Dr. Nicholas Toscano, current NYC celebrity dental surgeon and former decorated US Naval Dental officer is no stranger to the spotlight. Dr. Toscano is currently the official dentist for roughly 25 modeling agencies in NYC and LA which include the Lions, Wilhelmina, One, Storm, Heroes, Fusion to name a few. His patients include some of the most famous models in the world including Victoria’s Secret models, Candice Swanepoel, Helena Christensen, Jasmine Tookes, Romee Strijd, and Josephine Skriver.
Dr. Nicholas Toscano isn’t just famous for his smiles. He is starting to emerge as sort after street artist known as 1Penemy that art collectors worldwide want a piece of. Dr. Nicholas Toscano AKA 1PENEMY discussed his emergence as a sort after artist by art connoisseurs.
How does a famous dentist and surgeon like yourself become a street graffiti artists?
Nicholas Toscano (NT): Well that’s an interesting question, in addition to the famous models I treat in my office, I also take care of over 100 artists in NYC, Miami, and LA which include such famous artists as Bradley Theodore, Jeremy Penn, Layer Cake, Tripp Derrick Barnes, BY Flore, Producer BDB, Jason Ackerman, Alan Jeffery and many others. Over the years these artist where very generous with me not only giving me their art but also inviting me out to their shows and many became my close friend. Through their influence I developed a natural passion for the arts and decided to give it a go.
How did you come up with the name 1penemy?
NT: Well Street art and graffiti art is not exactly legal, so I decided to come up with a name reflective of that, the name 1Penemy stands for Number 1 public enemy.
Why Mugshots of famous models as the centerpiece of your street art?
NT: There is a lot to this question. I consider street art also in the spirit of Andy Warhol Pop iconic art. His art also centered on figures he hung out with on daily basis or whom he associated with. Since the majority of my dental practice involves treating some of the worlds most famous models and model agencies it was natural to center my art on Models I grew up on or treated in my practice. In 2016, I came up with my first designs of my SOHO model Line up street art of supermodels of the 90’s I grew up on and loved which are Cindy Crawford, Kate Moss, and Stephanie Seymour. The mugshot is meant to symbolize women’s struggles they have occurred throughout history. I began wheatpasting my art all over NYC and started my art instagram @1penemy profile.
Why did you keep your art such a secret for so long considering your Surgical Instagram profile @drtoscanodds has 170,000 followers.
NT: Well Art is balanced with science in my office with countless client-tailored artistic smile reconstructions, makeovers, and recreations. Art is a passion of mine that obviously makes sense from my surgical recreation of a patient’s smile to my street art, being artistic is in my blood. However I wanted to keep the graffiti street art part of my life a secret as I built my art brand 1Penemy which is still growing so I decided to keep my dental life separate from my street art until recently. I started my art in 2016 and from 2016 to 2020 people would take pictures next to my famous 1penemy SOHO model line street installations and they would tag my art instagram. As my art page grew so did the requests for people to buy my art.
Have you sold you art?
NT: Yes but mostly at charity auctions to benefits causes such as children’s hospitals and save arts programs in NYC. Currently any sale of my art a portion of his profit will be donated to organizations that assist in diminishing women’s struggles such as Model Alliance and the Me Too Movement. I currently have over 30 active commissions and 50 more requests. As a matter of fact the Covid 19 lockdown has allowed me to step away from my dentist and focus on my art and commissions.
