This exhibition presents the work of former School of Architecture faculty member Anthony Candido, who taught at The Cooper Union from 1959–2015. Over the course of five decades, he led numerous design studios and seminars, including, from 1983–2000, thirty-three Design III studios in close collaboration with his colleague and friend, the late Richard Henderson. Prior to his arrival at Cooper Union, Tony taught architecture at Cornell University; University of California, Berkeley; and The City College of New York.
 
Tony’s trajectory in the disciplines of architecture and art was singular and significant. He received his Bachelor of Architecture from IIT in 1954 under the directorship of Mies van der Rohe, and studied city planning under Ludwig Hilberseimer. He made the first design for Konrad Wachsmann’s Air Force hangar under Wachsmann’s direct supervision. He was an architectural designer with I.M. Pei from 1954–57, where, among other projects, designed a novel, single support 180-foot diameter steel and glass structure for Roosevelt Field. Tony was also a major contributor to the design of the U.S. Pavilion for Expo ‘70 and he went to Osaka, Japan in 1969 to supervise its construction.

Tony began working independently in his painting studio in 1957. His place in the history of modern art—specifically in New York City—is undeniable, and fellow artists Sol LeWitt and Franz Kline were among his friends early in his career. Their conversations and correspondence focused on the work of their contemporaries during a period of great creative energy and experimentation in the art world.

Tony’s work includes an extensive body of mostly oil but also acrylic paintings, as well as sumi ink brush stroke paintings on handmade papers, at a variety of scales. The work presented in this exhibition, dating from 1954 to 2019, represents only a sliver of his vast body of work. He was resolute in his convictions about art, especially his own art. He rarely wavered in his thinking. His paintings have been exhibited at The Canadian Center for Architecture, Montreal; Galerie de L’Ecole des Beaux-Arts de Lorient, France; The International Design Forum, Asahikawa, Japan; The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; and the Attitudes Gallery, Denver. He also exhibited his work at various New York galleries, including Area Gallery, Betty Parsons Gallery, The Painting Center, the Arthur A. Houghton Jr. Gallery of The Cooper Union, the Philippe Briet Gallery, 101 Wooster DNC Exhibition Space, Spectrum Gallery, St. Mark’s Church on the Bowery, and Westbeth Gallery. A collection of his work, photographs, and papers was acquired by the Smithsonian Archives of American Art in 2019. 
 
Tony was a force of nature, a commanding presence with an intense zest for life. The sound of his powerful voice was unmistakable and unforgettable. As an educator, he had an impact on generations of architects. He is beloved by his family of former students, colleagues, and friends.

Free and open to the public. 

Gallery Hours
Monday to Friday 2-7pm
Saturday and Sunday 12-7pm