The lure of The Guggenheim is simply too great. No, this isn’t Guggenheim #4… my 20 years of Guggenheim’s are painted in the same location on 89th and 5th Avenue, of the opposite view, on 30″X30″ canvases… This black and white painting was made to support Frank’s Doors — treat it like Chicago politics, vote early and often.
Upon finishing the Four Queens on Fremont Street, we banged over to The Encore for a six hour live painting session at Surrender. We began at 10PM and painted until 4AM. Rocking out from our private cabana, it was VIP Vegas, and it was spectacular.
Thanks to the wonderful and talented Paula Caselton and Jerry Mitchell — Ari Lankin, Paul Zepeda and yours truly were invited to live paint at Broadway Bares Las Vegas. 2012’s edition entitled “Barelesque” was a sexy, rollicking good time.
If you have been to Las Vegas, and haven’t been to Fremont Street, you haven’t experienced Vegas. Last year, Ari Lankin and yours truly set-up on the street to paint the El Cortez Hotel. This year, thanks to Lisa Robinson, we had the VIP Fremont Experience in front of the storied Four Queens Hotel and Casino.
Vegas baby! For a second year, Ari Lankin and yours truly, this year joined by Paul Zepeda, shipped off to Vegas for nine days of painting madness. I’m starting off with my Welcome to Las Vegas Redux painting… here is last year’s.
On Easter Sunday, 2011, I was painting the El Cortez Hotel on Fremont Street in Las Vegas alongside fellow artist Ari Lankin. That day, a woman named Susan Pieper stopped by and asked if she could take a couple of action photos. We agreed, and I added, “it would be great if you can send those over if you have a chance.”
Spring is springing, and so, the outdoor painting season has begun! To kick things off, I decided to paint The Guggenheim and The Carlyle. Enjoy the video above, and a few process snaps along the way.
Justin Theroux as Adam Kesher from Mulholland Drive by David Lynch. That’s all you really need to know… huge fan of the actor, character, movie and director. The palette is guided by the movies strong sense of blue.
It’s not easy being the Mayor of Manhattan… let alone, an entrepreneurial billionaire. But, Mike Bloomberg gets the job done. So, when a friend suggested I paint a skateboard deck, I thought: who is the least likely guy to wind up on a board? So, to celebrate 4 new NYC social media channels, I present to you: Mayor BloomBoard.
Certain cinematic characters grab you, and resonate for years. Daniel Day Lewis‘ brilliant turn as Bill The Butcher in Gangs of New York is one of them.
