Page 22 - North Haven Magazine Issue 15 Autumn 2020

Meet North Haven Artist: by Marisa Hexter

All artworks in this article are Copyright Protected by Vincent Leto.
rom the age of three, Vincent Leto as an industrial designer with his archi-
Fknew he wanted to be an artist. Origi- tectural firm in 1968. Vincent worked on
nally from Elmont, Long Island, Vincent many projects with Platner, from New
studied at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. York to London. One of the firm’s most
“I was very familiar with two dimension- famous designs was the Windows on
al [art],” Leto says. He then met students the World restaurant, located on top of
in the Industrial Design department at the World Trade Center. “We designed
Pratt and began to ask questions about that...it was really good for us because we
what they were doing. Vincent said, “he could do restaurants all over the United
realized that I really liked the problems States.” Vincent worked for Platner for
they were asked to do.” He then became 22 years before founding Design Asso-
increasingly interested in three-dimen- ciates, which created and built automat- Vincent Leto in his studio
sional artwork and became a student in ed estate entrance gates for clients from
the Industrial Design department. Maine to Texas.
Now retired, Vincent spends his time
working on his two-dimensional work,
which he calls “subconscious signatures.”
When he sits down in his studio, he just
starts to draw. “It’s really intuitive,” he
states, “it’s stream of consciousness.”
When creating a piece, he emphasizes,
he draws quickly and does not put too
much thought into what he calls his
“sophisticated doodles.” There is also
no editing at this early stage in his pro-
cess. “Simple black line drawings are the
essence of everything,” Vincent states
when talking about his artwork. “I’m a
lineman, the line is really the essence of
what I do.”

"Dramatic Exchange" 12-21-2013
"Mystic Man" 12-12-2014 drawing, Vincent then adds color to his pieces.

During the 1960s when Vincent was at- “I like color...I always wanted to do things that
were colorful.” One of his goals in art is for the
tending Pratt, the teachings were based work to be seen. “I want to be able to put in on a
on the principles of Bauhaus, a pre-emi- wall and get 20 feet away and still be able to read
nent German school of art whose teach- it; to have it be strong.” While he does not usual-
ers were well-known artists and archi- ly think about his art while making it, there are
tects. After the Nazis’ rise to power in times where Vincent will look back at work and
the early 1930s, the Bauhaus closed and change it or add more to a piece. “Some ideas are
many who taught and studied there em- worth more work, worth changing.”
igrated to the United States. Two of the Vincent credits his friend, Ernest Berke a self-
founders of the Pratt Industrial Design taught artist who painted traditional American
department, Alexander Kostellow, and Western works, as a mentor of his. To Vincent,
his wife Rowena Reed Kostellow, came "Human Spark" 12-29-2013 Berke was a “renaissance man.” When asked if
from Bauhaus. The course they taught he had any advice to young and aspiring artists
at Pratt built on each other: “You had to Vincent started creating his two-dimen- today, Vincent simply said, “Just keep draw-
take them in order,” Vincent described. sional art throughout his years at Pratt, ing.” While he spends a great deal of time on his
“They try to describe three dimensions “Just drawing the way I wanted to draw.” two-dimensional pieces, Vincent also is working
in all the things that make three dimen- When he first started, he did not know on three dimensional pieces as well, which were
sions, like line, positive and negative about the surrealist tradition of artwork, inspired by some of his drawings.
space, texture...they created a whole syl- but he quickly found inspiration from
labus based on pushing those ideas for- Joan Mirò, a Spanish painter and Was- Vincent Leto knew from a young age that he
ward.” sily Kandinky, a Russian painter; both wanted to be an artist, and through his entire life,
surrealists. Vincent never knows what he is able to pursue those interests — in his career
After graduating from Pratt, Vincent will influence his art next, whether it be and now in his personal life. “The whole thing is
taught Industrial Design for a year be- nature or people; anything can trigger appealing” he says about design and art. “I was
fore meeting Warren Platner, an archi- his next design. very fortunate to just be interested in that.”
tect and interior designer located in
North Haven. Platner offered him a job While his art starts off with a black line
22 North Haven Magazine - Autumn Issue 2020