New PCC Art Professor to be Introduced With Special Gallery Show & Reception

03/13/2008 UPDATE: Vilas Tonape will conduct a special Live Portrait Painting Demonstration on March 21, 6- 7:30 pm in the Fine Arts Gallery. RSVP by March 18 via e-mail or calling 297-1050.

02/21/2008: The work of Vilas Tonape, Polk Community College’s new art professor, will be exhibited in the PCC Art Gallery during the month of March. The show will be unveiled with a special reception on March 4, 6-7:30 pm in the Fine Arts Gallery, Winter Haven campus.  

A native of India, Tonape received his BFA in Drawing and Painting with distinction from Sir J.J. School of Art, University of Bombay. He also earned an MFA in Painting from Texas Christian University (TCU). He began his teaching career in 1994, working as a Teaching Assistant at TCU. Before coming to PCC, Tonape served as Visiting Artist at Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota and a Professor at Savannah College of Art and Design.

Tonape’s work has been exhibited in galleries and exhibitions in New York, Chicago, Bombay, Los Angeles, Fort Worth, West Palm Beach and Sarasota.

He has won numerous awards in shows throughout the United States and India. Art critics have also praised his art. “Tonape’s painting can be described as classically inspired, contemporary-realism— interpretive images that enchant the eye,” said The Palm Beach Post.

Tonape is a figurative artist, who focuses on nature. “Painting to me is music for the eyes. Each of my works is a non-lyrical song. There are no words, no conscious articulations, no sentiments or statements. They are melodies rooted in visual rhythms, orchestrated by unseen and unspoken movement,” he said.

“My paintings reflect my response to nature; they are conceived by the abstract, intangible sensing of nature that erupts into spontaneous imagery.”

The PCC Art Gallery is open weekdays from 10 am to noon. Admission is free. For further information call 297-1050.