Artist Spotlight - Local Skateboarding Artist Chad Cocilo

Dreadlocked, skateboarding independent artist Chad Cocilo has been a Connecticut resident for all of his life moving from his childhood home in Quaker Hill to New London at the age of 21.

At the start of his art career Cocilo’s friend Grant Polippo provided just the spark he needed to get started by teaching him a few stenciling techniques. Cocilo has been self-taught from that point, learning from trial and error as well as from friends like Polippo.

Usually working on canvas with acrylic and spray paint Cocilo’s primary medium of creation is stencil work using anywhere from one to nine layers to make detailed portraits.

Early on Chad spent time making stencil art as a hobby but only started getting serious when his friend Randy passed away. He created a beautiful nine layer stencil portrait as a memorial to his good friend. This piece is his “all time favorite” personal work because of the special meaning it holds.

Since creating that work Cocilo has participated in numerous art shows in New London including "Catch Me If You Can" at MUSE Gallery, "Robot Show" at the , "One by One" at [aticc] and his solo show "Knucklegrease" at [aticc].

In his work Cocilo has explored the use of various characters and symbols such as an unnamed “bearded head” that Chad says evolved “out of a doodle that was based on the shape made by some spilled paint.”  He worked on the design for a while and eventually came up with a bizarre figure of an older man with a long scraggily beard and crazy eyes.

He has used this image on many of his works as well as collaborating with [aticc] to screen print the design onto t-shirts and sweatshirts. One of the most amusing and noteworthy uses of the bearded head was a piece depicting it with laser beams coming out of its eyes,  shouting “Godzilla Ain’t Got S--- On Me!”

Other than friends such as Grant Pollipo, Denny Rivera and Rob Vaughn Guess, Cocilo has been influenced by the work of graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat as well as skateboarder artists Neil Blender, Ed Tempelton and Mark Gonzales.

A skateboarding enthusiast since he was 12, Chad would like to make skateboards and T-shirts with his designs but he’s still working on the concept. “I don’t want to just make anything and put it on a board…because whatever it ends up being has to represent me and everything I do,” Cocilo tells Patch.

Once happy with a design, Cocilo will print his work on products for sale at which he currently owns and operates; the store itself is moving across the street to the former home of [aticc]. Cocilo has also displayed his art work on the walls of the store as part of the street décor and plans to continue to do so at the new location.

Look out for more information on the artwork of Chad Cocilo and the reopening of Green Street Skate Shop in its new location.