PAGE 1 VERO BEACH MAGAZINE THE IRONMAN COMETH BY TERESA LEE RUSHWORTH PHOTOGRAPHY BY JON PINE No, James Liccione does not engage in marathon running, cycling and swimming, but when it comes to manipulating iron to create fascinate- ing objects, he does indeed seem to possess super powers. Liccione is a local metal sculptor with a background span- ning from New York City to Milan. Many Vero Beach residents have seen his work and may not even realize it. If you have ever admired the grand 11- foot-tall gates that adorn the west side of the Vero Beach Museum of Art, adjacent to the café, then you have been touched by Liccione's work. While fulfilling the museum's desire for a traditional European look, the gates stand as a memorial to Liccione's father and hero, who helped his son design them while fighting cancer and passed away two weeks before their completion in early 2000. So intense is Liccione's respect for his father that he requested the gates' dedication in lieu of payment for the project. The senior Liccione, a second-generation Italian-Ameri- can, was something of a Renaissance man and a great inspiration to his family. He was a bona fide war hero, having been decorated with a Purple Heart for his World War II service in the Aleutian Islands, but he was also a sensitive and creative man. Liccione Jr. remembers his dad performing frequent wood and stone work around their Rochester, N.Y., home. "I feel that a creative person doesn't necessarily have to make something that is put on a pedestal," Liccione says. This creativity is a family trait. Another of the nine Liccione children has found success in the art world-Alex is an accomplished New York painter who has created, among other works, an entire series of watercolors and oil paintings based on WWII photographs, especially those of his father's experiences in the Aleutians. "I look up to Alex not just because he's my brother, but because he's a great painter," James Liccione says. Like Alex, James showed his artistic talent at an early age. In high school he won the Hallmark Award, which won him a scholarship to attend the Art Students' League in New York City. A supportive family environment al- lowed him to pursue his dream of an education and career in art. "I was very blessed that God gave me two great parents," he says. Further scholarships sent him to the land of his chances James Liccione's metallic art is on show everywhere, from the Museum of Art to Sesame Street. THE IRONMAN COMETH VERO BEACH MAGAZINE JANUARY 2007 180
commitment to beauty and functionality; it is a working, battery-operated clock constructed of forged, twisted iron and carved, gilded wood. Created in the mid-'90s, it is currently in the hands of a New York collector. He studied sculpture at the Academia Di Bella in Milan. In a peculiar turn of events, it turned out that an obscure law on Italy's books at that time allowed for him to be conscripted into the Italian army, since both his mother and his paternal grandparents were THE IRONMAN COMETH BY TERESA LEE RUSHWORTH VERO BEACH MAGAZINE PAGE 1 |
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THE IRONMAN COMETH James Liccione
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ORIGINAL ART FURNITURE! Art Furniture is one-of-a-kind sculptural art furniture for the original. The art furniture - iron gates, tables, sofas, clocks, chairs, beds, plus figurative sculpture function powerfully indoors or outdoors. Expert conservation and restoration!” |
Standing over six feet tall, Grandfather Timepiece is true to Liccione's dual
