Gregorio Mannino

Mannino has worked as a commission artist since childhood, which was spent in a variety of cities, states and countries. With this early start in both roles of audience and artist and the exposure brought from travel gained him a familiarity with a wide variety of cultures, aesthetics and styles as well as materials, techniques and execution. By high school in San Antonio, Texas he received commissions; while as president of the Art Honor Society he organized extracurricular charitable art projects. he also worked in local and Houston theatre designing scenery and props, and as a stage manager working with musical artists Souxsie and the Banshies, Devine, and the Judy's. Before receiving his BFA in Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute in Chicago he began working in Interior Design / Decoration and Decorative arts designing and decorating several commercial ventures; The Orbit Room, Ooh La La Border Bistro and Angelina's Trattoria. Still taking private art commissions it was in Chicago that he also launched a more professional career as a "fine artist" with gallery exhibitions and installations of original oil paintings, prints, and sculptures, selling paintings to Oprah Winfrey for her restaurant venture The Eccentric. He moved to New York City and continued to freelance with both ventures. He was employed by the Joffery Ballet and MTV for random spots but his design projects in Manhattan were predominately commercial spaces, i.e. restaurants, boutiques, and nightclubs; Restaurant Josephina and Karl Lagerfeld Bijoux. These projects usually included not only interior design but also design and execution of large-scale murals and faux finishing. He was also contracted by Barney's NYC to work on their store and window Christmas displays. His NYC art exhibitions were nominal; shows were few as galleries in Soho were struggling if not closing so he began to take residential design and art commissions from private clients. While last year his work was focused on gallery exhibitions in Texas and New York, he worked with the Museo Alameda, a Smithsonian affiliate that opened in San Antonio, Texas where he collaborated on a permanent museum installation, an authentic botanica recreation. He also designed the gift shop interior and basic aesthetic of the blended shop/gallery/botanica. His endeavors have given him work in cities across the United States, beyond its borders, and eventually brought him to Los Angeles where he has pursued work in the entertainment industry.