Angelo Bona Jr. grew up in New York during the 1929 Great Depression. "The Depression affected me very deeply," he says. "People had a very difficult time surviving." As a youth, Angelo learned to accept and embrace change--a concept which has profoundly influenced both his life and his art.    

At age sixteen, he left home to travel around the country equipped with just the clothes on his back and a wild spirit. Eager to experience life abroad, he enlisted in the Navy one year later. After World War II, he returned home to join his father's painting contracting business. He married and had five children. 



By age thirty-five, Angelo was a successful business owner, but his creative drive could no longer be suppressed; he had a vision. With no formal training, he began producing works of art. His gift for understanding perspective enabled him to carve and chisel blocks of stone, turning each one into a recognizable object. Ultimately, he enrolled in night classes at the Art Student League in Manhattan.  His hard work and talent were quickly recognized and he was rewarded with a full scholarship to the academy. He studied under, as well as assisted, some of the finest 20th Century sculptors, including Jose DeCreef (stone carving); Nathaniel Kaz (sculpture); Robert Beverly Hale (anatomy).  It was at the Art Student League that he developed his own artistic style. “I admire Picasso for his courage, Rodin for his sensitivity and Matisse for his stylized lines.” 

Throughout his career, Angelo's art has evolved in various directions paralleling the circuitous path of his early childhood years depicting a daring in exploration and versatility. He had worked in bronze, wood, plaster, steel, clay, cement and styrofoam, as well as with stained glass. His sculptures, strong and emotional, fall into several distinct styles: Classical Realism, Romantic Impressionism and Abstract.

For ten years, he assisted the eminent Lithuanian sculptor, Vytautas K. Jonynas on many projects. While under Mr. Jonynas's tutelage, he learned new techniques on how to create with materials he had never used before.

In 1983, Angelo traveled to Italy, land of his heritage and home to some of history’s most famous sculptors. For two years, he worked in Luigi Tommasi’s foundry in Pietra Santa, executing his bronzes.  

For a decade, the award-winning artist taught sculpture class at the Nassau County Museum of Art in Roslyn, Long Island. It was at the Museum that he was invited to appear on public television to demonstrate the process of creating a sculpture. Additionally, he has been a guest on radio shows and has been interviewed in print media. Likewise, his exhibits have routinely received excellent reviews.    

Angelo's works of art reside in private collections throughout the United States and in Europe. The Long Island Jewish Hospital once commissioned him to make a piece for a retiring executive who had been a long-standing admirer of his work. He has, in fact, been commissioned to sculpt dozens of portraits, most notably, a bronze portrait of New York Yankee pitcher, Whitey Ford; a bronze portrait of Francis Purcell, former Nassau County Executive, Long Island; a bas-relief of Thomas S. Gulotta, also a former Nassau County Executive; a bronze portrait of his mentor and former teacher, V.K. Jonynas.

Public exhibits include the Lithuanian Museum, Lithuania and the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame, Long Island. Other exhibits have been at the National Academy of Design, Manhattan (two-time exhibitor); the Wooster Gallery, SoHo, Manhattan; Gallery One, SoHo, Manhattan; the New York Institute of Technology, Greenvale, Long Island; Elaine Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, New York; Newman Gallery, Philadelphia; Midge Karr Fine Arts Center, Manhattan; Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn, Long Island; Hofstra University, Uniondale, Long Island; Adelphi University, Garden City, Long Island; University of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico. 

Instructions, lectures and workshops have also been conducted at Adelphi University; South Florida Art Institute, Florida; St. John’s University, Queens, New York; University of Puerto Rico; Angelo Bona Sculpture Studio, Floral Park, Long Island. Throughout his career, Angelo Bona's unique utilization of space and form have dazzled the cognoscenti. By his own admission, his "creative energy had always been too abundant to be completely harnessed."