Army of the Underground Prophets: October 2007

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Happy Halloween

Are you scared yet...

You're gonna' be!

Monday, October 22, 2007

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

On January 2nd in the year 2000 I put a blank canvas on my easel in my art studio in upstate New York and sat there for close to an hour thinking of what my first painting of the new millennium will be. Months earlier I had done a colored pen and ink drawing of a carousel horse that was morphing into a radiation meltdown of what is a real horse and what is man-made. The horse looking back the whole time seeing what is happening to him. I spent the whole month working on this painting with everything done except for the detail work. I put the painting away and there it sat in my studio, unfinished in my eyes. Everyone who came to look at my paintings would rave about it. But it needed to be finished. Last month I pulled it out, dusted it off and spent the next few days giving it it's final touches.
When it came time to sign it I went back seven years in time to put the correct date...I didn't feel any younger painting that 2 followed by three 0's but it sure was fun.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Tomato Tower

The tomato season is almost over here in the Hudson Valley. Because of the Indian Summer, it will last a few more weeks. The crop wasn't as good as years before but they were delicious all the same. Red, juicy and bursting with flavor. Anyone who stills buys supermarket tomatoes....you know, the kind they give you on deli sandwiches......well....I feel sad for you. You don't know what you're missing!

Start with a nice size tomato and slice through it 4 or 5 times into thick 1/2 inch wheels, slice some FRESH mozzarella the same, add some fresh basil leaves (I pull mine right off the plant).
Now build a tower starting with the bottom slice of tomato (the largest), a slice of mozzarella, basil, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, some sea salt and cracked pepper, continue until tower is complete. Garnish with mixed olives and Sriracha chili sauce dimes.

Oh yeah,...........Remember to make it with love for someone you love.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

At a very early age Christo demonstrated a natural proficiency for drawing and painting. When he was ten, he received a book about the painter Jackson Pollockand became obsessed with the artist's technique of drip painting. Armed with bright colored paint, Parenti secretly used his mother's bathtub as a makeshift studio. His father, Carl Frank Parenti, an aeronautical engineer well known for his design for the B-52 Bomber hydrolic system, encouraged him to develop his innate talent. Christo received a full scholarship to the New York Summer School of the Arts at Fredonia College in Upstate New York where, at 16, he studied painting and printmaking. As part of the early 1980's downtown art scene, Parenti tagged and participated in group shows with Jean-Michel Basquiant, Keith Haring, Kenny Sharf, Fab Five Fred and other well known graffiti artists. He studied design at F.I.T. and later acting with Stella Adler and Ellen Cannon. He worked as a professional actor in Off-Broadway, films and television commercials. In 1992 he opened his own studio, executing paintings on commission and was featured in many group exhibitions throughout New York City and California winning awards for National Juried Art Exhibitions. His paintings are in many private and public collections. Christo has been listed in Who's Who In American Art and in 2001 he founded Army of the Underground Prophets. Christo Parenti currently lives and paints in the Catskill Mountains of New York with his rescued American Pit Bull, Lucky.