, his point of view serving to magnify and expose the complexity of human thought and emotion. His work has been described as "realistic portrayals of deep psychological exploration, visible yet subtle proof that the very depths of the soul are made accessible through the artist's detailed observation of minimal poses and gestures." John Walsh, Director Emeritus of the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, calls Rodolfo Buonocore "a confident painter who tackles challenging material with impressive assurance and gets beautiful results." For example in the tango series, Buonocore focuses on tango as more than a dance. Its moody passion permeates everything in daily life"”a game of billar, an hours-long conversation over wine or coffee, a waiter talking to his customers, even the burnished woods of the city's century-old bars and cafes. "It is this emotional force I've endeavored to capture in a series of paintings that take place in and around these historic establishments. Yes, I painted the tango dance, but more, I explored the nuanced tangos of Buenos Aires life.