Born and raised in New York, artist Mark Guglielmo works at the intersection of current events, Western art, and social history to examine issues of race, class, migration, and power. Merging mixed media, Guglielmo makes life-size deconstructed portraits to peel back the layers and get to the core of the human condition. Collage has been central to his practice and a bridge between his art and music. A former rapper and record producer, Guglielmo aka Vesuveo burst on the hip-hop scene rapping with Eminem on the underground classic “Green and Gold,” which rose to #9 on US Rap radio charts in 1998 and currently has over 4.6 million streams on Spotify. His interdisciplinary approach synthesizes golden age hip-hop aesthetics: speaking truth to power while sampling, truncating, and reconfiguring existing materials into new compositions.

In addition to the primary role hip-hop plays in his practice, Guglielmo’s touchstones include his grandmother Grace, a painter who raised 11 children, David Hockney’s “joiners,” the teachings of writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin, his sister and brother, both leading scholars of Italians, race, and immigration in U.S. history, Expressionist icons Francis Bacon and Vincent van Gogh, and his music/art world peers. His past exhibitions have explored themes of memory, vulnerability, and belonging, Sicily and the imprinted legacies of those who came before, contemporary Cuban identity, aspirations, and perspectives on U.S. foreign policy, and Italian American whiteness and race-making in the U.S. Grounded in art history and his own personal experiences, Guglielmo uses sight, sound, and story to create welcoming yet provocative space for the ongoing conversations reshaping the art world and Western society.

In the late 90s, Guglielmo released four albums with his critically acclaimed Los Angeles-based group The Anonymous, all of which he has re-issued on his Survivor Soul Music label. He shared the stage with KRS-One, Biz Markie, Black Eyed Peas, and Rock Steady Crew, and produced two dozen records, including “Forever and a Day” off Mystic’s Grammy-nominated Interscope Records debut and his own solo debut Shine (2011), while his beats became the soundtrack to Pimp My Ride, Jersey Shore, Cribs, Beavis and Butt-Head, America’s Next Top Model, and many other shows. In 2024, he’ll release the 3rd volume in his anthology of greatest beats. Guglielmo received a B.A. in History from Haverford College, Haverford, PA, in 1992, spending a year at Université de Paul Valéry in Montpellier, France. Extended stays in Tunisia, Cuba, and Italy have further expanded his outlook on the world.

Guglielmo has exhibited nationally at Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT (2023); Vermont Center for Photography, Brattleboro, VT (2022); The Loveland Museum, Loveland, CO (2019); Von Auersperg Gallery, Deerfield, MA (2019); Villa Victoria Center for the Arts, Boston, MA (2017), and The New York State Museum, Albany, NY (1988). Guglielmo has been awarded multiple prizes and grants, including a three-time Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts / MASS MoCA Assets for Artists Program Grantee (2021-2024); Mural Apprentice Program Artist Fellow, Fresh Paint Springfield, MA (2021); Public Art Commission, Chilson Recreation Center, Loveland, CO (2019); Deerfield Academy TEDx Talk (2019); The Williston Northampton School Artist-in-Residence (2018); and Young@Heart PrisonVision Program Visiting Artist at the Chicopee Women's State Prison and the Northampton Men’s Prison (2014-2019). He lives and works in Western Massachusetts.

Photo by Isabella Dellolio Photography