Julie Vinette + Ottavio Forte

Julie Vinette

In artist Julie Vinette’s abstract paintings, she achieves radiant color by encouraging thinned paint to drip and separate as it dries on a flat surface. Horizontal bands that hint at sky, water, architecture, horizon and earth are depicted as affected by time, chemistry, and gravity. Underlying much of her work is a grid that suggests structure beneath a maelstrom of color. As Vinette describes it, each painting captures “a single fleeting moment in time.”

Vinette’s work has been recognized in several group exhibitions, including New Art ’07 at Kingston Gallery, juried by Nato Thompson, Curator at Creative Time in New York, and the 14th Annual Juried Show at the Essex Art Center, juried by Carole Anne Meehan, Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. Vinette’s awards include Artlink’s Outstanding Work Award at the 12th Annual Nation Print Exhibition and an Honorable Mention in the 3rd Annual People’s Art Show by Pittsburgh Progressive Artists. A member of the DeCordova Museum’s Corporate Lending Artist Program and Atlantic Works Gallery in East Boston, Vinette lives and works in Marblehead, MA.

Ottavio Forte

After a long and distinguished career as an aerospace engineer, Italian native and longtime Belmont resident Ottavio Forte found an unexpected path after retiring that lead to the creation of art. A course in welding three years ago sparked Forte’s interest in working with metal and he hasn’t looked back since. Using both his engineering experience and his love of nature, Forte works with broad sheets of steel, shaping the material into his signature triangular pieces, to create sculptures that have a whimsical imaginative feel, oftentimes depicting mystical animals. His Belmont garden is well-known in the community as the setting for several of his playful oversized sculptures, including the peace-inspired “Dove on the Lily,” which depicts a large white dove hovering on a yellow lily and carrying an olive branch.

Mr. Forte arrived in Brooklyn, from Italy, at the age of 14. After high school he attended The City College of New York (CCNY) and graduated with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (B.E.E.). Upon graduation he was hired by MIT to work on the Apollo Program. He remained at MIT for 22 years, spending time at both The Draper and Lincoln Laboratories, specializing in control systems for space programs.

In retirement he volunteers in the Physics Departments of Boston College and Harvard University. Mr. Forte also holds master degrees in engineering and in business (MSEE, MBA).

You may contact him at: ottavioforte at hotmail.com.