Hank Rondina was born in the Bronx, New York in 1945. He focused on studio art courses while attending Evander Childs High School. After graduating high school, Hank entered the work force and took night classes at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
In 1968, the artist became a police officer with the Mt. Vernon Police Department in Westchester County, New York. He rose to the rank of Detective and Composite Artist. It was during his twenty-year career with the police department that he formalized his art education.
Over a ten-year period, he acquired an Associate in Applied Science in Criminal Justice at Westchester Community College and entered the College of New Rochelle to focus on Art and Education. He graduated with a BA and a New York State Teacher Certification to teach Art K – 12. Hank was accepted in the Master of Fine Arts program at Lehman College, the Bronx, New York and it was during this time that he became a student of Sculptor and Kinetic Artist, Salvatore Romano, who is thought of as friend, teacher and mentor. Hank worked primarily with welded metals and found objects.
In 1982, he participated in a group exhibit, What I Do for Art, curator Kathleen Goncharov, at the Just Above Midtown Gallery. He wrote in his artist’s statement “…My art comes out of Abstract Expressionism. It is intuitive and gestural. It is a collection of my thoughts, feelings and that which has affected me. It is born both out of the violence of our time and the love that surrounds me…”
During this time he also exhibited with the Organization of Independent Artists at the Manhattan Psychiatric Center’s ’82 – ’83 Sculpture Garden at Ward’s Island. The exhibit, curated by the OIA and AREA (Artists Representing Environmental Arts), featured 96 works of art “…created by established artists like Carl Andre and emerging artists chosen from the art departments of Lehman, New York School of Technology, Pratt, School of Visual Arts and Hunter College…”
In 1989, the artist was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa, a disease that reduces the visual field and greatly increases sensitivity to light. Welding is no longer an option, and Hank has returned to painting. He currently uses watercolor and mixed media.
Hank has exhibited with local art associations in Bronxville, Scarsdale, Eastchester, New York and Greenwich, Connecticut. He is a member of Artists Equity, New York City and an associate member of the American Watercolor Society, an exhibiting member of the New Rochelle Art Association, The Art Society of Old Greenwich and President of the Scarsdale Art Association.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Grounded in abstract expressionism, my work joins the visual pleasure of painting with the audio impact of music. My palette is the keyboard, and each of the twelve hues in Johannes Itten’s Color Wheel corresponds to a musical note or jazz progression within a major or minor key.
The juxtaposition of color, line, and shape affect the perception of the painted image, just as notes, progressions, and chords come together in a jazz composition. My hope is that you will hear a sound or a vibration as you look.
