The Deep Dive

Who is Lawrence D’Attilio?

He’s an artist making discoveries and creating images that he does not wish to define, but rather, leaves the viewer to decide what they see and how it makes them feel. This is a long way from his days of studying with Ansel Adams in Yosemite, but it is very much a part of a continuum. Most of all, Lawrence D’Attilio is an artist with determination not to just produce fine art photography, but to grow beyond the technologies that the lens-based genre embraced in the late twentieth century. 

Do the D’Attilio’s have a history as artists and artisans?

Mr. D’Attilio’s father, Anthony, was an artist. Anthony and his two brothers were carved glass artists as well and were the backbones (his father was chief designer and partner) of the Harriton Carved Glass company in New York. He designed the windows that still adorn the inside domes of the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate in the Capitol building. With his brothers, they produced carved glass partitions with intricate art deco images that graced the most elite passenger train cars in America. A number of those valued glass artworks still exist in the hands of art collectors.

How does he work?

He uses photomontage, layering up to twelve photographs on top of each other, and then inch-by-inch, creating large-scale works, changing or adding colors, sizes and removing some objects entirely from the resulting amalgams. The control of the creation is always in his hands. Producing works that are Abstract and Abstract Expressionist. One-of-a-kind pieces with depth and motion, and a “WOW factor” for collectors, curators, gallerists and media. He is still exploring ways to make his new images more appealing, experimenting with deepening the surfaces of his works by possibly using 3D printing and application of art-based compounds to make these works “jump out” at the viewer.

How are the works typically produced?

His works, almost all large-scale (40 inches by 60 inches, vertical and horizontal), are produced on the finest Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Metallic paper, both matte and metallic finishes, several kinds of canvas, and some are printed on aluminum. These production methods ensure the long-term preservability of each piece.