PHILOSOPHY
Founded by the painters Vincent Desiderio and Bernardo Siciliano, the International Center for the Study of Painting (ICSP) promotes a rigorous study of painting. ICSP hosts a program of workshops annually in Italy.
The differences that at one time separated figuration from abstraction and conceptual painting are no longer relevant. Painting is always and everywhere representational, conceptual, ironic and abstract. These components, over the last century, have found expression in a variety of new media and styles but they have always been at play within the historical practice of painting. Therefore, today the rejuvenation of painting and the pedagogical methods that provide for its instruction would require a re-evaluation (through close reading) of information embedded within the narrative fabric of technique.
With a focus spanning the area between execution and theory, students will develop a deeper awareness of the choices they make regarding technique. They will develop a clearer understanding of the historical origins and precedents related to their own aspirations as painters and be able to place their explorations within the context of today’s horizon of expectations.
ICSP TEAM
Vincent Desiderio is a Senior Critic at the New York Academy of Art. He is also visiting professor at the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, China. He has been teaching and lecturing internationally for over thirty years
Bernardo Siciliano is currently on the faculty of the New York Academy of Art. He has taught at the Accademia di belle arti, Napoli and lectured at the Palazzo delle esposizioni in Rome.
Roxanne Ritacco, painter, designer and certified teacher, received her M.F.A. from the Graduate School of Figurative Art of the New York Academy of Art. She earned a B.F.A. in Environmental Design from Parsons School of Design and an A.A.S. in Interior Design. She has studied decorative arts at the Museum des Art Decoratifs, The Louvre, Paris. She received her education certification from the School of Visual Arts.
Carolina De Luca holds a B.A. in English Literature from Hunter College, and both an M.A. and M.Phil. in Comparative Literature from The Graduate Center. She is also a certified Mindfulness coach, specialized in young adult instruction with a trauma-sensitive based approach. She currently teaches English Composition and Public Speaking at John Cabot University in Rome.
Blaze Nowara is a documentary and travel filmmaker based in New York City. He has worked in countries around the world including Jordan, Colombia, Panama, Canada, Nepal, Mexico, Thailand, Ireland, Indonesia, Italy and the Philippines. His work can be found on his company's site Nomofilms.com as well as Matadornetwork.com. Blaze earned his M.A. from Monmouth University.
Rochelle Ritacco received her B.A. in communications with a concentration in Fine Art from Seton Hill University. She also has certification in Digital Art (BCC) and Filmmaking (NYU). For that last decade, she has been specializing in image forensics focusing on fraudulent manipulation of scientific images. Please contact Rochelle regarding errors, omissions or compliments on the website.
OUR PARTNERS
A special thanks to our partners who make possible the running of our workshops:
ICSP is fortunate to host its workshop at the beautiful PALAZZO BISENZI through our collaboration with the
de Vincentiis family, Marco, Maria Antonietta and Giampietro.
