Tino Zago Foghorn Time1984 Acrylic on Canvas 42" x 138" OK Harris Commission

Painted in 1984, Foghorn Time is a sweeping and immersive abstraction by Tino Zago (Italian-American, b. 1937). for a commission.
Executed in acrylic on canvas, the monumental format—more than eleven feet wide—reveals Zago’s fascination with the rhythm of landscape and the mutability of light. Layers of color and gesture evoke the pulse of fog, sea, and horizon, recalling both the physicality of Abstract Expressionism and the meditative depth of Venetian light.
Zago’s work is often described as a poetic distillation of water, landscape and atmospheric light, influenced by his time in Nova Scotia and his seasonal return to Italy, using the Dolomites and Venetian lagoon as visual reference.
In Foghorn Time, the expansive horizontal format evokes an open sense of horizon and motion — a vista across sea, sky or memory, punctuated by gestural rhythms reminiscent of foghorn blasts and shifting tides. The painting’s scale and tempo underscore Zago’s continuing interest in nature’s elemental forces filtered through abstraction.
Born in Crespano del Grappa, Italy, Zago emigrated to the United States in 1948 and earned his MFA in Painting from Yale University in 1969, studying under Al Held and Neil Welliver. Dividing his time between New York City, Venice, and Vinalhaven Island, Maine, he draws continuous inspiration from water, atmosphere, and shifting light—an elemental dialogue that defines his mature work.
In the early 1980s, Zago developed a close association with Ivan C. Karp, the pioneering dealer who founded OK Harris Works of Art in SoHo.
"Foghorn Time" was commissioned by a Cleveland law firm.
Zago’s first solo show with OK Harris was held in 1983, followed by regular exhibitions through 2014 when the gallery OK Harris closed.
His paintings also appeared in Karp-curated group shows, including The Hot Centre: Contemporary Art Selected by Ivan Karp (Norton Center for the Arts, 1987).
Additional solo and group exhibitions include the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Heckscher Museum, California State University Los Angeles, Galleria d’Arte S. Stefano (Venice), and Robert Kidd Gallery (Michigan).
Foghorn Time represents a pivotal moment in Zago’s evolution—where gesture becomes atmosphere, and landscape dissolves into sensation.

Solo Exhibitions:
2014 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
2011 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
2009 OK Harris Works of Art, New York, New York
2006 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
2005 Venezia-New York-Venezia: Franco Renzulli e Tino Zago, Galleria D’Arte S. Stefano, Venezia, Italia
2003 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
2001 Galleria D’Arte S. Stefano, Venezia, Italy
2000 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1998 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1996 Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, MI
1995 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1995 Keen Gallery, New York, NY
1994 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1993 Rubiner Gallery, West Bloomfield, MI
1993 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1992 Jaffe Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
1991 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1990 Rubiner Gallery, West Bloomfield, MI
1989 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1989 McIntosh Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1988 Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1987 O.K. South, South Miami, FL
1986 McIntosh Gallery, Atlanta, GA
1986 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1984 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY (December)
1984 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY (March)
1983 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
1982 Frank Marino Gallery, New York, NY
1981 O.K. Harris West, Scottsdale, AZ
1981 Frank Marino Gallery, New York, NY
1980 Weyhe Zago, Frank Marino Gallery, New York, NY
1977 Neill Gallery, New York, NY
1976 Burlington Community College, Pemberton, NJ
1973 Razor Gallery, New York, NY
1972 Spectrum Gallery, New York, NY
1969 Zago Lembeck, United Art Gallery, New Haven, CT

Group Exhibitions
2012 Abstract Expressionism: Then & Now, Flint Institute of Art, Flint, MI
2010 Summeryreview, OK Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
2009 Summer Exhibition, OK Harris Works of Art, New York, New York
2007 Works on Paper: Watercolors and Drawings by Artists from OK Harris, Art & Design Gallery, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI
2007 New York to New Hampshire: Artists of the OK Harris Gallery, New England College Gallery, Henniker, NH
2005 Taccuino Per Un Viaggio, Numero Tre, Casa del Tintoretto, Venezia, Italia
2005 La Storia dei Calendari d’Arte Zago, Tino Zago & Antonio Zago, Limena, Padova, Italia
2004 Sketchbook 88 by Shoichiro-Satake, Galerie Sho Contemporary Art, Tokyo, Japan
2004 Exemplary Works: Painting, Sculpture, Photography, OK Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
2003-04 Everything OK at OK Harris, Brevard Museum of Art and Science, Melbourne, FL
2002 Taccuino Per Un Viaggio, Casa del Tintoretto, Venezia, Italy
2002 Postcards, A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY
2001 O.K. Harris Works of Art, New York, NY
2001 Venezia-New York-Venezia: Franco Renzulli e Tino Zago, Galleria Santo Stefano, Venice, Italy
1996 Christine Adapon Fine Art, Manila, Philippines
1996 Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition, Robert Kidd Gallery, Birmingham, MI
1994 Live From New York: The O.K. Harris Gallery , Marcia Rafelman Fine Arts, Toronto, Canada
1994 New York Collection 1994-95, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY
1993 Earth, Air, Fire and Water: Elements of the Permanent Collection, Cranbrook Academy Museum of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
1993 Summer Group Exhibition, Station Gallery, Katonah, NY
1993 Nine Artists, Noel Fine Art, Bronxville, NY
1993 Contemporary Artists at Chase Manhattan Bank, Cross River, NY; in cooperation with Station Gallery, Katonah, NY
1992 Keen Gallery, New York, NY
1991 The Manhattan Breakfast Club: Part I, Station Gallery, Katonah, NY
1990 An Exhibit From OK Harris Gallery New York City, Zimmerman/Saturn Gallery, Nashville, TN
1989 Landscape, Rubiner Gallery, West Bloomfield, MI
1988 Tortue is O.K., Tortue Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1988 New Sculpture and Paintings, Aurora Gallery, Closter, NJ
1987 The Hot Centre: Contemporary Art Selected By Ivan Karp, Norton Center for the Arts, Centre College, Danville, KY
1987 Eternal Interest: Visions of The Figure, Zolla/Lieberman Gallery, Chicago, IL
1987 Park Art Festival, Park Synagogue, Cleveland, OH
1987 Fifty First National Midyear Exhibition, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, OH
1986 A Contemporary View of Nature, Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art, Ridgefield, CT
1986 Highlights of the Season, Helander Gallery, Palm Beach, FL
1986 The Artists of O.K. Harris, Helander Gallery, Palm Beach, FL
1985 Tomasulo Gallery, Union County College, Cranford, NJ
1985 Razor Show, Hudson Center Galleries, New York, NY
1985 First Contemporary Art Expo Tokyo, Isetan Gallery Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
1985 Artists of O.K. Harris, Helander/Rubenstein Gallery, Palm Beach, FL
1985 Inner Versus Outer, Hudson Center Galleries, New York, NY
1985 American Art Now! Painting in the 80’s, Columbus Museum of Arts and Sciences, Columbus, GA
1984 The Intuitive Response, Robeson Center Gallery, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ
1984 American Landscape Painting, Fine Arts Gallery, California State University, Los Angeles, CA
1984 Through the Looking Glass: Reflected Images in Contemporary Art, Heckscher Museum., Huntington, NJ
1984 25th Annual Art Exhibition, YM-YWHA, Union, NJ
1984 Summer Remembered, Squibb Gallery, Princeton, NJ
1984 O.K. Harris Artists, Royal Palm Gallery, Palm Beach, FL
1983 Landscape, Ben Shahn Gallery, William Paterson College, Wayne, NJ
1983 SoHo, NoHo, Tribeca: Art From Lower Manhattan, Randolph Macon Women's College, Lynchberg, VA
1982 Water, Water, Frank Marino Gallery, New York, NY
1982 Cranbrook U.S.A., Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
1981 Paper Caper , Frank Marino Gallery, New York, NY
1981 Summer Invitational, Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York, NY
1981 Two & Three Dimensions, Frank Marino Gallery, New York, NY
1979 Painting on Canvas, Rubiner Gallery, Detroit, MI
1978 Images on Paper, Neill Gallery, New York, NY
1977 Roth, Zago, Stamos, Halahmv, Meneeley, Louis K. Meisel Gallery, New York, NY
1977 Neill Gallery, New York, NY
1975 Lamagna Gallery, New York, NY
1972 Michigan Artist's Show, Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI
1970 New England Exhibition, New Canaan, CT

Commissions
1997 100 William Street Office Tower Lobby, New York, NY
1995 Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff, Cleveland, OH
1992 Hilton Hotel, New York, NY
1990 Hyatt Regency Aruba
1967 Steelcase, Grand Rapids, MI (mural)

Collections:
Butler Museum of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio
Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ
Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI
Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Center for the Arts, Vero Beach, FL
State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY
A.T & T., Long Lines, VA
Prudential Life Insurance Company of America, Newark, NJ
R.C.A. Corporation, New York, NY
I.B.M. Corporation, New York, NY
Banca di Roma, New York, NY
American Republic Insurance Company, Des Moines, IA
Chemical Bank, New York, NY
Standard Federal Bank, Troy, MI
Manufacturers Hanover Bank, New York, NY
Bankers Trust Company, New York, Ny
Zale Corporation, Dallas, TX
Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, New York, NY
Coca Cola Corporation, Atlanta, GA
Pepsico Inc., Purchase, NY