Michael Cartellone - Artist/Musician

GARY ROSSINGTON

1952 - 2023

THE LAST REBEL

“There will never be another like him.”

portrait by MICHAEL CARTELLONE

Of all the words written, spoken, sung and posted about Lynyrd Skynyrd, perhaps none carry more weight than Ronnie Van Zant’s own lyric, from his masterpiece album “Pronounced” as recited by America’s greatest lyricist, Bob Dylan. In CNN Films “Jimmy Carter Rock & Roll President” he states, “It’s impossible to define Jimmy. Think of him as a simple kind of man, like in that Lynyrd Skynyrd song. He takes his time, doesn’t live too fast, troubles come and they will pass. Find a woman and find love and don’t forget there is always someone above.” One doesn’t necessarily think of Dylan as a southern rock aficionado but in his most recent album, his 19 minute ode to the JFK era in “Murder Most Foul”, he couples Stan Getz with Dickie Betts amidst the barrage of memorable lines. Dylan is a musicologist beyond compare and with the guitar arpeggio and Van Zant’s voice playing in the background, Dylan continues speaking of the former President. “There’s many sides to him. He’s a nuclear engineer, wood working carpenter. He’s also a poet, he’s a dirt farmer. If you told me he was a race car driver, I wouldn’t even be surprised.”

“50 ”

American master of song a half century after they first appeared on vinyl. In creating this special edition of SunStorm/Fine Art Magazine, Michael Cartellone opened our minds and hearts to the utter genius and power of Lynyrd Skynyrd. In keeping the group’s music alive all these years after a plane crash took the lives of Van Zant along with guitarist/songwriter Steve Gaines, his sister Cassie a songbird who was a charter member of The Honkettes, road manager Dean Kilpatrick and the two pilots, the words, sound and power of this great American musical aggregation lives on with Johnny Van Zant admirably keeping the faith and the band going. This year’s death of Rossington, founding member and co-writer of so many classic songs, signals the end of an era. He is, indeed, “The Last Rebel.” Thank you, Gary. This is my personal tribute to you:

Been around a while/seen all the greats

Albert King – he made me smile/Alvin Lee, no one had his style

But I want to say something before it’s too late:

I want to play like Rossington / Find the note like Rossington

Pinch out those licks like Rossington / That’s all I want to do

Inspired by Van Zant’s ode to his grandmother, “Simple Man” resonates to this day as do so many other compositions by this

PUBLISHER

JAMIE ELLIN FORBES

jamie@fineartmagazine.com

POB 404, CENTER MORICHES NY 11934

Editorial/Advertising Reprint Inquiries (518)593-6470

He never shied from a fight / Or played a part that wasn’t right.

On the slide, rhythm or lead, he brought it all, whatever the need.

EDITOR

VICTOR B. FORBES

VBFORBES@GMAIL.com

POB 481, KEENE VALLEY NY 12943 (518)593-6470

JIMMY CARTER, ROCK & ROLL PRESIDENT

BOB DYLAN QUOTING “SIMPLE MAN”

Detailfrom Micha e l Cartellone ’s

Michael Cartellone’s Gary Rossington painting. Limited edition prints avaiable from Wentworth Gallery

“You’re the worst bass player I ever heard,” said Ronnie Van Zant to Ed King and promptly fired him from that position, re-admitting the prodigal Leon Wilkeson and moving the former Strawberry Alarm Clock guitarist (who wrote their sole hit, “Incense and Peppermint”) over to his original instrument, the guitar. On his first day on the job, Ed came to the Hellhouse, plugged in and Sweet Home Alabama was born. “Gary was playing this riff that you can hear in the verses,” Ed said. “Not the main riff that I play; it’s a part that he plays. And as soon as I picked up the guitar I immediately bounced off his riff. If it hadn’t been for Gary writing his part, I never would have written my part,” referring to the second guitar line that skirts under the main riff, sometimes reaching up to curl around it, like a vine around a branch as stated in a Washington Post article. “I had this little picking part and I kept playing it over and over when we were waiting on everyone to arrive for rehearsal.” Adds Gary, “Ronnie and I were sitting there, and he kept saying, ‘play that again,’” Rossington told Garden and Gun of the songwriting process. “Then Ronnie wrote the lyrics and Ed and I wrote the music.” Ronnie’s famous words to producer Al Kooper: “Now we have our Rambling Man,” referring, of course, to the Allman Brother’s breakthrough #1 hit.

When the band’s manager, Alan Walden, was shopping his group (and getting rejected by every label, including his own brother’s Capricorn) some would say they sounded too much like the Allman Brothers. Any aficionado clearly knows the similarities and differences. While the Allman’s were “hitting the note,” Gary, whose slide guitar playing is directly descended from the spirit of Duane, said “You have to find the note.” And that’s what he always did so beautifully, unequivocally helping Ronnie’s songs to guide audiences through life to this day. So many have buried friends and family to Free Bird.

and he always did just that as expressed in the Lynyrd Skynyrd song Simple Man. He was never one to show off technical skills or over play, yet his onstage presence was mesmerizing by just being himself. Gary’s guitar tone was smooth, and he would bend notes from the gut better than any shredder. Every guitar solo he played was an integral part of the song itself. I can remember clearly hearing his soulful Free Bird slide guitar intro on the FM radio in our Chevy when I was a little kid back in the 1970s. I was drawn to that sound more so than the legendary fast riffing guitar solos at the end of the tune. There were so many great guitar songs on the radio during that era but when Free Bird and Gary’s crying slide part came on in the car, the volume knob on the Pioneer Super Tuner got cranked up! 20 years later when our band TESLA toured as the opening act for Lynyrd Skynyrd for a full summer in the mid 1990’s, we’d make a point every night to leave our dressing room and stand on Gary’s side of stage to get a dose of his beautiful slide guitar tone, and to this day that guitar melody still makes me feel something inside my heart that no other piece of music does. This is the ultimate goal of a songwriter or guitarist, to create an original song or guitar part that touches people’s souls forever. Gary Rossington did that with his guitar and songwriting.

Rossington (12/4/51 – 3/5/23) Photo adapted by VF

Frank Hannon of TESLA remembers Gary well: “Gary Rossington and Lynyrd Skynyrd are one of TESLA’s biggest inspirations. There’s been so many heartfelt statements made in the press over about Gary Rossington since his passing, and rightfully so because Gary Rossington was a man and musician who was truly unique to himself—an example of strength and simplicity. His style was always very stoic and real, and it was reflected in the music he created since their very beginnings.

“I once heard an interview with Gary from years ago where he said his mother told him early in his life to always ‘just be yourself’

“I was asked if I had any road stories about touring with Gary, and many come to mind. On the last night of the ’94 tour JK and I were invited to jam onstage in Atlanta GA to play Call Me The Breeze and when it came time to play the first guitar solo, Gary came over to me and gave me a swift kick in the butt to get up front of the stage and play my guitar! That section was usually his solo part, but he gave it to me with a kicking gesture and a nod. Gary was usually a very unspoken man of few words, not really saying very much verbally but he never hesitated to give a smile, tip of a hat, nod, slap or firm handshake. Later that night after the Atlanta show we all ended up in Johnny Van Zant’s hotel room partying until the sun came up. We had so much fun with the Lynyrd Skynyrd guys and when we’ve crossed paths over the years, Gary always made a point to tip his hat to say ‘hey’ to us TESLA boys. We send our love and respects to his wife Dale, and ALL of the Lynyrd Skynyrd family at this time. Thank you for sharing so much with the world, not only with your amazing songs but with your friendship, realness and honesty. Gary Rossington… your simple style and surviving legacy will always inspire me and TESLA to continue on in this world of music. Thank you, brother.”

Gary

MICHAEL CARTELLONE

A DOUBLE - EDGED PRODIGY

Michael working on his “David” series. The amazing thing is that the red in that painting and the background in his childhood “masterpiece” are virtually identical.

Michael’s first painting, aged four

“I started to paint when I was 4, started to drum when I was 9 and basically have done both simultaneously my entire life. There have always been these two halves of a whole, as it were.”

An Interview with the Artist

SunStorm/Fine Art Publisher Jamie Ellin Forbes & Editor Victor Bennett Forbes had an opportunity to speak with Michael Cartellone over the summer. Here is a transcript of their conversation.

JEF: Hello, Michael. How are you doing?

MC: I’m doing fine. It’s nice to hear your voice.

JEF: Oh, exactly what I was thinking. And how’s your lovely wife?

MC: She is wonderful. Thank you for asking.

JEF: Excellent – you’re both doing well and happy.

MC: Yes, life is good.

VBF: Michael, bring us up to date on your most recent paintings.

MC: I just finished a painting that I spent a full year working on. It’s Beatles-themed, large in size and photo-realistic in detail capturing the legendary concert that they did toward the end of their career, where they went up on the rooftop of their building and you could see the skyline of London in the background. That’s a very well known subject because they literally made a concert film up on the roof. What I did with my painting was something that hasn’t often been seen. I had the vantage point of the painting

from sitting behind Ringo’s drums looking out. Seeing the three Beatles from behind in front of him, and then the skyline in the distance so literally you the viewer are Ringo.

JEF: Oh, that’s amazing.

MC: Thank you. I actually came up with this idea 15 years ago and as I have a tendency to do, I come up with more ideas than I can actually physically paint, so I just write them down and when I finish a painting, I look through the list and see what the muse inspires me to do. Well, it took 15 years, but I finally got around to this one and could not be happier with it. The painting is called “Ringo,” because, of course, it’s about him.

JEF: That’s a great discipline. It sounds like that’s the way you discipline the center of your playing.

MC: I’ve always been someone that really enjoyed the detail of everything even as a little kid when I started playing drums. I just loved just diving head-first into everything. That never changed with the drumming and has always been with the painting. I did detailed things in this painting that some people would never even see, but I did it because I knew they needed to be there. This is something as specific as the brick and mortar pattern on the building across the street from them. This is the kind of stuff I

“CoA2”

studied from photographs and concert footage to really make it as true to life as it can be.

JEF: That’s quite a mindset.

MC: It was fun. I knew that I was kind of creating a mountain to climb because of the amount of detail that I wanted to achieve and the size of the canvas itself. But that was okay. There was no hurry and I had it taped up to a sheet of plywood here in my room where I paint and that’s where it sat for a year, and it slowly came to fruition.

JEF: That’s, that really is incredible. What size is it?

MC: It’s three feet by five feet.

JEF: Is it all set to be displayed at your next exhibition?

MC: It’s going to be at a Wentworth Gallery at the Hard Rock Hotel Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Lynyrd Skynyrd is kicking off its 50th anniversary tour right in that same area. So we have kind of coordinated it so that this painting is going to be unveiled at the same time as we kick off this big tour.

JEF: That should quite create quite a stir.

MC: I hope so.

Skynyrd record has classics, but that record that has “Freebird,” “Simple Man,” “Gimme Three Steps.” That’s pretty strong. We’re talking about songs that are part of American pop culture. I mean “Freebird” is so iconic and to be fortunate enough to get to play that song every night as my wonderful ‘night job’ lets me do, is great.

JEF: How are you inspired when you paint, using a different means of expression than music? I would imagine at 18 you’d have to be pretty inspired, like somehow the Muses have to be coming through and talking to you specifically.

Manager Brian Epstein watching them perform with Ringo visible to his left

MC: Well, sure. I can’t speak to what they were inspired by 50 years ago as they were writing these songs, what I can say, Jamie, is that I started playing drums when I was nine. I played my first bar when I was 11. So if it is what someone is meant to do. the inspiration is always going to be there. People have different ways they tap into it. Some people rise to greater heights and Ronnie Van Zant and the guys in the original band on that first record certainly did that.

JEF: What other work will be in that show?

MC: There will be a painting that I’m actually just getting ready to start that will be a tribute to the original seven members of Leonard Skynyrd 50 years ago when they released their first album.

VBF: Of course that’s “Pronounced”, which Ronnie calls his masterpiece.

MC: It’s really is just an astounding, beautiful work. Those songs on that record — their debut (major label) album — it’s just really kind of mind boggling what they came up with. Every

JEF: You hit the nail on the head, you hit the center. People get inspired and then they express themselves and absolutely keep focused. I think that’s how art is manifested, how art flows from people. I think every now and then, it sounds like you hit the universal. You’ve hit a lot of key elements that people speak the language of — Ringo, the Beatles, 50 years of Lynyrd Skynyrd. It’s also a retrospective your work. So I think it resonates. Now is a great time for things to resonate with people because I think people need to reconnect and feel inspired again.

MC: Yes, I agree and thank you for that compliment. I’ve been fortunate that the ideas that I’ve come up with to paint do strike a chord with people. I never know where those moments of

Beatles

– The title represents The Creation of Adam, squared

inspiration are going to come from. Sometimes they just drop out of the sky <laugh>.

JEF: Oh, sure. I can understand that.

MC: And I think that’s what makes them artistically special or creative or inspired.

JEF: What that impression is people have, if you have to get that impression out, you’ll express it, and then it floats out on sound or flows out in a painting, whatever it is. It begins to almost direct itself at some level. I’ve seen you at work and I know how disciplined you are. I’ve been to your studio. I know how your work manifests, how it flows and I think it pretty much connects fluidly with the subject matter, the timing and everything.

MC: Thank you. You know, this is a vantage point that I spend a lot of time in so I don’t know if just one night while I was sitting behind the drums that this idea popped into my head. It may have. I have painted the vantage point from behind the drums, from my own drums. I’ve painted that before. But to paint someone else’s vantage point using the same location, that was a fun idea to develop.

JEF: It’s a nice progression from the last two series of works that we’re familiar with—the Davids and the Pixelated—and now the two big portraits. How do you see these as a collected body of work?

MC: They’re connected just simply because the same artist is doing them. And, you know, my touch, my hand, my style is going

to flow through, even if the subject matter is vastly different. But I feel that because the paintings truly are a reflection of things that are important to me, then I truly am a part of every one of those works, which then ties them all together.

JEF: Absolutely. That’s brilliant. Will you just show at one gallery during your tour or you will be sharing through other venues?

MC: Wentworth has eight galleries right now and their routine is that they always are circulating the work throughout the entire chain. In addition to the original painting, there will be the limited editions so at any given time, people will be able to see it in various cities. That’s one of the nice things that Wentworth has done. Even if I’m not doing an actual in-person show, people can walk into any Wentworth Gallery and see a collection of my things at any given time.

JEF: Wentworth has lovely galleries. I have to say, always a nice display. I’ve been in and out of them. They do a great job.

MC: They really do. I’ve been working with them for 12 years now, and they’ve done really, really well for me. They also work with several other musicians so they have this machine very well oiled.

JEF: Do you remember when we introduced you to Wentworth founder Michael O’Mahony at the Artexpo in New York?

MC: I absolutely do. And in fact, the other day when I was speaking with Christian O’Mahony it came up about how I first met his father. He thought it was an introduction from someone from another band and I said, ‘Oh no. I’ll tell you how it happened’

The pure joy is evident in this screen grab of MC enjoying the guitar virtuosity of Hughie ThomassonLynyrd Skynyrd - I KNOW A LITTLE - live Saarbrücken 2003 - Underground Live TV recording

and I told him the story of Artexpo at the Javits.

JEF: I remember Victor and I walking with you down one of the aisles to meet Michael. He was an advertiser in our magazine.

MC: That’s right.

JEF: It all started with that John Lennon portrait the Grant Gallery. They sent us a press release which we published in Fine Art. I’m glad you benefited from that. That’s just wonderful.

MC: You guys know, of course, that Michael passed away a few years ago.

JEF: I wasn’t aware of that, but thank you for telling us.

VBF: He was something else again. Staunch defender and supporter of his artists. Probably last of the old school. You had to be good to be in his circle. You see that cover with Michael and the Globe? (Ed. note: see Page 34). That was in a 1993 Fine Art magazine edition at the height of the Artexpo years. It was an honor to do business with him. We had a lot of interactions with him over the years with all his artists and our friend Ken Keeley of those famous newsstand paintings, put that cover on the stands with Vogue, Look, Life and all the magazines of the day. When did you join Skynyrd?

MC: 1998,

VBF: Oh my goodness. So you got to play with the great Hughey Thomason. I read where Ronnie told him Green Grass and High Tide was their “Bird.” And of course that song title comes from the classic Rolling Stones album of the same name. When Ronnie saw the Stones in Jacksonville it changed his life, inspiring him.

MC: I should also mention I worked with Leon Wilkeson and Billy Powell for 10 years.

to be and I do think that that work component, when people focus and dedicate and work towards something special, after a while, it’s like a little steam engine. It just keeps ripping along, you know?

MC: Sure. Absolutely.

JEF: It produces an alchemy of change. That’s how I see it. I’m a student of how things happen by degree. I think anyone that applies themselves in whatever walk of life or career they’ve chosen, all of the same rules apply,

VBF: Getting back to your painting of the original group, do you think you could throw Al Kooper in that painting?

MC: <Laugh>? I’m sure Al would like me to do that, but with all respect, ‘No.’ It’s just gonna be just the guys.

VBF: Without him, I don’t know what would’ve been.

MC: Well, you know, he produced that first record. That’s him playing organ on “Freebird.”

Surprise! Dale & Gary view the portrait for first time.

VBF: I can only imagine what that must have been like.

MC: It’s been wonderful. I think we’ve discussed this before, but you know when I was just a kid playing in bar bands in Cleveland, Ohio, where I’m from, of course I was playing Skynyrd tunes.

JEF: Really?

MC: So, you know, this is not lost on me at all. I know how fortunate I’ve been and how cool that this is what I get to do.

JEF: You’ve always said that, Michael, you’ve always been very humble. You’ve always said how fortunate and lucky in that regard. But I know you worked very hard.

MC: Well, I did, Jamie, I did. But, but at the same time, you know, I was raised in a blue collar family and consider myself a working musician. I happen to be in a well-known band, but, I’m just a working guy, that’s all.

VBF: Just as Ronnie sang – “But I keep on workin’ like the workin’ man do…”

JEF: I have a feeling in life people arrive at who they’re supposed

VBF: And mellotron on“Tuesday’s Gone”. He put the horns on “Mr. Breeze” and the ladies on “Sweet Home Alabama.” A neighborhood guy from Queens, of all places.

MC: Did you know that although I’ve never met Al, he and I are on a record together, which is not that unusual in that you end up recording something and then you find out that someone else ended up adding their part to it another time.

VBF: Which one was that?

MC: There was a German heavy metal band called ACCEPT. I did a couple of records and tours with them in the nineties. It was a few years prior to joining Skynyrd. The guitar player from that band had put together a solo album where he took all these great old orchestral pieces and did a kind of heavy metal guitar instrumental version. It turned out that Al Kooper ended up playing Hammond B3 on one of the songs.

VBF: He played with everybody. I’d love to see a painting of Ronnie talking to Al in the Bentley after he walked him out of the studio when Al told him he was not crazy about Simple Man.

MC: <Laugh>. I would not paint that.

VBF: Let’s talk about the Rossington portrait. Is the original going to go on tour?

MC: No. Gary and Dale, own that painting. Wentworth published the limited edition prints. That was a really fun painting to do and Gary and Dale had no idea I was doing it. They, like myself, are huge van Gogh fans and I thought, ‘You know what? I’m gonna paint Gary and make it look like a van Gogh painting.’ So I used “Starry Night” as the reference and I just put all the swirls into it. I painted that one at home and when it was done, I brought it out on tour with me because the band had just a quickie weekend of shows. I set it up in my hotel room on an easel and I threw a sheet over it. Then I called Gary and said, ‘Hey, could you and

Dale come down to my room? I have something really important I have to talk with you guys about.’ I made it sound way more serious than it was and they came to my room, looked around and saw this sheet covering an easel. I didn’t say a word, just yanked the sheet off and it was an incredible moment. I have video of it.

VBF: Could you talk a little bit about your relationship with Gary? I mean, it’s many years you’ve known this man.

MC: 26 years. Gary was just an incredibly kind, humble person and he was quiet, but very wise. A man of few words. But when he would speak, you would stop and listen because it was going to be worthwhile to hear what he had to say. He was really fun to be around. Not only did we share a love of van Gogh, but Gary is also a Beatle fanatic. Most of our conversations in the years I had the pleasure to work with him were about The Beatles. It was a never-ending subject. There was always something we could talk about that would be related to them.

JEF: For example?

MC: At one point we had done an international tour and on this particular tour we were in Liverpool, England. Gary arranged for the entire band to be taken on a private guided tour around Liverpool to all the Beatles spots. So it was a really generous thing that Gary did for us and of course, the entire time he and I just were chatting. I mean we could not stop. We were just giddy with excitement. There were a lot of things—a lot of information about things—that we were seeing that I had already studied that Gary was not aware of. So it was fun because he was constantly asking, “Tell me exactly what this is.” It was just really a very cool friendship.

VBF: Did you by any chance talk about the days at the Cavern when they all thought they were going to be Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran?

MC: We went to it. However, The Cavern in the early nineties, if memory serves, was closed and they were going to use that area for an underground transportation station an underground train of some sort but they had started to fill in The Cavern. It’s just unbelievable that they actually did this. The outcry was so huge that they realized they can’t do that. It took a few years, but they finally dug it back out. They excavated, but because of what had changed with them filling it in, when they rebuilt it was turned a slightly different way. So when we went down there we took a band photo on the Cavern stage, and I had to tell Gary, ‘You know, this isn’t actually where the stage was. The building was turned this way, and the stage was over on the other side of what’s now a wall.’ But it was still amazing to be there. No question about it.

VBF: I heard a Mike Bloomfield interview and he said he was such a big Beatles he wanted to know everything about them—what they had for breakfast, what the kind of cereal they ate. He wanted to know every little intimate detail about those guys. You wouldn’t think Mike Bloomfield, such a great blues guitar player, would love The Beatles so much.

MC: Yeah. Very entertaining.

VBF: I read where Ronnie was enamored of the Stones especially. MC: Those guys grew up in a wonderful time with amazing music to be inspired by.

VBF: And then you come along, playing drums. Besides the physicality of it, the art form that started even with Bob Burns was integral to their sound. He was a rare, a rare drummer because he was so sensitive and everything mattered. You could really hear it, you know, the hard hits and then a smooth cymbal crescendo. How did you manage to pick up all these subtleties from him and Artemis and incorporate them into the act where everybody, like

thousands, hundreds of thousands of people knew every note that was ever played by this band. And you come right in there and for 26 years, you’re holding it all together.

MC: Well I’m a detail guy. <Laugh>. Exactly. Bring on the detail. And you know, again, Victor, these are songs that I was playing when I was 13 years old. So I didn’t have to learn how to play “Freebird” when I joined the band.

VBF: To be up there with Gary and Hughey and Ricky, and Leon and Billy for those years you had with those original members

— wow.

MC: To play these songs with friends in high school, you know, when I was 13, and then play them with Gary Rossington. Two very different things. <Laugh>

VBF: And all the while you managed to keep this art career going strong. It’s a strong career.

MC: Thank you. You know, the painting preceded the drumming. I was painting when I was four and then started drumming when I was nine. The art was my first love and what I thought was going to be my life’s work. Somehow I’ve been able to, a little bit later in life, bring the art as a second career to the forefront, which has been wonderful,

VBF: Very wonderful, for the public, for yourself. Watching the band play and on videos and in person and everything else it’s not just music. It’s like in a way, it’s a spiritual event, especially when Gary was still there. It must have been something else when the other original guys were still on stage with you.

MC: It was, it’s all been wonderful. I’ve been very fortunate to play in this band with a lot of incredible musicians from day one to day now.

VBF: When you made that portrait of John Lennon, could you have imagined being at the Cavern with Gary Rossington talking about the Beatles

MC: If memory serves I did the Lennon painting after the Cavern. I should mention I also did a Pixel of John Lennon.

VBF: How are people responding to those pixel works? That’s a very unique method of painting.

MC: Thank you. People have responded very nicely, very supportively. There are now 19 of those paintings. They take time. But it’s really been fun building that body of work. The “Ringo” painting was taking a slight pause from doing the pixels which are very demanding on my eyes. Painting all those squares, standing away from the canvas and squinting so I could see the colors mix, which is the technique that I do for that…it’s tiring on my eyes. I got to a place where I thought, ‘You know what? I need to take a little break.’ And then I did the exact opposite of painting squares and I did photorealism. <Laugh>.

VBF: It’s a very lovely body of work, and I can only imagine it’s going to get lovelier and lovelier as time goes by.

MC: Thank you.

VBF: This 50th anniversary tour, do you think this is gonna be the end of the line for this aggregation?

MC: I don’t believe it is going to be the end. Gary, God bless him may he rest in peace wanted this music to continue on and even when his health started to become a problem and a concern for him traveling with us, he wanted us to keep playing. He would come out just every now and then when he felt up to it. We worked a fair amount in 2021 and 2022 without Gary, because he wasn’t physically able. Dale also wanted us to keep this music alive in his honor and for everyone from the original band—we’re paying tribute to all of them every night that we play. I kind of feel when

the people that follow this band, if they don’t want to hear us, they’ll tell us. But if they want to continue to hear this music, we’re gonna happily keep delivering it to them.

VBF: Gary, I know, really enjoyed keeping the memory of his friends alive.

MC: Not only that, but Ronnie Van Zant, I think, would love knowing that all these years later his songs still are as important to people as when he wrote them.

VBF: That’s a fact. Were you ever in the studio with them on the latter recordings over the years, Last of the Rebels and such and such?

MC: Yes.

VBF: So you’re privy to the songwriting elements of how things went in the studio. I always wondered how they figured out those intricate guitar parts when there were the three of them.

MC: That’s just the way this band was structured. It’s very focused and it’s very unified. So when they’re writing those guitar parts, which as you’ve just said, are very intricate, and you know, I’m not a guitar player, but I certainly admire what they’ve done, crafting these guitar parts, because I will tell you, I’ve walked into a bar band playing in any town USA and hearing a band cover a Skynyrd tune, you really can tell if the musicians have done their homework or not. These songs are deceivingly difficult at times to play.

VBF: Absolutely. Each and every one of them and the way that Gary worked with worked with Alan and then Ed and then Steve, it was just really so artistic and brutally so—it grabbed you by the throat. It was like, how would you, if you were a painter, how would you describe such music?

MC: What’s interesting is that for the most of the band’s career, there were three guitar players. There was one short period of time where there were only two. But what they’ve done, and I admire this, is they’ve had three very unique stylistically different guitarists complementing each other. What those three guitars do are different from each other, but they kind of co-mingle and create a combined force to be reckoned with.

VBF: And the drum parts that went with them, it seemed like every drum beat was like a brushstroke in a painting. The way you play it, you’re so sensitive to what they’re doing. It’s a beautiful

artistic statement when viewed in that way.

MC: Truly. The rest of the instrumentation is informed by that— creating the song, blazing the trail. Your job as the drummer, as the piano player, as the bass player, your job is to take what they’ve given you and have that inspire you to further enhance what’s already been created

VBF: And kick some butt while you’re at it.

MC: Ideally <laugh>,

VBF: I see you behind the drums that beating them.

MC: It’s a wonderful career.

VBF: I learned so much from watching those guys play and reading about their early days forming a band and the great joy of communicating musically with people of a like mind and the power that gives you when it is firing on all cylinders. You feel invincible. Another thing that I love about your work is that portrait you made of Ronnie. Cause I think the to me, and this is my thesis, and I’ll probably get shot for this by a million people, but I think one of the best blues songs ever written is “The Ballad of Curtis Lowe.”

MC: That’s a great one.

VBF: Because he talks about the black man’s blues, that when Curtis he lived a lifetime playin’ the black man’s blues… “on the day he lost his life that’s all he had to lose.” He had nothing left.

And that’s what the blues is, really.

MC: We’re going to be doing that song this summer.

VBF: Takes a lot of heart to do that.

MC: Yeah, that’s a good one.

VBF: Kooper played on that. He played piano.

MC: Really?

VBF: If you listen to it really closely, and you really have to listen to the very end of the song, he does a triplet, the last note on that classic cut. There’s a classic story Allen Walden, their manager, related about the infamous contract from MCA when Walden puts the puts the pages of the deal on the hood of the engine of his truck and Ronnie, after reading it, says to him ‘What do you think of this?’ And Walden says, ‘This is the worst piece of garbage I ever

Hand painted drum of Michael’s Drumming Heroes to commemorate his 30th Anniversary as a Pearl Drums endorser

by Doltyn Snedden

saw.” Ronnie’s classic response: ‘What else we got?’ and Walden simply replied, ‘There’s nothing.’ So he signed it and Kooper had himself a band and over the next two years produced three of the best albums in recorded history (“Pronounced”, “Second Helping” and “Nuthin’ Fancy.”

MC: Yeah, that’s right. It was Kooper’s label, Songs of the South that MCA funded.

VBF: That’s where the ferocious song “Working For MCA” came from. Ronnie practically growls his way through it. Kooper met the band at “Atlanta’s Original House of Rock”—Funochio’s—on Peachtree Street recorded them at the Atlanta Rhythm Section’s studio, where they also recorded another classic album, “Street Survivors”—their only one with Steve Gaines. I look at Allen Collins and Steve Gaines and Ed King and Billy and Leon and all those guys and Cassie and I say, ‘It’s a tragedy, but it’s also the opposite of a tragedy because they shed so much musical light in the universe.”

MC: Truly.

VBF: And for you to be a part of it, it’s a great honor to talk to you. I feel very fortunate that you give us this time.

MC: Oh God, I’m flattered that you even have any interest, so thank you.

VBF: Well, the good thing is I had interest in your art before I listened to any Skynyrd song other than what I heard on the radio, mainly “Sweet Home Alabama: and”You Got That Right.” Until that show you invited us to a couple of years ago in Saratoga, NY. I never listened to “Freebird.” Can you imagine?

MC: No, I cannot imagine <laugh>.

VBF: So what I did was—during the pandemic—I was working on a big book project and to keep myself mentally together, I did the yoga headstand, which is supposed to be good for the writer’s brain. Every time I assumed the position, I would put on the 10 minute version of “Freebird,” the original complete one, the one

that wasn’t on “Pronounced”. Kooper cut off the Beck Bollero part because it was just too long for airplay. The whole thing is on youtube and I would do a headstand for the entire duration. Standing on your head. one really gets one to appreciate every element on that song as I’m waiting for it to end so I could come down. That’s a pretty deep way to get into Allen Collins. He played notes at a speed faster than the human mind, even in Sirasana, could comprehend. The fact he wrote that when he was 18 years of age makes it even more, could I say ‘miraculous’? The lyrics and Ronnie’s vocals, Gary’s slide part, Kooper’s churchy organ are indelibly etched in my consciousness. And then comes along Steve Gaines who matched him note for note on the live version from the Fox shows.

MC: A different type of player. They had different things that they brought to the table.

VBF: When they did Freebird together on the live album…

MC: Wonderful. Gary is a very different type of guitarist than Ed and a very different type of guitarist than Allen, but what they did uniquely and separately tied together into this amazing, kind of cohesive triple bill.

VBF: Really was special on every level.

MC: No question about it.

VBF: And for you to be up there every night experiencing that energy with Gary for all those years must have been nothing short of cosmic.

MC: Yeah. It’s a great life. No question about.

VBF: Well, you’ve accomplished a lot and it’s a blessing to be affiliated with you in this way.

MC: Well, thank you. it’ll be a great tour, no question about it.

2011 - On tour working on the self portrait

Photo

FIFTY, original painting and limited edition print

Lynyrd Skynyrd’s debut album, “Pronounced”, was released in August 1973. As a tribute to the band members on that album and Leon Wilkeson, I decided to paint a portrait of the seven of them. I spent about two months working on the painting and consider it an honor, all these years later, to perform the music made by these amazing musicians.

— MICHAEL CARTELLONE

Gary’s Farewell Gig

“I’m

not throwing TVs out of the window. I’m sitting by the window, painting. . . . I realize I might be bursting some bubbles.”

All I Can Do Is Write About It – Ronnie Van Zant

Do you like to see a mountain stream a-flowin’ Do you like to see a young ’un with his dog Did you ever stop to think about, well, the air your breathin’ Well you better listen to my song

And lord I can’t make any changes, All I can do is write ’em in a song I can see the concrete slowly creepin’ Lord take me and mine before that comes

RONNIE VAN ZANT

I miss Gary dearly. He was a great friend, both on and offstage. His guitar playing truly was the backbone of the Skynyrd sound … it was integral to me as the drummer and would guide the path of how to play these songs. Our offstage friendship was centered around our shared love of The Beatles. In my 26 years knowing him, 95% of our conversations were about the Fab Four… and we never ran out of topics!

Interestingly, I never asked Gary who his favorite Beatle was … He knew John Lennon was my favorite and he enjoyed telling me about the time he met him.

JL2

“We were at the Record Plant in Los Angeles and Al Kooper was producing us. He had a lot of friends out there. He’d done Electric Ladyland with Hendrix, played with Michael Bloomfield and Steve Stills on the Super Session album and of course played with Bob Dylan on organ on Like A Rolling Stone. He was big-time and John stopped by the studio to see him. He wasn’t with Yoko, he was with May Pang. We were playing a song when they walked into the booth. We all saw it was him and freaked out. We quit playing. Scared us. There was John Lennon. A Beatle! We got to meet him, shake his hand and then went across the street and had lunch with him. It was great.” Gary said they were so blown away by meeting him that they couldn’t concentrate while recording the rest of the day!

Michael and father, Joseph, who is the subject of the painting behind them

“Michael Cartellone is a creative perfectionist. Few artists have either his attention to detail or the fluidity and creativity of a master storyteller. It is no surprise that Michael worked as a professional fine artist before his great successes as a musician,” commented Christian O’Mahony, Principal, Wentworth Gallery.

When asked what inspires him to create both music and art, Cartellone remarked, “For me, music and art represent two halves of a whole…it’s a perfect circle of balance and motivation…I cannot imagine one without the other.” Cartellone’s art represents a vast array of themes and styles, with nods to art history, photo realistic portraits, music-themed works on drumheads, sprawling landscapes, and colorful pop art. Working on “David” 1965

Michael with mother, Grace, at a Wentworth Gallery opening with David paintings in background

Lynyrd Skynyrd Live 2018 playing as usual to a packed house – Three guitarists: Gary Rossington (in blue shirt), Ricky Medlocke and Mark “Sparky” Matejka with Johnny Van Zant out front singing

SMICHAEL CARTELLONE

omewhere around his twentieth birthday, Michael Cartellone and his dad packed up the family van and drove to New York City where Michael and his worldly goods were dropped off at a friends’apartment in the pre-gentrification days of Harlem. The young man was ready to start a new life and after a brief stint as a painter in the art department children’s clothing company, he received a call from the manager of Tommy Shaw, a singer who was embarking on a solo tour after a very successful stint as front man for STYX. In a true rock and roll fantasy, two weeks later, Michael found himself on stage at Madison Square Garden drumming behind Shaw as the opening act for Rush, playing to sold out arenas. This was 1988 and after the tour concluded, a record company executive had the idea to bring Shaw and Nugent together to write. Michael was the drummer for that very successful aggregation, Damn Yankees. The band had a strong concert following, and their second album went platinum. During their hitmaking years of 1989-96, they scored a double-platinum success with their 1990 self-titled debut album and a No. 3 hit with ‘High Enough.’ The all-star band of world class virtuousos reunited in 1998 in the hopes of recording a third studio record, but the material ended up on the members’ various solo projects. The next year, Michael joined forces with another powerhouse band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, who managed to keep the music alive after a tragic plane crash in 1977 took the life of their heart and soul, singer Ronnie Van Zant as well as guitar hero Steve Gaines, his sister vocalist Cassie Gaines, their assistant road manager and the pilot and co-pilot. Other band members and road crew suffered terrible injuries. The beloved band was at the top of their game with Sweet Home Alabama and Free Bird among their classic hits and a new album was released three days after the crash. Today, their music and spirit lives on, building on the past, living in the present with endless world tours and major concert events. We caught up with Michael, who is an accomplsihed painter, at his apartment in New York City for a video interview.

Camden, NJ, July 2014: “This is my favorite moment in the show... the Military Tribute Video during “Simple Man” ... that is my Dad’s WW2 photo on the screen... I love you and miss you, Dad!”

Music, Art, Magic & A Century of History

By VICTOR FORBES

Reprinted from Fine Art Magazine Winter Edition, 2008

The hallmarks of Michael Cartellone’s life and career, as stated in the above headline, are separate yet indelibly intertwined. Certainly a life blessed with success, love and happiness based on years of hard work. He is regarded as one of the top rock drummers in the world keeping the beat for a band that represents survival, hope and power despite unspeakable tragedies. The Lynyrd Skynyrd catalog and spirit will live forever in the annals of music and while there is only one original member left, the spirit of the music transcends time. But somebody has to keep the beat and that somebody is Michael Cartellone.

FINE ART: Hello Michael, it’s been a while.

MICHAEL: Yes, it’s been a few years.

VF: But I want to tell you your growth as an artist over these years has been remarkable.

MC: Thank you

“1890s

New York scene with three heroes: Houdini, my dad Joseph and Charlie Chaplin.”

VF: It must be very satisfying. We know all about your other career — in the music world which is top notch —

MC: My night job.

VF: Tell us about your new work, “The Four Davids.”

MC: The Four Davids are my series of paintings about 100 years of art history. I took Michelangelo’s “David” (have you seen it? Have you been to Florence?) You know how powerful it is when you turn

the corridor and see him at the end of the hallway in the arch. It takes your breath away. I was so moved by that I thought I needed to do something in tribute; to paint this statue and it took a few years just trying to come up with how to do that. I simply could not come up with only one way to do that.

VF: So you started with van Gogh?

MC: I came up with the idea of painting him four times, and then I thought, well, if I am going to paint him four times, maybe four different style, four different art styles, maybe four eras of art, so then

Visiting van Gogh’s gravesite

“I’m going to keep painting worldfamous recognizable statues within the context of a recognizable art style.”

I started doing some art history research in depth and created a list of about 20 different painters/eras and whittled them down to four. The four painters who were of inspiration were van Gogh, Picasso, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol. Upon looking through their body of work, I wanted to find images that they had done that I thought would be interesting to use as a starting point.

VF: And then…

MC: (For example) Let’s use the inspired van Gogh piece for starters. That was from a portrait he did in 1889, a very recognizable portrait. I have a coffee mug of that portrait on my art table in the other room. In essence, by utilizing the look of van Gogh’s self-portrait, I pulled him out of it and put David in place and painted David exactly in the way that van Gogh had painted that self-portrait. The same colors, all the swirls, the light, the shadow. Everything was matched — van Gogh’s face to now David’s face.

VF: Was it a scholarly experience or was it emotional ?

MC: Both. That painting in particular was a mountain to climb because it was so incredibly different stylistically from the way that I normally paint, which is more realism with a slight Pop colorful quality to it and none of that applies to a description of van Gogh so in essence, I had to throw everything away that I had really learned and what was instinctual to me as a painter and start over which was an incredible experience.

VF: And this is your new path?

MC: Yes, it’s been wonderful, Victor, because it has, with the Four Davids, enabled me to then paint in four styles that I never painted in before which meant I had to re-learn with each successive David

a new way to paint. Living here in New York, of course, I have access to work of all of the above. So I was going to MoMA and looking at “Starry Night” and I’m matching paint colors and getting my face right up to it and looking at the thickness,and the texture and the brushstrokes then I would come home and work on my David. The reference material was incredible. So there was a lot of thought, a lot of research throughout. Before, during and frankly since. It has now created this whole new path of art I’m going to keep doing this. I’m going to keep painting world famous recognizable statues within the context of a recognizable art style. In essence, kind of mixing the two mediums — painting and sculpture.

VF: In addition to the Four Davids, that Magritte piece is quite a production.

MC: Thank you. “The Magritte Condition” I painted directly after the Davids. That was the very next thing that I did. Renee Magritte has always been one of my favorite painters and the “Magritte Condition” utilizes many of his well-known, tried and true themes and combines them together into one painting, putting a kind of contemporary spin on it. I should mention that same contemporary spin applies to the Davids. Even though those paintings are really a double homage (a homage to Michelangelo first and then whoever the painter of inspiration is secondly). What I am intending to do with the Davids is have the viewer realize I am tipping the hat to the masters, as it were. But then with my new works taking the viewer into a new kind of place that hasn’t been seen artistically.

VF: Seems like you’re setting it up like what they used to call record albums.

The Magritte Condition

MC: I am, yeah (laughter)

VF: Where Side One would get you involved and the last song on side one would make you want to turn it over to get to side two

MC: Exactly to keep going. Too bad they’re not albums anymore, it’s a digital chip.

VF: Vinyl’s is coming back

MC: As vinyl should Nice segue to the music business

VF: Let’s talk about this for a second. Here you are a very sensitive handsome young fellow making these paintings

MC: Handsome, young (laughter)

VF: Why not? You played with two of the hardest rockin’ bands that ever set foot on the earth. A Jekyll and Hyde thing. I can only imagine you back there behind The old Amboy Duke (Ted Nugent) and the Lynyrd Skynyrd guys. How do you balance the two in your life?

MC: Balance is truly the key. Ever since I was a child I was painting or drumming. They have coexisted in my life. Art school, and mu-

sic school throughout my youth. There always have been these two halves of the whole and it’s very difficult for me to separate them. In my mind, one could not exist without the other. They feed off each, they enhance each other, they motivate each other and balance each other. The night job — the drumming — is loud and public and in front of a lot of people and the painting is quiet, personal, introspective. So that, in essence, does give me the balance and I carry painting supplies during the tour and paint in hotel rooms during the day and then play that night. So it truly is a beautiful balance. Could you tell us about your interest in Houdini and Charlie Chaplin and your collection of their artifacts?

MC: Sure. Chaplin and Houdini both are lifelong fascinations of mine. I was a magician when I was a little kid and I saw a Chaplin film in a film history class when I was young and maybe I was born in the wrong era. I think I was supposed to be from the Golden 20s and maybe I was, maybe I came back. There has always been mag-

Sweet Home … Yonkers. Michael and his wife, Nancy.

ical thing about the twenties for me. So much so that the painting “New York” It is a 1920s era New York City street scene. In this painting I put my three heroes — my father, Houdini and Chaplin. I have a lifelong admiration for both which has turned into a bit of a collectible thing for me. I started by getting books and movies and now there is a Chaplin cane and a set of Houdini handcuffs hanging in the other room.

VF: How did you find them? Did you go to Las Vegas and visit the Pawn Stars place?

MC: (laughing) You know what? They actually find you when you start poking around and you find yourself looking at this kind of little collectible world. You very quickly and unknowingly get yourself on all of these mailing lists. I didn’t seek out either of those, they just kind of flopped onto my lap one day.

VF: Those are some nice shadow boxes. The were a specialty of Tony Curtis.

MC: Yes. The Houdini movie, 1953. Classic. It was my introduction to them both.

VF: He was also a very good artist.

MC: Yes, a very good artist. I’ve seen his paintings, of course. I did not know he also made boxes. I did a painting of him — a scene from “Some Like It Hot” — in conjunction with my 20 year music equipment endorsement with Remo drumheads. www.michaelcartellone.com

Carnevale di Venezia

Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe, “Some Like It Hot” on a Remo Drumhead

MICHAEL CARTELLONE POUNDS OUT THE PIXELS ON STAGE AND ON CANVAS

Michael Cartellone - Rockin’ The Pixels

Sometimes, it just doesn’t seem fair for so much talent to be ensconced in just one person. There are, according to the noted scholar/gallerist/critic Dr. Mosses Zirani, “Many examples in the history of international art: William Blake and Khalil Gibran are gifted as painters, as well as writers. Leonardo da Vinci was a scientist, Rubens was a diplomat. Both, however, were some of the titans of painting of the Renaissance.” Michael Cartellone is also a titan – a titan of rock and roll. As the backbone of the Lynyrd Skynyrd band, he keeps a boisterous group with three dynamic, loud and brilliant electric guitars and an equally loud and brilliant front man right on the beat no matter what the song. We caught a recent Skynyrd performance at the STAC in Saratoga, New York where we had a chance to interview Michael before he took the stage to a sold out crowd already stoked by Hank Williams Jr. How did you come upon the style and technique?

When I was in 7th grade, our Art program had a field trip to the Salvador Dali Museum … which at the time was located in a suburb of my hometown, Cleveland, Ohio. One painting, with a beautifully crazy long title, just captivated me … it was: Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea which at Twenty Meters Becomes the Portrait of Abraham Lincoln-Homage to Rothko.” People familiar with Dali will know this painting … the incredible optical illusion of a woman standing at an arch, which becomes Abraham Lincoln as you move back from the painting. It was such an amazing thing to experience, that it stayed in my subconscious for years.

About 5 years ago, I was sitting at my laptop (with a bad Internet connection) and as a page was downloading, I was seeing a pixelated image, slowly

coming into focus. It triggered the memory of the Dali painting and Lincoln coming into focus. I thought it might be interesting to paint something that is pixelated … since people have become accustomed to seeing pixelated images on pages opening slowly on computers. Consequently, in a similar way, when people see my Pixelism paintings in person, and back away from the painting, so their eyes can focus, the image will come into view.

How did the first Pixelism painting come to be?

In our NYC apartment, I have one of those Big Boy statues (it’s 5 feet tall, much to my wife’s dismay) It’s the 1950’s cartoon guy holding up the hamburger, from the restaurant chain. I have always loved that image and I thought it would be fun to pixelate him so, I took a photo of it, printed it out and drew a grid over the top of it. This enabled me to see the various sections of the painting and what colors needed to dominant as I move about the image. From there, it is just a lot of trial and error — painting the squares, one by one … one row at a time … top to bottom… and trying to keep it in ‘soft focus.’ I am constantly backing away to see if the eye can “mix” the colors as intended … but quite often, I will have to repaint random squares. The color mixing knowledge I was taught in school really comes into play here. This is a very slow and labor intensive process, but I am always happy with the results. And subject matter?

Quite simply, images that have a special meaning for me — famous musicians, movie stars, cartoon characters and fine art imagery. All of these works can be seen at wentworthgallery.com … in fact, I am working on new works presently for 2020 Wentworth shows. – VICTOR FORBES

MM² (pronounced M, M, squared), acrylic on canvas: 24” x 24”

CC² (pronounced C, C, squared), acrylic on canvas: 48” x 48”

E² (pronounced E, squared) acrylic on canvas: 40” x 40”

ML² (pronounced M, L, squared) acrylic on canvas: 33” x 39”

On stage with Lynyrd Skynyrd photo credit Doltyn Snedden

Michael Cartellone Art From The Road

“How cool is this,” Michael Cartel lone was saying just the other day, as his band, Lynyrd Skynyrd prepares for March 13 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, “I get to play Free Bird for a living.”

Almost as cool, one could say, as a packed crowd full of celebrities and friends at the Grant Gallery for his inaugural Soho art exhibit.

“There were people there who only knew me as a musician, but painting has been a part of me since childhood. To have that come out and get its due was very fulfilling. I can’t imagine a better debut into the New York art scene than I had that night. My excitement was matched by the response to the work, which, not knowing what to anticipate, well exceeded my expectations,” said Michael.

Michael attests that the art scene was “A little more intellectually stimulating than a rock concert in that there was a lot more personal interaction with the people at the art show. Talking one -on-one and answering questions about the paintings is different than playing a concert. That’s my life’s work and I love every moment of it, but being a drummer and painter simultaneously is like having two halves of the whole.” The group of paintings on view are all about the road, painted on the road in hotel rooms while the band toured over a period of about three years. They represent a peek into the road life of Lynyrd Skynyrd, one of the world’s beloved bands.”

Just as Michael was completing that series, the John Lennon portrait came about. A Beatles fan since childhood, (“Lennon was always my favorite – I think I liked his tunes more”) people were really moved by it. “I happened to meet Yoko a few weeks before the show and she was incredibly pleased which was very satisfying for me. This was the time to do that painting, 25 years after his death. The reflection in the sunglasses is of Yoko’s face so that they are actually looking at each other.”

As for the art, Michael is gaining serious interest from major publishers and galleries. The band will be touring relentlessly, with an itinerary in place and now Michael has a painting itinerary. “I am so happy that I’ve been able to bring the fine art side of my life up to the surface and I plan to continue to make paintings and prints. I will build my portfolio as long as I continue to be a musician who travels on the road.”

“It’s fun every night, even if it’s different every night, it’s a great job to have. I’m very blessed. I started playing these songs as a kid in high school, and now to play them with the actual band is not taken for granted at all. I was on a world tour with John Fogerty, and to look over at him while playing “Proud Mary” was also pretty amazing. Life has been good. The inspiration of the

music carries over to the art. They feed off each other and there was no better way to do that than to paint about the road. With one fell swoop, make a statement and show how life is, to a degree, touring the world.”

Talk about your resilient bands — Skynyrd has 30 years under it’s belt (and counting) and a set list that has become part of American history and culture. Regardless of the musical venue or who is playing, there will always be someone calling for “Free Bird!” It is far more than a song, it is an optimistic and powerful anthem closing out shows on stage and accompanying many on their journey to the next world.

Michael & Tommy, 2014

Rehearsing at home in NYC

Michael, age 25, with Tommy Shaw on his first solo band tour, 1987

Damn Yankees, the supergroup consisting of Tommy Shaw of Styx, Jack Blades of Night Ranger, Ted Nugent of The Amboy Dukes and Michael Cartellone (future Lynyrd Skynyrd drummer) celebrate as their debut album goes gold in 1990… that album went on to sell 2 million copies.

MICHAEL O’MAHONY

“I don’t buy garbage. I am only interested in the best art wherever I go.”

Ed. Note: Michael Cartellone had his first Wentworth Gallery show after meeting the company’s CEO, Michael O’Mahony, at Artexpo, New York. The rest, as they say, is history. As a tribute to this legendary “Man-of-Art”, we reprint our interview with him from 1993.

By VICTOR FORBES

“There’s no shortage of artists in the world. It’s just a matter of going out and locating the good ones. I don’t sit at my desk waiting for their slides to arrive. I prefer to go out and discover them.”

To Michael O’Mahony, doing so means finding yourself on the last airplane out of Dubrovnik at 4:30 a.m. just prior to the city being shelled and on the final Pan Am clipper to depart Croatia before the war erupted, traveling gypsy-style with a bounty of paintings rolled up and carried through the airport like a bazooka on your shoulder.

While he did get some strange looks on that voyage, the cultural helmsman and CEO of a gallery chain encompassing 32 locations in prestigious, high traffic malls from Boston to Las Vegas, O’Mahony sustains a passion for travel. He has thoughtfully used his position as arbiter of taste to the millions of potential clients who pass his galleries each week to do what so many art collectors would do themselves, if time and/or finances would allow. That is, venture out into the world to experience new and exciting works of art created by gifted and talented painters who, sitting in places where their work would not be exposed, by the luck of the draw, find themselves living in an environment where the populace’s primary concern, other than dodging bullets and bombs, is finding money to pay for food and the rent.

To many, O’Mahony has been a godsend — a desirable thing or event that comes unexpectedly — and he takes his role as purveyor of art and often sole supporter of many artists and their families in such places as Croatia, Armenia, South America, Spain and the Georgian Republic quite seriously. Not only do their works fill his walls and eventually his coffers, but they provide to the international art buying public — many foreign tourists are clients of his strategically placed galleries — an exciting collection of work that is different and collectible as these artists are undeniably gifted and their prices have not reached the stratospheric points that some of their American and Western European counterparts command for creations of equal or lesser merit.

O’Mahony likens taste in art to taste in music in many instances. “I defy anyone to say any art is good or bad,” he says from corporate headquarters in Miami. “Perception of art is a very emotive thing. What matters is what it does for the individual. I can’t tell you the London Philharmonic is the best orchestra and Hank Williams is meaningless, any more than you can tell me the opposite.”

Preferring not to impose his personal palate, O’Mahony has developed a multi-faceted collection based on discernment of style that allows him to bring in a broad-based selection. “Like Baskin Robbins,” he adds. “Not everybody likes chocolate or vanilla or pistachio.”

In art, more than in most retail businesses, the key to success is to have work on hand that satisfies an emotional need. While Wentworth Gallery does have a collection of blue chip artists— Picasso, Chagall, Rembrandt, Pissaro — along with very popular modern stalwarts (McKnight, Hallam, Erté, Schluss, et al), that is not their general run of business. The driving force behind Wentworth’s victory in a tough game is that O’Mahony fearlessly ventures to faraway places, tapping a tremendous wealth of talent. “How many people,” wonders O’Mahony, whose exploits were the

subject of an internationally aired CNN segment, go to Armenia or Bosnia or Croatia during a war in search of art?”

The result is a mutually beneficial pact where everyone benefits. “Win-win-win for the artist, collector and gallery.” Based on the fact that the economy of these countries is not as good as it should be or could be, O’Mahony is able to buy very good art at very reasonable prices and the artist, in addition to earning a livelihood, garners tremendous exposure overnight at the very best locations in the country including the new Wentworth Gallery in the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas and at Artexpo, NY. “Ninety percent of success is showing up; sometimes you uncover a treasure trove, other times you come up empty. When I travel to these places,” says O’Mahony, who is very aware of his positive impact on the local economy, “I don’t buy rubbish. I am only interested in the best art wherever I go. It’s not just an issue of money, obviously that’s an important factor of business, but the responsibility of one in my position is to support the artists whose talents are deserving.”

There is also the thrill of the voyage, of the discovery and of introducing something that has never been seen. Having learned to travel days on end with just a carry on, these glob-trots require both courage and encouragement which he receives in no small dose from his wife, Maria, who serendipitously enough, is Croatian. “I was going there before I was even in the art business,” says the CEO, “and when Wentworth Gallery began, the logical next step was to put that art in this country as I could see it would be very collectible.”

While helping overseas artists does provide much needed original art to the Wentworth chain, there are many peripheral benefits to all. Hard currency goes into an economy creating employment and cash flow which is invariably followed by an enthusiasm among other artists when they see one of their colleagues doing well.

“They strive harder, and it becomes like a snowball rolling down a hill. In every country I’ve ever been, when I start with one artist I always end up with five, six or seven and none that I know of has been unhappy. They keep coming back for more, so I have to be doing something right. Some of the artists I deal with hardly speak any English at all, but we communicate in broken English, fractured Spanish, bad German and hand signs. Even with all these problems, we always manage somehow to make the deal if the art is good.”

While those looking for just the occasional piece to decorate a room can travel the world with O’Mahony without going farther than their favorite shopping center, serious collectors will find original paintings by artists from far-away places going for up to $25,000 at their neighborhood Wentworth Gallery.

O’Mahony keeps the key to his success under wraps (“If I told you, then you’d print it and everyone would have my secrets, which I don’t like to give up”) but it is obvious that he is of the “no guts, no glory” school of action/thought. He built his business from the ground up, runs a tight ship and surrounds himself with exceptional people. He’s planning to open three or four more locations, and as is his wont, expand in a slow, methodical, thoughtout, secure way.

He’s currently looking to the Caribbean nations, where there are many artists who could soon find themselves staking out some of that fabled Wentworth wall space. “There’s a plethora of talent that just isn’t seen by the wealthiest, strongest economy in the world,” he maintains, “and I really enjoy finding the good stuff and seeing artists flourish.”

Dale, Gary and Michael at Wentworth Gallery exhibition.