Cars Bring Three Artists Together In Hoboken, New Jersey This June

HOBOKEN, N.J. - May 18, 2016 - PRLog -- Three artists and an art collector who love cars are organizing a series of group shows with their first one opening at the Mason Civic League gallery in Hoboken, New Jersey, this June. The subject? Cars, of course. Pratik Sharma of Mumbai, India, who recently celebrated his 28th birthday while visiting New York City, has been painting his well-engineered, precision-inked "Carscapes," since he left Raffles Design Institute of Singapore where he pursued a degree in Product Design with the intention of becoming an automotive designer. Robert Seyffert, 64, a Bronx-based artist who began his career as a curator for a small Maryland museum, has been painting "Urban Automobiles," nostalgic portraits of classic cars set in urban landscapes, since the mid-eighties. Mitchell Schorr, 43, a New Yorker who currently lives in Fort Lee, New Jersey, is a street artist best known for "Da Race," giant spray-painted racetrack murals, throughout New York City, and popping up elsewhere, depicting brightly-colored race cars pitted against white ice-cream trucks. Schorr is also a fine artist whose commissions include Ferrari/Maserati, North America as well as the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. His studio work is much more refined than his outside murals but his automotive series retains an exuberant high-octane style.

How did the three artists meet? Robert and Mitchell met in the nineties at the National Arts Club in New York City as members. Pratik and Mitchell met this spring at the Affordable Art Fair in New York where Gallery Beyond was showing the Indian artist's work. One of Pratik's American collectors, Roxanne Hoffman, Publisher at Poets Wear Prada, already familiar with Robert Seyffert's work, suggested a visit to Robert's South Bronx studio so the two car artists could meet. Pratik had been looking for opportunities to show his work in the States.  Roxanne recommended a group show on cars with some well-established American artists. At his studio, Robert mentioned he knew of Mitchell Schorr, the artist Pratik met at the Affordable Art Fair. A few days later, Roxanne and Pratik were at Mitchell Schorr's midtown Manhattan studio. The three artists agreed to consider a group show but wondered how they might find a gallery to host the show, since none of them were currently represented by any New York gallery.

In India Pratik Sharma and his art shows are frequently featured in major newspaper gossip columns and art magazines. Several of his collectors are Bollywood movie stars. He has also designed a calendar for Audi.

Mitchell Schorr, a.k.a. the street artist M. Schorr, has always been a renegade. His canvases include the sides of buildings, rooftops, fences, roadway underpasses, and a Vermont barn. "Da Race" is going global, taking the artist and his spray paints from New York to Vermont to Michigan and even Hong Kong. His street art has become so popular, he no longer has sneak around to paint it. He receives invitations and sponsorships from various municipalities and businesses seeking public works. As a fine artist, his approach to selling his work is unconventionally traditional -- he seeks patrons. His paintings are sold directly to private collectors, and much of his work has been commissioned. The Detroit Institute or Art recently purchased one Schorr's paintings to hang next to a work by Frank Stella.

Robert Seyffert recently had a show of his seaside landscapes at the National Arts Club, but the gallery that had shown his automobile-themed paintings closed their Lower East Side space in April, with hopes to reopen in Harlem this summer.

Roxanne, whose father used to race his Citroën with her seated next to him, said she would figure out a way to get the group show into a galleries and maybe even into a museum. Pratik Sharma left New York to return home to Mumbai, India, leaving a cache of paintings with his American collector and friend Roxanne, hoping for private sales.

Less than a week later, Roxanne was toting one of Pratik's paintings wrapped in bubble wrap to show a private collector in her hometown of Hoboken, New Jersey. Heading up Washington Street, she ran into Tanya Garcia, gallerist for the Mason Civic League. Roxanne had left her contact information with the gallery two winters ago for a possible future show. Tanya said the gallery would be available for Roxanne's show in June. Roxanne decided to pitch "The Car Show" instead and unwrapped Pratik's painting. The gallerist loved the painting, liked the idea of the group show about cars, but want to meet the artists and see more work. Roxanne explained that Pratik Sharma was back home in India, but offered to set up a meeting with the other two artists.

The following Monday, Mitchell Schorr and Robert Seyffert were in Hoboken at the Mason Civc League to see the gallery and meet with Roxanne and Tanya. And after a brief discussion, Tanya agreed to host "The Car Show."

"The Car Show" featuring paintings of cars by Pratik Sharma, Mitchell Schorr and Robert Seyffert opens Thursday, June 2nd at the Mason Civic League, 1200 Washington Street, Hoboken, New Jersey. The opening reception will be from 6pm to 9pm. The show is scheduled to run through June 30th. The gallery is open daily, weekdays from 2pm to 8pm, weekends from 12pm to 6pm, and by appointment.

The two American artists Robert Seyffert and Mitchell Schorr will be present at the opening, as will be the curator Roxanne Hoffman and the gallerist Tanya Garcia. The Indian artist Pratik Sharma will be celebrating at home in Mumbai via Facebook and Instagram.

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