Yountville Arts welcomes the public to Bold and Beautiful….Contemporary Art of Chris Cammarata in the Steve Rogers Gallery, opening with an Artist Reception on Thursday, May 9 from 5:30 p.m. -7 p.m.
Bold and Beautiful kicks off by introducing the public to ‘The Art of Wine’, the original art created by Chris for this year’s ART, SIP AND STROLL poster. Meet Chris, see many of his original and giclee artworks and be the first to purchase an event poster.
Chris Cammarata is a native Northern Californian. He grew up in the Bay Area and was raised in a working and supportive environment. He was allowed to follow his dreams, which after a diverse background, led him from small graphic design jobs to his present fine art career.
In 2019 he learned of an opportunity to paint two portraits of the late Grace Kelly for Prince Albert of Monaco. After submitting a few drawings, he was asked to produce the portraits and was subsequently invited to The Palace of Monaco to present to Prince Albert in person. He was honored to do so. He is rightfully proud of this accomplishment that encouraged him to successfully turn his career toward portraiture.
Chris is a kind, humble and happy man with talent that is Bold and Beautiful. In his premier Yountville show, he will be presenting two unique series of work, ‘The Veil Series’ and ‘The Splash Series’. He prefers isolated subjects and has never painted a landscape scene in his career!
Always leaning toward the contemporary, he developed a technique that has continued to earn him multiple commissions from clients globally. ‘The Veil Series’ shows off semi-bright colors of flowers contouring the facial features of his subject. Chris uses a thinned ‘gouache’ to allow him to maintain the accurate facial subtleties of his subject while he layers with light flowers that add a unique energy and brightness in each painting. Imagine seeing yourself in veiled flowering fantasy!
As gentle as his veiled portrait paintings can be, his contrasting ‘Splash Series’ paintings boast bright colors splashing out of perfectly painted glass stemwa
re. This second direction for Chris caught the eye of Yountville Arts Chair Ronda Schaer. “Each year, Yountville Arts searches for an intriguing artist to create the art that will represent our upcoming ART, SIP AND STROLL event. When I talked to Chris about his new “Splash Series”, I knew we had found the right artist.” she recalls. “Our Arts Team provided input asking for a piece for ART, SIP AND STROLL and Chris went to work on painting a new original, “The Art of Wine” that literally takes your breath away”. This original of the poster art along with many other new pieces in this series will be showing in the Gallery.
“I have clients throughout the United States with a large concentration on the East Coast. I also have many European collectors. Having my Bold and Beautiful show in Yountville gives Napa Valley collectors a personal opportunity to see my works in a beautiful Gallery setting. I expect to have all new work hanging during my three-month show.” explains Cammarata. Uniquely talented, he sells most of what he paints. He rarely has inventory, so Bold and Beautiful provides a very rare opportunity to view the collection and to meet Chris.
Residents and Visitors will also have the opportunity to visit Chris in the Gallery during ART, SIP AND STROLL on Saturday May 18. Instead of his usual booth in the outside festival, Chris will be inside the Gallery showing off a plethora of his newest pieces.
Chris lives in Napa Valley with his wife Lori who provides unique encouragement and a firm commitment to his work.
The Steve Rogers Gallery is located at 6516 Washington St, Yountville 94558. Gallery Hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. -4 p.m. with weekends and evenings available by appointment.
Bold and Beautiful…the Contemporary Art of Chris Cammarata Gallery Show is presented by Yountville Arts and runs through August 2.
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