I’ve known Vincent Zambrano for a great long time. I ‘ve been aware of his paintings for many years now, even decades. In the early 90’s I would bump into him at the local galleries in Manhattan. It seemed as though we were on the same circuit but our transportation to the venue was different. I’d see him at galleries uptown, mid-town and ultimately downtown, to end the night of endless walking as we viewed the latest (countless) works by the many represented artists. This happened nightly and on a regular, weekly basis just as it does now. When I met Vincent early on, I admired him for his focus and the attention he would give each painting displayed before him. It was as though he was studying each artist’s technique down to the brush stroke. I eventually became friends with Vincent and he showed me his work. I remember being very impressed and I thought, “This guy’s a better realist painter than most of the artists exhibiting.” Over the years, however, I’ve noticed a change in his work. It seems to have veered off and took a sharp left turn, away from painting fine art, realism, such as the “Old Masters, to a much more contemporary approach. In some cases, not a single stroke of paint is applied. When I asked Vincent about his new direction, he compared his new body of work to that of a projectile traveling from the Earth’s surface to the voids of space or the “Unknown” in hopes of finding new, inhabitable territory. “There comes a time when an artist needs to step outside of his/her comfort zone and explore other forms of visual and cerebral entertainment through the expansion of your initial horizons.” It’s like, “What box?” “I haven’t seen boundaries in years and it’s more fun for me (as well as the viewer) this way.” “I see the difference in the way people view my new works as opposed to the older ones and it’s refreshing in every way, like a new way of thinking and expressing.” “Once again referring back to a comparison to the navigation of an inflight aircraft, “I feel as though the vessel has taken flight and just as a projectile designed by NASA, it burns through different stages of fuel and releases those compartments of used storage and propels it further to reach greater heights without the added weight.” “I’m in a void right now and it’s a very exciting place for me to be.” “I’m trying to keep this flight going in a very specific, yet, ambiguous way.” “Just as people get bored with the routine of every day life at the office and coming home, turning on the Television and becoming a couch potato, some artists experience the same challenges in creating a body of work. The change of direction adds so much rejuvenation to my thought process and fuels my creative fire until I change it again. Voids are a good place to re-evaluate things as long as you’re thoroughly rethinking and reassessing in a productive manner.” “You see, all of the knowledge that I learned is still there, it’s just being applied differently and that is what helps me reach my destination just as a GPS system helps us stay on course to reach our destinations on the road.” “It keeps us from getting lost.”
This creative artist has come of age.
M. Pablito
“I created this sound installation as a way for me to cope with the inevitable loss, the uncertain future, and the importance of human presence and love, and to honor our family’s journey forward.
In creating this work, I recorded the sound of my foster son’s breathing while asleep. I similarly recorded the sound of my wife and myself breathing and also generated a generic sound to represent the breathing of my foster son’s birth mother. I now replay these sounds using four multi-channel speakers while visually interacting with you using photographs, moving pictures, and drawings, all focused on my foster son’s bed as the centerpiece where the you may sit or lay.
While seemingly ordinary sounds, these life-sustaining breaths interact with our environment, while perfectly capturing the fragility of the human condition. Our four orchestrated breathing sounds will enable you to experience the intimacy of our tenuous bond together, and will transport you into my own personal space and struggle as a Foster-parent.”
Vincent Zambrano
arthov 