Psychodramatic Landscapes

Charles Compo (b.1958) is an internationally recognized composer, multi-instrumentalist and painter. He was immersed in the East Village art scene in the ‘80s and collected art by many Rivington School artists and was also an assistant to Andy Warhol and collaborated with filmmaker and artist Harry Smith. He has written over 100 published musical compositions including “Seven Flute Solos”, which is published by Smithsonian Folkways.

 

His painting “I’ve Got The World On A String” was selected to represent the United States in the 2021 London Biennial. In August of 2022 his painting  “Crossing The Bridge When You Come To It” was exhibited at the 2022 Chianciano Biennale and is now in the permanent collection of the Museo d’Arte di Chianciano Terme. His painting “Down At The Rally” received a special award by MOMA curator Paulina Pobocha and was acquired by The Yuko Nii Foundation’s Permanent Collection at the Williamsburg Art and Historical Center, and most recently his painting “Bad Birdie” was acquired by the Woodson Art Museum.

 

Brinda Kumar, the curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Metropolitan Museum, selected his painting “Swan Lake” to exhibit at Greenwich Art Society’s 105th Annual Juried exhibition and gave a talk on the painting at the opening reception. Here is an excerpt from that talk: “I love how narrative can be a starting point but where it takes you, and with the artist's imagination you are certainly not limited, it takes you somewhere quite surreal and unexpected. You're not quite sure where you stand with this, and I find it quite absolutely marvelous and refreshing. there's a certain kind of psychological complexity to it that I think the artist is getting at.”