Modern Masters
October 8, 2011, 7pm to 11pm
Barry Gross Gallery
3335 NE 32ND STREET
FT. LAUDERDALE, FL 33308
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MODERN MASTERS is an art exhibition showcasing the careers of three talented and accomplished artists: Painter Barry Gross, Painter/sculptor Salvatore Principe and Digital Media Pioneer Laurence Gartel. The opening reception will be Sat Oct. 8, 2011

MODERN MASTERS will be a 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 4 decades, all originally born and raised in New York and now living and working in South 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, New York; Galleria Renata – Chicago, Illinois; Fulton County Library – Atlanta, Georgia; State Capitol of Georgia – Atlanta, Georgia; The Atlanta History Center – Atlanta, Georgia; The Lowe Gallery – Atlanta, GA; Trinity Gallery – Atlanta, GA; Winter Gallery – Naples, FL; Madison Noble Gallery – Sarasota, Florida; 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 and 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, Georgia and numerous commissioned pieces and individual collectors.

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, Sickle Cell Anemia and local HIV organizations, including Miami Beach Community Health Center.

View more of Barry’s work at 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 his 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 pro soccer or tennis player.

But Salvatore left school early, trading school for a new playground in the streets of New York, landing a job 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 and Elizabeth Taylor. Three years later, his lighting experience landed Principe a job at The Underground, the next “It” club of the early eighties. Salvatore 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, Salvatore Principe began creating sculpture art from objects mostly found in New York City trash heaps. His heroes became Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning. Bergdorf Goodman gave Principe an exhibit in its famous window displays and this led to exhibits in Tiffany’s, Saks and Casabella. Soon, SoHo galleries were inviting him to exhibit, when his mother got cancer and died three years later at the early age of 48. To heal, Sal headed to South Florida and has never looked back. But he never forgot his mom and her legacy of love. His method of paying homage to his mom was to paint hearts, filling the world with love. He made and sold thousands of them in so many beautiful variations over the years that he became known for them, opening a gallery in Delray, and recently launching his own line of fine wines, and designing a line of ties and 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 www.salvatoreprincipe.com and contact Sal at principegallery@gmail.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 majoring 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 magazines such as ART in AMERICA, Artforum, Sotheby’s, Art & Auction, Art & Antiques, ArtByte, Scientific American, Technology Review, WIRED and 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” published by Gibbs Smith, (c) 1989 Utah. Introduction to the book is written by video guru Nam June Paik; “GARTEL: Arte & Tecnologia” published by Edizioni Mazzotta, (c) Milan, Italy (1998); “La Storia Dell Arte” published by Editions Giunti (c) Florence, Italy (2001); “Creative Computer Graphics” Cambridge University Press, UK (1984); “Art Of the Digital Age” by Bruce Wands (2006); “Digital Art” published by Ullman, Germany (2009); “The Digital Print” published by The Getty Museum, Malibu, California (2009), “THE WORLD OF DIGITAL ART” published by HF Ullman, Germany, (2010)

Laurence has spent the last several years focusing on SUPER CARS and exhibited a Ferrari based exhibition at the Bob Rauschenberg Gallery at Edison State College, Ft. Myers. He produced an oversized book by the same title, introduction written by Jason Castriota, designer of the Ferrari 599. During Art Basel Miami Beach he produced the Tesla Electric Art Roadster. The automobile caused so much attention that it went viral on the internet, now present on over 40,000 websites. Gartel created another first, wrapping a FERRARI Scuderia LIVE on the internet to over 242,000 viewers. His current project is GRAFFITI painting a classic Mercedes Benz 1971 300 SEL. You can see more about this amazing artist at: www.gartelautomotion.com as well as other interview links: Youtube,
Plum TV, Youtube.
information: gartel@aol.com