By Evan Triantafilidis
Sentinel Reporter
The walls of Frank Gaudio’s office at the First Bank of Greenwich are covered with paintings and photographs from past events held at the bank showcasing local artists and their work.
On Wednesday the bank held its Fall Artist Reception with Greenwich native Michael Spezzano and New York-based artist Marco Gallotta, featuring their work accompanied by music, food and drinks.
“It makes for an interesting day for us, because we bank all day,” Gaudio, the CEO and the president of the bank, said. “I like to buy one painting from each artist for the bank. It’s a memory for us at the bank and it memorializes them being with us for the day.”
Included in his personal office gallery is a piece from Spezzano, a self-taught artist from Greenwich who doesn’t limit himself to a single subject or style.
“I do a lot of landscapes, but it’s really whatever is my whim that day,” Spezzano said. “I learn so much more just by being with the other artists and watching their techniques. I don’t necessarily want to copy what they do, but they inspire me to do something. I’m often asking, ‘How did you get that?’ and I’ve never met one artist who didn’t help me.”
Paired with Spezzano was the Italian-born Marco Gallotta and his gallery of his framed artwork.
“My technique is paper cutting,” said Gallotta. “I used to paint with watercolors and take out color by scraping the paper, and slowly I started cutting it. It started with little cuts and now it became my whole thing. With the cutting, I do a lot of portraits where people are the main focus of my work.”
With intricate cuts, Gallotta pushes the viewer to look at every last detail of his work.
“Especially now that we’re living in a social media age, everything is very fast. So I create something that allows you to really go back and look at it and its deeper meaning.”
The bank opened after regular business hours with food and wine catered by Chicken Joe’s and Val’s Putnam Wines.
Natasha “May” DiMarco, the daughter of Greenwich native and swing band leader Al DiMarco, sang at the event and sold copies of her debut album, “Prelude.”
Artists of past events flocked to the reception to show support and to see the decorated walls of the bank where they were once featured.
“This is really alumni night for these two guys,” Gaudio said. “Usually at every one of these events, all the other ones come back to support the other artists. There are nights where we’ve had five or more of the past artists show up just to support the other artists.
“It’s been a blast,” he said, “and it’s something I really love to do.”
