Dick Marconi

Dick Marconi has been innovating and leaving his mark in many endeavors throughout his life. Although creating art is one of his greatest passions, Marconi is also widely recognized as a noted philanthropist, for his Marconi Automotive Museum and Foundation for Kids and for having built a business empire.

Born in Gary, Indiana in the 1930s just before the pre-war steel boom of World War II, Marconi was twelve years-old when he became blinded in both eyes as a result of a chemical accident. Slowly over time, he began to regain some vision in his right eye. The result was black and white and devoid of color and depth. Through sheer determination and visual concentration, Marconi was able to retrain his brain and soon saw immense color - more vibrant than he ever remembered. In the 1990’s, after many years of experimenting, Marconi began to create abstract forms using mixed media and found objects. These rapid and expressive non-objective paintings have obscured the typical figure-ground composition, laying the groundwork for his signature painting technique, “Color Fusion”.