Dear Friends, Family, Collectors and Fans, 2015 has been momentous. On February 5th, at 7:45AM, Vega Keanne joined our Family. On the easel? I’ve painted The Lincoln Memorial, a second Mindscape, and several new commissions. Beyond the studio? I’m now a contributing writer with Forbes. Oh yes, and I’m off to the Bahamas for two months to paint on the beach. Let’s get granular. Read more
It began with a cold call to Forbes back in 2011, asking for Zack O’Malley Greenburg. I had just completed my #KingsofHipHop portrait series, when I spotted his Cash Kings of Hip Hop list. Fortunately, Zack entertained my call, previewed the show and we became friends.
It’s Summer Time, which means Vitamin D, Antiheroes and Guggenheim #6. Here are the simmering updates… enjoy… thank you for being here.
On Tuesday, June 4th, Forbes hosted a splendid book launch party for Zack O’Malley Greenburg’s Michael Jackson, Inc. (already the #1 Business and Leadership title on Amazon).
Acquiring art… one of the life’s great mysteries. How does one outside the ‘art world’, itself a grey and dubious term, go about buying? Didn’t I read that an embalmed shark went for $12M to Steve Cohen? You did. Numbers will numb the impulse…
Rewind to December, 2010. I recall pondering a portrait series, but found I had 99 problems and picking a portrait subject was one. As fate would have it, I decided to paint Jay Z, which lead to a series of hip hop stars nearly identical to Zack O’Malley Greenburg’s Cash Kings.
Visiting some galleries in late 2012 with his Wife Marla, a gentleman by the name of Robert Oringer who never considered himself an art guy/collector, had an epiphany moment. He saw some collage art and it got him thinking about the crazy collection of NY Post issues he had amassed over decades— piles of NY Posts meticulously protected and stored away without any objective in mind. So he went to Google and began to search the Net for collage artists, one perhaps to convert his collection into art when he stumbled upon another Post fanatic… yours truly.
2011 began true and proper with HOV… a work of art, a Warhol (already). He was both the first of my #KingsOfHipHop, and the first painting of the year.
This past Thursday, I had the honor of guest lecturing for Ryan Seslow‘s Art Appreciation Class at Iona College for a second time. My presentation revolved around my history, work, process, day-to-day and wrapped up with a 30-minute “draw the Guggenheim” exercise.
