No artist is defined by a single piece, but the one that seems to best illustrate Professor John Zarcone's own definition of his work is “Invitation to Look Elsewhere.” He said that “in my paintings, I try to capture lightness and whimsy, almost. I balance that with the use of geometric construction of the canvas for contrast.”

In “Invitation to Look Elsewhere” a square cut-out taken from the center of the larger canvas is placed on the upper left side which completes the imaginary circle. Abstract? No doubt, and perhaps a whimsical look at morality; “almost.”

The cleverness of the construction is not surpassed by the deeper inner meaning.

Is the opening that remains on the large part of the canvas depicting the soul? Does it represent the heart? We enter this world with a blank slate; with no sins, guilt, or knowledge. As we grow our culture influences the beliefs and moral standards by which we live. Is this what the cut-out represents? Moreover, the cut-out is taken from the larger canvas, and thus integral to the whole. Do the clouds and the circles suggests reincarnation or evolution, or both? Where is "Elsewhere" from which we are invited to look?

If when we are confronted with a heart-wrenching decision, where do we look for the answer; within the deepest reaches of our heart, or outside based upon what is morally and culturally accepted, or both, or neither? How many of our decisions are instinctive and not rationally reached? Either way, such is the circle of life. Professor Zarcone said that “the thing that has always been important to me in my work has been abstraction. I always look at abstraction as being serious.” Yet when I first looked at this piece, before thinking about it, I involuntarily smiled and thought “cool.”

Professor Zarcone does not believe that his work is directly influenced by abstraction expressionist such as Kline, Still, Hofmann, De Kooning, Pollock or more contemporaneously, David Reed. He does believe, however, all artist are to some degree influenced by each other. “When you look at the post modern movement, the era that we are in now, I think there is a certain eclecticism; people grab from different places and kind of jumble that together,” he said.

He categorizes his art as Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, and Pop. “I use color and form with movement and lightness. The trend for people recently is to deny the hand; to make art which almost looks machine made. My work is definitely not that. I want it to be obviously painted; have a sense of life to it,” he said.

You can view Professor Zarcone's work online on his website at johnzarcone.com.

His love for art is equaled by his passion for teaching. “I have been painting and teaching for a long time; it is something I just love. I teach my students the more traditional ways of painting,” he said. This spring he will be teaching two classes at SMC: ART 31, Beginning Oil Painting and ART 32, Intermediate Painting. The latter is an intermediate course in oil and acrylic painting