After years of illustrating covers for romance novels where his fresh and exciting work influenced the field for years, Pino has moved out of that medium and remain entrenched in his continuous search for the balance between content and form in his fine art. No longer a distant observer of beautiful landscapes of sunny beaches with a Proustian fondness for the memories of his childhood in Bari, Pino narrows his lens to the expressions, positions and juxtapositions of his characters, suggesting their powerful inner landscapes instead. Pino’s painting, Passive Moments, is a touching example of a solitary subject caught up in her thoughts. Even his shadow against the grey wall is pregnant with her feelings.

Turning his focus onto the faces of his subjects, Pino continues to capture the sense of anticipation that weighs in the minds of everyone. He delivers an intensity of the silent moments that hold his figures captive in spite of the presence of another. These solitary thoughts create the distance between his subjects as if they were opposing energy fields keeping each other in check. Whether the characters are side by side or feet apart, Pino reminds us they are each players In a solitary world, absorbed in contemplations which viewers can never know; nevertheless, the conditions of the subjects are indeed familiar as seen in the women In The Late Evening. One woman faces forward, the other has her back to the viewer, and between them is the linen draped table. Both women are wearing aprons and as the setting suggests, dinner has ended and evening has come upon them, bringing with it private moments and a strong sense of anticipation.

Hints of this inner sense of isolation can be seen in all of pino’s works from his early days in Milan where he lived the post World War II experience. Raised in a household of two sisters and four brothers, Pino’s landscape was predominately women gathered in the kitchen where nurture was delivered at the table as everyone assembled for the mid-day meal. Pino’s father guided the family with strength, especially when he decided his son would follow in his own footsteps to work as a lab technician at the university. The elder Dangelico had a secure job at a time of tremendous poverty in Southern Italy, which kept the seven children fed and clothed when others had neither. Albeit Tommaso Dangelico’s dreams and plans for Pino were rooted in an understandable pragmatism, what he did not realize was how strongly the artistic spirit lived in his son. Unbeknown to his father, Pino took a summer job as a mason’s assistant and saved all the money he earned to buy his first art book on the painter, Ingress. Ultimately, Pino’s unfaltering desire and determination earned him his freedom to leave Bari and to pursue his career in Milan.

In 1960, Pino brought to Milan some pencils, a brush and a social and artistic sensibility that was nurtured by post-war realistic films of DeSica and Fellini. Like many of the hungry characters on those screens, Pino walked the pavements of Milan to find work while he attended classes at the Academy of Brera where he perfected his skill and talent for painting nudes in the classical tradition. Outside the classroom, Pino worked for meager pay doing illustrations for a textbook publisher; however, his will to survive as an artist became a must when his father died of a massive heart attack, and Pino relocated his entire family to Milan. Now, as bread winner, he knocked on doors and continued to forge ahead to find fair compensation for his work. Pino’s determination was strong and his burden heavy.

Pino’s struggles and his compelling desire to gain recognition are indeed the experiences that continue to find their expression in all of his pieces. Bread winner at a job his fellow students teased was an act of self-prostitution, studying the classical style at the Academy and frequenting the many galleries in Milan where the walls were filled with filled with contemporary art; namely, Expressionism, Pino lived the experiences which would lead him to find his own expression and style. In his years in Milan, Pino was drawn to provincial characters as his subjects. Although the settings were humble, Pino differed from his contemporaries who were using their work to make social statements. Pino’s artistic sensitivities lay in the private lives of his characters where he focused on evoking their feelings rather than using them to promote social commentary. He understood their plights because, in addition to finding his way through the contemporary art world in Milan, Pino experienced the subtleties of discrimination meted out to all the simple, unskilled persons who came to Milan from southern villages in search of a better life.

Grounded in realism, Pino believes shared everyday experiences are the basisfor human connection. Joys, concerns, ambitions and longings are but a few of the examples of the powerful quotidian by which a person relates to another. Pino’s artistic motivation is to integrate his understanding of these experiential moments into a creative expression which perceives and acknowledges these sensibilities. Hence, his aproned women in After Dinner are together at the table, but they are not communicating. Their conversation has stopped and the observer can’t help but wonder what was said or are these women are internalizing the preceding events this moment. They are stilled in a state of anticipation not unlike characters in a Beckett drama. The concept of together, yet alone is the quotidian experience that permeates much of Pino’s work.

Pino’s technique for achieving a balance between content and form has evolved over many years. Until he arrived in the United States, Pino was unfamiliar with the Pre-Rapharlites, specifically Sorolla and Sargent. His introduction to these realists allowed him a newer understanding fro technique and composition. His experiments of putting from and color together furthered his journey which began wit his early introduction to Macchiaoli in Milan. Sorolla’s emotional and robust strokes mingled with a delicacy and a tenderness for the features on his child subjects inspired Pino to connect more deeply with his own fiery spirit and to take greater risks with his strokes. He tapped into his early experiments with expressionism and drought his vitality and audacity to another level of intensity. Such boldness finds its expression in Afternoon Stroll as the woman and child walk on the beach toward a somber sky. The woman’s deep red dress is arresting. Its power and her pose suggest a fearlessness and determination to compete with the elements.

However, Pino’s most profound understanding of realism came with his introduction to Sargent. He identified this moment as truly epiphanal because he was convinced he had found the quintessential realistic artist. In his encounter with Sargent’s work, Pino felt he was on the brink of a new beginning, one which has occupied him totally for the past eight years. No longer involved in illustrative work, Pino could immerse himself completely in his efforts to plummet the depths of his memories where, like a Proustain character who bites into a medeleine and is transported back in time, he can explore stylistic methods to integrates his life’s experiences with his creative expression.

Furthermore, Pino’s style and technique contribute to his attempts to capture the subtle realities of humanity. As seen in many of his paintings, Pino’s characters do not face each other but remain physically present like a stopped frame in a film where observers are left to wonder what may be in store fro these characters or wonder how they may be feeling. Stylistically, the dead space that separates his subjects heightens their individuality as well as their condition. To borrow from Mark Twain who once observed that the effectiveness of the right word is only superceded by the effectiveness of a timely pause, Pino’s blank space between characters offers that very effectiveness about which Twain speaks. Pino’s pating Wistful Thinking is a fine example of space and distance as a reflection of the detached private worlds of the two women.

Caught in the act of the everyday, Pino’s subjects are held in their intensity by a lighting that contributes to the moment. In all his paintings, Pino uses lighting, not merely for effect, but as a contribution to the sense of the piece. Whether the tone suggests sweetness, nostalgia, loneliness or isolation, the lighting is dictated by these emotions. Hence, Pino’s deliberate dead space and emotionally-specific light supports his understanding of the his characters’ private moments, a theme found in many of his works and a style which he defines as “ espressionismo informale. ”
He claims his authentic style was born out of his desire to infiltrate the subject and represent the character in con junction with his own experiences. Nancy Gillespie in her article for Art of the West marks a keen observation when she says, “ Pino has the ability to see beyond the superficial, to look deeply into every person with whom he comes into contact, whether or not that person is the subject of a painting. He feels strongly that all human beings share universal thoughts and feelings” (May / June 2001). In truth, Pino often feels he can walk into his paintings and speak with many of his life-size subjects. In his piece, Ester, the lighting which caresses the apron-adorned woman’s face and arms suggests her desire to open up and share her thoughts.