Digital Artist & Architect Opens Studio in Saratoga Springs (as featured in the Saratogian) By: Suzanna K. Lourie

Posted by Kaitlin Russitano 
on Aug 10, 2011
 
Local artist and architect Victor Cinquino brought a new edge to the Saratoga art scene July 19 when he opened Cinqui-Studio on the second floor of the historic Palmetto Fruit warehouse building at 36 Phila St.

“Deep down, I’ve been a modernist for a very long time,” Cinquino said.

A practicing architect for the past 42 years, Cinquino learned the potential of digital software in design early on, and as technologies grew, he realized a passion for abstract art outside the rigid lines and mathematics of traditional architecture.

“I’ve had a desire to do and offer this kind of abstract art. We have a lot of very accomplished artists here in Saratoga Springs, but it tends to be very traditional stuff — Victoriana, horses,” Cinquino said. “It was really an opportunity to offer something different and really get into the abstract world.”

Cinquino, originally from Schenectady, moved to Saratoga in 1975 to pursue architecture. After more than 30 years of operating his own firm, Cinquino is now in the process of transitioning out of the architecture world to pursue his up-and-coming artwork.

One of Cinquino’s prints recently earned an honorable mention in the July 2011 “Contest of the Month” at the Museum of Computer Art in Brooklyn.

The work featured at CinquiStudio is produced digitally and made into high-quality prints using a Giclee printing process to emphasize the colors and quality of each piece. He offers mostly 16-by-20-inch digital prints, which cost about $280 framed and $200 unframed.

“I’m hoping to offer Saratoga an alternative by offering true abstract, modern work,” Cinquino said. “I’m in a very new place here that some of the art community is having a hard time grasping — the idea that it’s all done digitally and there are no ‘originals’ in that sense.”

Since opening on Phila Street in mid-July, Cinquino said he’s still working to establish CinquiStudio as a prominent local art gallery, but said word of mouth is steadily building his business.

“Most of the clientele has been people looking to decorate their homes,” he said. “As an architect, I’ve had some connectivity with interior designers and am looking into going corporate in the future.”

  The boutique gallery will also feature guest artists who work in mediums like photography, pottery and jewelry-making.

The gallery is open from noon to 5 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday through Labor Day. For more information, go to www.CinquiStudio.com.