Calling all fans of Charles Fazzino, Central Galleries is hosting a cocktail reception and book signing for the famous 3-D pop artist and his daughter, Heather.
Residents will have the opportunity to interact with Charles and Heather, have artwork signed and view original paintings, sculptures and limited edition 3-D serigraph constructions.
Located at 116 Spruce St., in Cedarhurst, the duo will be at Central Galleries this Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. They will be exhibiting their artwork through January.
The exhibit is open to the public with no purchase necessary. If any purchases are made while the artists are in, the back of the piece can be dedicated.
As a community staple for 40 years, Central Galleries is home to the largest selection in the world with over 160 pieces.
“We’ve been selling Charles Fazzino’s artwork for over 30 years,” said Jeff Beja, owner of Central Galleries. “He’s the leading pop artist alive today in the whole country. His artwork is sold internationally in over 20 countries.”
People may recognize Fazzino from his mural at John F. Kennedy Airport in terminal 8 by the escalators and created an airplane sculpture as well.
“He comes to us every two years and gives us an opening,” Beja said. “One of the museum exhibits he had was at the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center in Glen Cove. They did an exhibit on his Judaic and Israeli art.”
Beja said the reason Fazzinio has a big Jewish following is because he started out doing Lower East Side delis 40 years ago.
“That built a clientele and collector base of people that collect his work of the Jewish faith even though he’s not Jewish,” he added. “He was recently commissioned to do a piece on Hanukkah by the Chabad, for them to commission a non-Jewish artist is a big deal.”
Beja said that he is a personal fan of Fazzino’s artwork and that he’s an artistic genius.
“The innovative things he comes up with and how he pushes the limits with his creativity, it makes me proud to have him as an artist to sell his work,” Beja said. “It’s very detailed how he hand cuts our each piece.”
Alex Beja has been working with his dad for 17 years and said it’s exciting to work with his dad, build upon his successes and be alongside him.
“We do a lot of different things here at the store,” Alex said. “We get to sell some really fine-quality artwork but we also do custom picture framing and artwork installations.”
Alex said he is most excited to showcase original works on display, feature work from Heather and an one of one piece that the father-daughter duo collaborated on.
“It’s nice that the father-daughter get to collaborate in the studio together,” Alex said. “We’re hoping to see some pieces individually and collaboratively.”
One of his favorite pieces is Fazzino’s newest work “Schmoozing With Chutzpah on the Lower East Side.”
“We’re also going to have “Tagging the Subway,” which is a collaboration piece that features both of their artistic styles,” Alex said. “It’s interesting how their styles mesh in that piece.”
Alex said that Charles loves to meet his collectors and interact with them while they are looking around.
“It’s neat to see the interaction between the artist and the collector and it’s really fun to watch him work on a simple little doodle,” he said. “But to our customers, that doodle is almost more impressive than the limited editions they are buying.”
