SOMA NewArt GALLERY

Victor Grasso - Artist Statement

Artists I admire always inspire me.  Last September, I saw George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg's private collection of Norman Rockwell paintings and drawings at the Smithsonian Museum of Art. 

I had always loved Rockwell, but had never seen one in person.  This was the largest single collection ever.  I was blown away by the technical proficiency, the boldness of his brush strokes laden with volumes of paint piled on top of each other, a sheer visceral technique - it all just mesmerized me.  It was like Rembrandt meets Vermeer.  I studied his painting for hours in there and felt 100% inspired and challenged.  I knew I could paint with the technical proficiency I needed, but the challenge was to make my own story through painting.  Well, with the witch's brew of Exit Zero cover illustrations and a new show on deck at SOMA Gallery in less than one year's time, I thought, ..well, here you are totally inspired, living in a town rich with local characters and history and quirk that you can use to tell any story you want.  So, I finally let a little bit of my lighter side in and went to work.  And the result is pure Cape May, written, directed, and painted, by yours truly.