MODERN MASTERS: Art exhibition by Barry Gross, Salvatore Principe & Laurence Gartel

July 6, 2011 - PRLog -- MODERN MASTERS
OPENING RECEPTION: 
SAT. OCT. 8, 2011
7-11PM

BARRY GROSS GALLERY
3335 NE 32ND STREET
FT. LAUDERDALE, FL 33308
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Barry-Gross-Gallery
305-609-2463

MODERN MASTERS will be an exciting showcase exhibition, comprising the works of three accomplished artists working in completely different mediums and styles. Painter Barry Gross, painter/sculptor Salvatore Principe and Digital Media Pioneer Laurence Gartel, whose work spans nearly four decades, all originally born and raised in New York and now living and working in S. Florida. 

BARRY GROSS earned his BFA at Pratt Institute and continued four years private study under David Byrd. He considers himself a self-taught artist, learning many techniques he uses today by trial and error and experimentation. He has exhibited in numerous museums and galleries including Brooklyn Museum - Brooklyn, NY; Galleria Renata - Chicago, IL; Fulton County Library - Atlanta, GA; State Capitol of Georgia - Atlanta, GA; The Atlanta History Center - Atlanta, GA; The Lowe Gallery - Atlanta, GA; Trinity Gallery - Atlanta, GA;   Winter Gallery - Naples, FL; Madison Noble Gallery - Sarasota, FL; and Caesarea Gallery, Boca Raton, FL. 

Barry's work is a powerful statement of man's continual quest for spirituality and the beautiful expression of human physical beauty. Barry confronts the human condition on every level and this drives his passion to paint and create. The imagery & intimacy that Barry creates in his paintings emanates from dreams and visions, in which he expresses his awareness of a higher power that permeates our physical world and lights our way with its beauty.

Barry's paintings and drawings are empowered with technique, the use of paint, the consistency of oils which seems to flow through the body to the brush, the powers of space, shape, form and color. The conclusion being in how the viewing public interacts with the work, imbued with all emotions – spiritual inspiration, humor, drama, anger or sensuality, becoming reflective and inheriting a deeper access to the canvas, becoming more involved with its theme.

Barry's work hangs in the private collections of Richard T. Rice, Hard Rock Cafe Intl.; Steven R. Kanter, The Coca Cola Co.; Burt Reynolds; Malcolm Forbes; Sir Elton John; Mr. & Mrs. Marvin Singer, Singer Sewing Machine Co.;  The Woodruff Family;  Mr. & Mrs. A. D. Frazier, COO Atlanta Olympic Games, CEO Invesco, Inc.; Mr. & Mrs. Leo Mullin, CEO Delta Airlines; Hartsfield International Airport, Atlanta, GA.

Barry has donated art to many charities including Breast Cancer, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Childhood Diabetes, Aids Atlanta, Center One, Mario Leumieux Foundation and Sickle Cell Anemia.

View more of Barry's work at http://www.iconeditions.com  To view a mini-documentary on Barry, directed by Damian Fitzsimmons and produced by Tyler Ford, please go to http://vimeo.com/6849803



By contrast, the art career of SALVATORE PRINCIPE wasn't born from formal training. It would take ten years and the death of Salvatore's mother to find his soul's desire, "to paint the world with love." Born in New York City in 1959, Salvatore was raised in Manhattan. His parents thought he might be a professional soccer or tennis player.

But Salvatore left school early, trading school for a new playground in the streets of NY, working at Studio 54 in its heyday, where he assisting the lighting technician, surrounded by Andy Warhol, Debbie Harry, Mick & Bianca Jagger, Calvin Klein, Halston, Valentino Garavani, Liza Minnelli & Elizabeth Taylor. Three years later, his lighting experience landed Principe a job at The Underground, the next “It” club of the early 80's. Sal longed for something more fulfilling and quit in pursuit of a deeper meaning to his existence. He had this overwhelming need to "create".

With no training and no real tools, Sal  began creating sculpture art from objects mostly found in NYC trash heaps. His heroes became Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock & Willem de Kooning. Bergdorf Goodman gave Principe an exhibit  in its famous window displays and this led to exhibits in Tiffany's, Saks & Casabella. Soon, SoHo galleries were inviting him to exhibit, when his mom got cancer and died age of 48. To heal, he  headed to South Florida and has never forgotten his mom's legacy of love. His way of paying homage to her was to paint hearts, filling the world with love. He made & sold thousands of them in so many beautiful variations over the years that he became famous for them, opening a gallery in Delray, and recently launching his own line of fine wines, and designing a line of ties & clothing with his pop friendly, modern style.

Salvatore's collectors include: Lisa de Kooning, Donald Trump, Adam Sandler, Patty Labelle, Pink, Carmen Diaz, Ralph Lauren, Jenny McCarthy, Andy Roddick, Steffi Graf, Chris Evert, Jennifer Capriati, Channing Tadum, Jenna Dewan, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Michael Recanati and Randy Falco. See more of Salvatore's work at http://www.salvatoreprincipe.com

LAURENCE GARTEL is considered the "FATHER" of the Digital Art movement around the world for over 35 years. His work has been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, Joan Whitney Payson Museum, Long Beach Museum of Art, Princeton Art Museum, PS 1, Norton Museum, Palm Beach Photographic Center and in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of American History, Bibliotheque Nationale Paris and the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum, London. His biography for his pioneering efforts is included in "Who's Who," "Who's Who in the East," "Who's Who in America," "Who's Who in American Art," and "Who's Who in the World."

Mr. Gartel taught Andy Warhol how to use the Amiga Computer when he got the commission to do the cover of Debbie Harry's (Blondie) album cover. Gartel went to School of Visual Arts and associated with fellow student, graffiti artist Keith Haring, where he earned his BFA degree in Graphics. Gartel went to CW Post College going for his MA in photography studying under Arthur Liepzig. He started his career working side by side with Nam June Paik at Media Study/Buffalo in upstate New York in 1975. Gartel worked with musicians such as Debbie Harry (Blondie), Sid Vicious (Sex Pistols), Stiv Bators (Dead Boys), Johnny Thunders (New York Dolls), Ace Frehley (Kiss) and Wendy O Williams (Plasmatics).

Recently, Gartel has created artwork for such stars such as Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. His ABSOLUT GARTEL commission for Absolut Vodka is perhaps his most well known artwork, gracing the pages of ART in AMERICA, Artforum, Sotheby's, Art & Auction, Art & Antiques, ArtByte, Scientific American, Technology Review, WIRED & NY Magazine. It is known as the first Digital Photograph ever ever created for this famous advertising campaign and is included in "ABSOLUT BOOK" by Richard Lewis. 

Gartel has numerous monograph books on his work including "Laurence Gartel: A Cybernetic Romance" ; "GARTEL: Arte & Tecnologia"; "La Storia Dell Arte"; “Creative Computer Graphics”; “Art Of the Digital Age”; “Digital Art”; “The Digital Print”; “THE WORLD OF DIGITAL ART”.

During Art Basel Miami Beach, he produced the Tesla Electric Art Roadster, causing so much attention that it went viral on the internet, now present on over 40,000 sites. Gartel created another first by wrapping a FERRARI Scuderia LIVE on the internet to over 242,000 viewers. His current project is GRAFFITI painting a 1971 Mercedes Benz 300 SEL. www.gartelautomotion.com  Interview links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDCxWV-jLKI, http://www.plumtv.com/videos/miami-laurence-gartel,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XPqdwR0oIY

For more information and to RSVP, go to:  https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=133726926708847

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Artist and communications professional who loves fashion and art, helping to promote and elevate the South Florida Art scene.