About the Artist
Orlando Tocco, aka "Orlando" was born in Nurri, Sardinia in 1959. He lives permanently in Selargius CA.
Self-taught, he devoted himself exclusively to painting with the "oil" technique, favoring the "figurative". In his artistic career, he is enthusiastic about Mannerist painting, the classics of the Renaissance, and makes his notion "beautiful and learned manner", based on the study of the Masters through the copying of increasingly demanding models and techniques. Thus, each painting is carefully studied and prepared in the smallest details before being placed in work. He does not disdain to abandon this training system, of classic style, to devote himself to a lighter painting, with massive colors and brush strokes. He begins to exhibit only in the last few years, when his working life leaves more room for the passion of painting. He exhibits in Savona, Cagliari, Rome, Portorotondo, Caltanisetta, Battipaglia, in the United Arab Emirates (Dubai, Abu Dhabi), in Egypt in Aswan, Milan, Bergamo, Piacenza, Venice, Lucca.
He exhibits in Rome at the Teatro Dioscuri al Quirinale, at the Pontifical Theological Faculty of San Bonaventura, in the palace of the Vatican Chancellery, in via Margutta at the Contesa Arte Area; in Ferrara at the Scroffa Palace, at the 1st Biennial of Contemporary Art of the Dolomites; in Salerno with the Princeart; in Ragusa with Amedeo Fusco and Rosario Sprovieri at the collective exhibitions of the Cultural Aggregation Center to which he belongs and with which they carry the review "Omaggio a Frida" on tour throughout Italy.
Lately with Giorgio Grasso with L'Arte at the time of the 58th Venice Biennale at Palazzo Zenobio, in Milan at the Fabbrica del Vapore.
In December 2019 he presented a solo show in the Hall of the Municipality of Nurri, his hometown.
With a group of artists he is involved in various local initiatives and exhibitions curated by the C.A. Sunday Puggioni.
He frequently exhibits in the Cagliari galleries: Spazio 61 by Sandro Serra, Il Salotto dell'Arte by Silvana Belvisi, "The wheel of fortune" by Mirko Loi, "The die of art" by Luca Masala. He immediately obtained significant awards: in 2015 "La Consapevolezza", a tribute to Caravaggio's "Martyrdom of St. Peter", ranks among the winners in the realism section of the International Biennial of Art on Facebook curated by Prof. Giorgio Grasso; "Cla" ranks in 4th place in the "Merry Christim-Art" exhibition; "Queen of Peace" is ranked in 2nd place in the "Christmas and surroundings" exhibition in Villasor; gets the "City of New York 2015" award, in 2016 3rd class at 4th Intern. Iside Prize, Certificate of Merit Art Salerno 2016 International Contemporary Art Prize (in the Vittorio Sgarbi jury), in 2017 certificate of merit in the 5th Intern. Iside Prize (Giorgio Gregorio Grasso in the jury).
It is present in the portals "Cultura Sarda", "070 Art Gallery", "Museo dell'Arte". It is present in the Register of Artists of Italy 2018, in the national catalog Arte & Mercato 2018, in the catalog Art Monaco 2016 -17-18, in the catalog The state of the art at the time of the 57th Venice Biennale. It is inserted on page 255 of the Yearbook "ART AND COLLECTIONS 2016" by Francesco Chetta publisher who comments as follows: "An artist Orlando Tocco, who has crossed the wonderful world of art with sincere emotion. His paintings reflect in particular his natural instinct his hidden imagination, giving the observer a precious chromatic outline, a painting that describes moments of pure and unconditional happiness, moments lived and reinterpreted by the humble soul of the artist ".
He has received several mentions from art critics such as Francesco Chetta, Pasquale Solano, Gastone Ranieri Indoni and Luca Giovanni Masala.
Some of his works are kept in sacred places: in Cagliari "The Virgin of Itria" in the church of Sant'Agostino, "The ecstasy of San Francesco" in the Convent of Sant'Ignazio; in Foligno "Papa Francesco" in the church of San Nicolò.
