Threnody for Vincent and Theo

Christopher Spinelli

My journey through the world of art began when I first decorated my parents’ bedroom set with colored chalk. A graduate of the School of Visual Arts, I took a 20 year unplanned hiatus from painting to raise a family and work multiple jobs. Since returning to the world of art as a teacher and painter in 2011 I have been exhibiting my work both in the states and internationally. Over the past seven years I have partnered with Sing for Hope to create seven painted pianos that have been displayed on the streets of New York City, at the Stonewall National Monument, as part of at Hudson Yards’ Holiday Display and at a Refugee Camp in Athens, Greece. My work has also graced a MINI Countryman that drove around NYC during the summer of 2018 bringing pop-up concerts to all corners of the city. Much of my art focuses on exploring and painting a New York that is quickly slipping into the past including childhood fascination with Coney Island. I have been documenting Coney Island in drawings, paintings and photography since the late 1980’s. I am also an avid gardener and insect enthusiast seemingly since birth and images of flowers from garden also inform much of my work and my color palette. My passion for art has been reignited since I began teaching a class at Regis High School in 2011 for academically gifted yet economically disadvantaged children of immigrants.