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Democracy Chronicles

Painting Series for Anniversary of JFK Assassination

by Peter J. Dellolio - October 20, 2014

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Grassy Knoll JFK Anniversary of JFK Assassination
Grassy Knoll – “Based on photo from reverse angle of Grassy Knoll where the first shots were heard before JFK was struck.” Acrylic on Canvas 22″ x 28″

I have always felt that I was blessed with gifts of the creative spirit which I inherited from my beloved parents, Marie and Peter.

They each had a poetic way of seeing, and knowing things, talents for perceiving human nature which, in their own lives, did not become expressed artistically but which, for me, were very definitely artistic tendencies to be harnessed, mainly because, unlike my parents, who had to leave school and work when they were very young, I was given the freedom and the opportunity to do personal, creative things. I am eternally grateful to them for giving me that freedom.

CBS News Anniversary of JFK Assassination
CBS News Bulletin: “Painting based on moment in CBS news bulletin where anchorman Walter Cronkite receives confirmation that President has died.” Acrylic on Canvas 40″ x 30″

Growing up was fun for many reasons, not the least of which being that I always had access to two different neighborhoods: my parents’ apartment in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, and my grandmother’s building, from the late 19th century, in historic Little Italy/Chinatown, on Mulberry street.

I became interested in painting when I was 15, at Nazareth Regional High School. I began painting little abstract pictures in water color around the same time that I became acquainted with The Ash Can School. Later on, I discovered some of the masters of the 20th Century: Picasso; Matisse; Dali. Having seen Citizen Kane, my photographs were filled with oblique angles, deep focus perspectives, and shadows.

At New York University, where I majored in cinema studies and film production, I continued painting, and also did some film-making.

My vision of what my art could do became more and more focused, as I tried to take Warhol’s obsession with the famous as a basis for exploring the dark side of fame. My depictions of famous people was (and still is) based on a style that is a combination of abstraction and primitivism, with the occasional aid of photo journalism in the form of collage.

On the 50th Anniversary of JFK Assassination

My most ambitious series to date has been a 50 work series devoted to the 50th anniversary of the assassination of JFK in 2013. I tried to combine familiar media imagery from the weekend of November 22nd 1963 with abstractions of form, to make original statements about this iconic socio-cultural-political event. As in most of my works, the media and forms include collage, acrylic, water color, charcoal pencil, oil, assemblage boxes, dioramas, mobiles, sculpture, and conceptual pieces.

I hope that by offering dozens and dozens of works based upon the lives of many different persons, famous in all walks of life, who died tragically at a relatively young age, with figures as different and distant from one another as JFK and Amy Winehouse, that I am showing the world how much fuller we are when they touch our lives, and, in the end, how much emptier we become from losing them.

See my art collection website at http://peterdellolio.com/

Below is a sample gallery of works from the JFK series. You can click on the images for a larger view.

Anniversary of JFK Assassination january 20 1961
The President January 20, 1961 – “Impressions of President Kennedy’s first day in office.” Acrylic on Canvas 22″ x 28″
Kennedy Is Our Remedy jfk assassination
Kennedy Is Our Remedy – “”Abstract interpretation of a famous campaign photo of JFK.” Acrylic on Canvas 22″ x 28″
Oswald's Backyard Photo jfk assassination
Backyard Photo – “This is my interpretation of what came to be known as Lee Harvey Oswald’s “Backyard Photo,” where Oswald posed with his rifle and two Russian newspapers as his wife, Marina, photographed him.” Acrylic on Canvas 22″ x 28″
Abraham Zapruder 278 anniversary of jfk assassination
Zapruder 278 – “Photo collage of copies of frame 278 from 8mm movie made by Abraham Zapruder which is just before the head shot.” – Acrylic on Canvas 22″ x 28″
Sniper's Nest jfk assassination
Sniper’s Nest – “Abstract interpretation of Oswald preparing to shoot Kennedy from his sniper’s nest inside The Texas School Book Depository Building.” Acrylic on Canvas 22″ x 28″
Grassy Knoll JFK
Grassy Knoll – “Based on photo from reverse angle of Grassy Knoll where the first shots were heard before JFK was struck.” Acrylic on Canvas 22″ x 28″
First Lady Jackie's Anguish jfk assassination
Jackie’s Anguish – “Impressions of the First Lady’s emotional trauma during and after the assassination.” Acrylic on Canvas 22″ x 28″
Lee Harvey Oswald Mugshot
Oswald Mugshot – This was the mug shot taken of Lee Harvey Oswald on Saturday, November 23rd, in Dallas. I wanted to create a three-dimensional effect, so I used styrofoam blocks of varying sizes to reproduce the original photograph which is painted on a much larger scale in acrylic with a charcoal pencil outline.” on Canvas 40″ x 30″
CBS News Anniversary of JFK Assassination
CBS News Bulletin: “Painting based on moment in CBS news bulletin where anchorman Walter Cronkite receives confirmation that President has died.” – Acrylic on Canvas 40″ x 30″
Funeral Anniversary of JFK Assassination
Funeral – “Watercolor and charcoal impression of Jackie Kennedy and immediate family at JFK funeral. Below is the photograph that my painting is based upon.” Watercolor on Canvas 22″ x 28″
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Filed Under: DC Authors Tagged With: Civil Rights Era, Election History, Political Artwork

About Peter J. Dellolio

Peter Delliolo is a new addition to the DC team both as a writer and political artist. You can see his artwork at Peter Delliolo Fine Art. Born in New York City in 1956, Peter went to Nazareth High School and New York University.  He graduated in 1978 with a B.A. in Cinema Studies and B.F.A. in Film Production.  Among various short-subject films that he wrote and directed, he adapted James Joyce’s short story Counterparts into a screenplay, which he also directed.  The film has been shown at numerous national and international film festivals.

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