A Boy Named Patience The Collected Artworks of Rene Capone 1997 - 2018

A Boy Named Patience is a culmination of the best works of art from internally renowned queer figure artist René Capone from 1997-2018. This collection features the most emotionally evocative paintings and drawings from the artist's twenty-year career, highlighting his most beloved works of art collected around the globe.

Well-known for his mystical depictions of young boys looking for their place in the world, Capone explores themes of truth, beauty, love, romance and sexuality through diverse depictions of the male body. This book contains page after page of intimate characters, ranging from naked young men in an Edenic relationship with nature, to boys in love trapped in stark and threatening landscapes, to colorful reimaginings of Greek myths, Tarot cards, wild creatures and savage archetypes. 

This art book features the words of poet Dave Russo alongside the images, adding another layer of wisdom and intensity to Capone's whimsy. Deeply respectful of language, Capone invites the sacred words of poetry to play alongside this stunning assortment of sensory experiences. Through poetry and art, may A Boy Named Patience invite you to experience your own path through the forest, where creativity is the most nourishing substance in life. 

PRAISE FOR RENÉ CAPONE ART 

"Rene Capone's artwork is visually stunning and emotionally loud. The images in the paintings can be both erotic and sensual, introspective and proud. For a gay boy viewer, who can see shades of himself depicted in the paintings, Rene's work is both liberating and incredibly sexy." -Mike Glatze, XY magazine

"In René Capone's work he creates a world where boys become avatars, taking on the characteristics of animals and transforming their identities both physically and spiritually. Capone's personal theme is that of hope in his audience will finding the courage to stand up for themselves, accept who they are and dare to be better than what the world gave them." 
-San Francisco Public Library
 
"Rene Capone's art conveys a sense of wonder, exploration and discovery. Set against a fantastical world of mythical dreamscapes, the figures in his work appear to be on a deeply personal quest for identity and their place in their world. Using an evocative blend of childhood wonder & eroticism, Capone takes your imagination to a world where mystery and love are still possible." 
-Adam Sandel, The Advocate & Bay Area Reporter

Looking back on two decades as a professional artist, René Capone has some advice for young boys, especially queer artists, looking for their place in the world: "Yes, you can. Hold onto what makes you *you*, no matter what, especially if you're marginalized in any way. Creativity is the most coveted substance on earth. Never give up."


"There are so many times I thought, I should have been dead by now," René laughs. "But I just don't die. I keep making art. It's really the only thing I'm good at, so I think I have to do it. And I want young people to know, it's possible."


Count these things in René's past: an abusive childhood, years of hospitalization, depression, identity crises, and looking for love in all the wrong places. Through it all, the artist has always returned to the canvas, transforming personal angst into vivid, allegorical renderings of his journey, amassing hundreds of paintings and drawings that speak to the lover and dreamer in all of us.