Born in 1951 to a family deeply supportive of artistic pursuits, Carlo LoCascio (“lo-CASH-oh”) received qualifications in art and architecture in his native Italy, where he was deeply influenced by the avant-garde Happening and Behavioral movements of the 1960s. Of greatest impact was the focus of these movements on the process of the transformation of matter to uncover abstract meaning.
In 1980, LoCascio received a Master of Architecture from University of Architecture in Palermo, Italy, and began applying this material focus to the built form as an architectural designer in a continuing career that has included collaborations with large firms in England, Italy, and the United States. LoCascio’s architectural work includes industrial and interior designs for both public and private clients.
Throughout LoCascio’s design work, his art background is apparent: the same lines that before expressed abstract meaning become the main elements of a dialogue between the elements of the built form. Interrelationships among structure, volume, color, and texture are priorities.
Although a successful architect, LoCascio sought a return to the exploration of abstract meaning without the necessary mediation of client or corporate interests inherent in that field. In 1998, he resettled in Chicago and shifted his attention more exclusively on creating art that searched through and celebrated the hidden meaning in the everyday life of the human soul.
Utilizing traditional paint media, his figurative work highlights ambiguities and allusions inherent in fixed forms, hinting at inscrutable mysteries and secrets that are ever-present just below the surface. For LoCascio, it’s the form below the surface where true meaning lies.
The work is large-scale, with mixed oil and acrylic media imparting the abstract messages across large canvasses. However, the artist prefers for patrons to make up their own minds about the meaning inherent in his body of work.
For LoCascio, all expression is ultimately abstract, and it is in the abstract where true art resides. His intention is for people to find in his art the abstract yet meaningful elements of everyday life that hide in plain sight until someone asks you to take a deeper look.
