September 22, 2006 CONTACT:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. Alisa Sparkia Moore
Public Information Officer, (805) 654-6462
Simon Waltzer,
Professor and Library Committee Chair
(805) 654-6400 ext 1264
VENTURA COLLEGE LIBRARY HOSTS
MAX GOLD, “THE FATHER OF FUSION ART”
VENTURA: The Ventura College Evelyn and Howard Boroughs Library will host an exhibit by famed fusion artist Max Gold in the second floor Ocean View Reading Room, from September 25 through December 20. The Library hours are Monday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Max Gold will debut his new work, “Caution,” which speaks to the issue of illegal immigration on November 3 at an event at the Ventura College Library.
Max Gold created his first “Fusion Art” painting at the close of the 1990s, appropriately welcoming in the new millennium with the fulfillment of his personal quest for an original idea—an as-yet-uncharted way to transform his life’s visions into unique works of art. “There was a piece I had in mind,” says Gold, “that couldn’t be created with the traditional mediums, so I invented a way to fuse digital art and hand painting as a means to an end. This kind of work is still in its infancy, but I believe it will grow into as profound an artistic movement as there has ever been. Future artists will push limits far beyond what I can imagine now.”
After introducing the concept in 2001 at the New York International Art Expo, Max Gold is today embraced by the art world as “The Father of Fusion Art.” His pioneering artistic signature, this bold merger of digital art and hand painting, has placed him at the vanguard of the burgeoning digital art revolution, and his work is exhibited at over 100 galleries nationwide. Visually, Gold’s vibrant and idiosyncratic style—distinguished by universal icons and vivid colors--evokes the best of the Pop Art tradition and 20th century masters.
Gold’s original works of Fusion Art are three-dimensional assemblages that layer multiple pieces of hand-painted acrylic glass to produce one compound vision. When aligned in a finished 3-D construct, the separate images are choreographed into a single interlocking whole, vibrant with intense brush strokes and elegantly clean lines. Before painting, Gold always first marks the glass with his fingerprints, authenticating the luminous pieces in his own personal way.
His oeuvre also includes works on paper and canvas, produced in limited editions in his Los Angeles area studio. Using the latest technology and finest materials, Gold produces museum-quality prints on site—his Fusion Art pieces on canvas are always hand embellished by the artist, making each one of a kind. Some limited editions interpret re-digitized versions of Gold’s 3-D glass paintings, reinvented as striking two-dimensional works, while other images are born in cyberspace.
Gold's path to art world success has been filled with challenges both personal and professional. At 21, he had a sold out, one man show of his own paintings at a West L.A. gallery. During a drug-induced episode, he tore up all the checks, and less than two years later, became a drifter, a homeless drug addict/alcoholic.
When Max got sober on December 10, 1997 (at the age of 24), he felt he’d been given a second chance, and his ongoing spiritual awakening began. Gold put professional artistic pursuits on the back-burner and took a series of jobs to regain his bearings. One, with a food service distributor, led to the launching of L.A. Foods, the wholesale company he formed in 1990; selling primarily to schools and prisons, it’s grown into an international firm doing business in over 40 countries. While Gold considers L.A. Foods his ‘day job,’ he’s especially passionate about the philanthropic efforts he conducts through its auspices, working with food banks and charities to donate what has so far amounted to countless tons of food to the homeless and impoverished across the United States.
Throughout the ’90s, Gold continued to experiment with traditional media, both sculpting and painting. He traveled the world to gain inspiration, and with his discovery of Fusion Art, felt ready to once again take his artwork into a public arena. Since launching his online gallery bymaxgold.com in 2000, and gaining notoriety with the 2001 bricks-and-mortar premiere of Fusion Art in NYC, Gold has gone on to exhibit at hundreds of major art festivals and expos.
In 2003, he was named one of the country’s “Top Emerging Artists” by Décor Magazine, and has since been on the covers or featured in numerous publications including Art & Frame Review and Décor International. Gold, a longtime user of Epson printers, was recently identified by them for his artistic vision and innovative pursuit with Fusion Art.
The emotional directness and saturated coloristic and visual intensity of Gold’s pieces elicit an almost tactile relationship with the viewer. His trademark use of iconic symbols—including hearts, flags, butterflies, and religious totems--both universalizes the work by creating subliminal connections to the timeless nature of the imagery, and personalizes it with the vivid presence of powerful forms and shapes we’re all intimately familiar with.
One piece, Musical Thoughts, uses an alphabet that Gold invented using a different configuration of notes for each letter, spelling out elemental words with them to create a wholly energized composition layered with meaning. Whether with letter-forms or symbols, though, Gold says, “I don’t like to burden the observer with any sort of guide to the visual language, and logic, that I use. People see things I never intended, and I wouldn’t want to invalidate their experience.”
Due to the global, humanistic approach of his art, it was very natural for Gold to begin an association with the United Nations beginning in June 2005. His recent work entitled “Phoenix” became the centerpiece for the United Nations 60th U.N. Day celebration in October. A display of nearly a dozen of his paintings at the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, CA helped elevate the profile and purpose of the United Nations.
Max Gold’s show presents the viewer with a unique opportunity to support the college and purchase exquisite unique works of art. Each piece displayed is for sale, and 20% of the proceeds will be donated by the artist to support the new Ventura College Library. For additional information, contact Alisa Sparkia Moore, Public Information Officer, at Ventura College, (805) 654-6462 or contact Simon Waltzer, Professor and Library Committee Chair, (805) 654-6400 ext 1264.
Musical Thoughts, 30" x24", Fusion Art Paper
Phoenix, 30" x 30", Fusion Art on Canvas
My Red Telephone, 30" x 30", Fusion Art on Canvas
|
