ROBERT VERDI'S NEW WORKS IN HAMPTONS

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THE HAMPTONS GOSSIP
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Acclaimed Artist Robert Verdi Shows New Works

Solo Exhibition Westhampton Free Public Library
December 1 – December 31


Story By: By Edward Callaghan

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Robert Verdi


Acclaimed artist Robert Verdi will show another side of his multi-faceted talent with a solo exhibition of his newest abstract acrylic paintings at the Westhampton Free Library 7 Library Avenue, Westhampton Beach, New York .The works will be available for viewing Monday - Friday 9:30 a.m. - 9 p.m. Saturday 9;30 am – 5pm; Sunday 1pm – 5pm. There will be a Special Reception on Friday December 3 from 6 PM to 8 PM which will benefit The Library’s programs. In addition to donating one of his large scale paintings to the Library, the artist is donating a generous percentage of sales. The exhibition will highlight new piece from his very popular “Barn Series” as well as a new group of bold, eye-popping abstract paintings His” Barn Series” paintings of barns and farmhouses in New England and on the East End are contemporary American documents. At heart, Verdi is a purist / constructivist. His deceptively simple compositions are reminiscent of works by Milton Avery and Charles Sheller with a touch Paul Klee’s whimsy and the opulent surfaces of Gustav Klimt’s early landscape paintings. Last year, his “Barn Series” and overall body of work led him to be chosen one of a select group of artists for Long Island Pulse’s Annual Artist VIP List. Most recently his painting has taken on a more abstract expressionistic turn and he is creating powerful, boldly colored images that are a visual feast for the eye. He will debut these new works in this solo exhibition. A child prodigy who began painting when he was only six years old, the artist rose to fame first in the world of high fashion as a photographer, stylist and makeup artist for the top fashion magazines working with the most creative talents of the time, including the iconic photographer Richard Avedon who became his mentor and legendary “Empress of Fashion” Vogue editor Diana Vreeland. His fashion world experience led him to open his own salon at the Sheraton Ambassador Hotel on Park Avenue in New York City where he employed a staff of 28 designing hairstyles for actors and actresses, as well as, fashion models and editors. Contributing regularly to the pages of major fashion magazines as a photographer, stylist and make-up artist, he worked with all the top designers and refined his photographic style working with such famed photographers such as Irving Penn, Cecil Beaton and Bert Stern. He also built ongoing relationships with cosmetic giants Revlon, Clairol, Pantene, and L’Oreal. His specialty was high style “beauty shots” for promotion and package design. As well, he continued to provide his extraordinary talents for Broadway and film performers creating hairstyles for Tammy Grimes in “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”, for Mary Pickett in “Sunrise at Campobello” for Nancy Olsen in “Send Me No Flowers”. His devoted celebrity clientele included Frank Sinatra, Mary Tyler Moore, Ann Margaret, Mia Farrow and Sophia Loren. He regularly coiffed Marilyn Monroe and even did her hair for her marriage to Arthur Miller. Long before there was a Frederic Fekkai or Vidal Sassoon, there was Robert Verdi, the first celebrity hairstylist. But he always returned to painting when he could find time and over the course of the years taught himself how to work with oils. His paintings have been exhibited in New York City, Vermont, Westhampton Beach and East Hampton. For the past nine years, Verdi has directed most of his creative energies to painting. He now works primarily in acrylics, which he dries with a salon hair dryer and continues to work in photography and sculpture. For more information, visit www.westhamptonlibrary.net or call 631-288-3335.

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