The "ART" in Art Hearts Fashion
Discovering the art element of the largest fashion show in Los Angeles.
2022 Spring Los Angeles Fashion Week kicked off with the Art Hearts Fashion extravaganza at the Majestic Downtown Los Angeles! This year show ran from Thursday, March 17th through Sunday, March 20th. It is hard to fit all that occurred over the 4 days, that include Founder/Executive Director Erik Rosete and the whole Art Heart Fashion Team being awarded three awards from the City of Los Angeles, the exquisite display of fashion, The list of who’s who and of course the beautiful world of art. Writing this article is like unwrapping a beautifully wrapped gift that when revealed is the thing you really wanted. Here is a look at my journey and experience of the event for the three days I attended along with my one on one interview with art curator Leo Feroleto!
THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES AWARD THE ART HEARTS FASHION!
WATCH IT NOW.
AS I APPROACH MY DESTINATION
Parking was easy to access considering it was Downtown Los Angeles. I found safe adequate parking in the same structure I used during the fall show which is just a half block away. Although there was multiple places to find parking. This made it especially convenient for me to walk with all of my equipment in tow. That combined with the hypnotic and intoxicating vibe emanating from the whole downtown LA scene made the walk a cinch. The smell of food the people the architecture and the unbelievable diversity of culture that I experienced during my short walk to the media door entrance got me somewhat ready for what came next as I entered the Majestic.
I was immediately hit with the buzz of chatter and the flashing of lights that came from the right at the step n repeat and towards my destination on the left at the check in counter, where I had a short wait before obtaining my media badge and my VIP bracelet.
IT'S ART TIME!
After meeting up with my friend and Art Hearts Fashion, Art Co-Curator Robby Devine who showed me a good spot to capture some good footage of the event, I was off on my own for a bit and off I went towards the stairs pass the handsome young gentleman dressed in black that was the gate keeper for accessing the VIP area upstairs. After checking my credentials I went upstairs and was greeted by the sounds of live drumming and music who had a party of their own for the crowd upstairs. It really was a lot to take in and after a little walking I found a familiar sight with an artist I had referred to the event, William Sheffield. His work was easy to see. His huge 9 feet tall piece entitled “Remember the Times” give homage to the different eras of the undisputed King of Pop, the one and only Michael Jackson, which stood next to another of Williams piece entitled “Nat King Cole” that was a whopping 7 feet tall. William also had other pieces on display including his "Phil Perry" on Mirror and others.
FAMILIAR FACES
Shortly after that I saw several more familiar faces of friends and artists Mego Street Art, Marily Vaillancourt, Matthew Garcia, and Darius Dio. We were all feeding on the high energy that surrounded us with seeing friends showing up in the midst of all the new faces it gave pause for a relaxing moment. I pulled out my camera and started snapping photos of everyone and of their art.
As we made our way pass one of the open bar stands we were greeted by a friendly face from Curly Bartender who was happy to offer us one of their exotic cocktails.
MEETING THE MAN BEHIND THE ART!
After making my rounds I caught up to Robby once again, who you can imagine was super busy handling the affairs of the art that evening. He took me to meet the Art Hearts Fashion Art Curator himself, Mr. Leo Feroleto. Leo is the Director of Six Summit Gallery (SSG) and has been the main Curator for all of the Art Hearts Fashion shows for over 8 years now.
As I walked up to Leo, I felt a sense of ease in meeting him. Leo is most definitely a people person who makes you feel like you’re talking to an old friend. Leo and I decided to do our interview a little later after I had a chance to check out more of the art. So Off I went in search of my favorite thing…art! Watch our full interview with Leo Feroleto Now!
Leo’s gallery in New York City’s Time Square sits in one of the most heavily traffic areas in the world. With access to millions of people Six Summit Gallery located at 625 8th Ave., Times Square, NYC 10018 is a hot spot for art lovers to take in the vast and diverse range of art at SSG.
SSG curates the largest art and fashion platforms in NYC, LA and Miami. They represent emerging artists, as well as those in some of the most prestigious collections in the world.
Leo and SSG most definitely put the Art in Art Hearts Fashion!
THE FEATURED ARTISTS!
With so much beauty at every turn and on two super sized floors to cover, it’s a bit of a challenge picking a starting point. Calming myself to take my reader on my amazing journey, I calmed my mind to travel back over the scene as it was in my mind. I like to think of the evening as larger than life. Since many of the pieces on display were upwards of 7 feet and beyond.
One of the first pieces I came upon was artwork by artist Rhiannon Valenti, who’s larger than life piece entitle “She's A 20th Century Fox” (oil) was a fan favorite and a big hit with many people requesting that their photograph be taken along side of it.
At the top of the stairs one of the first images was an artist known as The Blenq.
The brilliant shine emanating from the catchy characters quickly captured your attention as they took you back to the childhood characters that you knew, and captured them with personality. Giving those characters a modern edge of swag.
Next up was of Son of Dio who aside from doing his live art (downstairs) had several of his pieces displayed including the fan favorite entitle “Lion and The Lamb” that cause you to take a much closer look at the bling in the mouth of his rendition of a lion lamb hybrid.
That bling is one of Son of Dio’s signature elements that he includes crystals in his clothing art and his painted art. Son of Dio painting of a large raised fists entitled “ Hueman” gave many in attendance a grand photo opportunity as well as bringing a deeper meaning to his art. Son of Dio explained the meaning behind this painting by saying that he used the term “HUE” in the title because we are all different hues but that we are all more alike than we are different. As I looked closer I noticed the other elements of this image of the fist emerging from the ground include more of his signature crystals and the dove. Darius (Son of Dio) said that the sun is rising on a new day with humanity becoming as one. Darius explains that the use of crystals in his work is too seal his energy into his art. This is part of what he calls “The SEA effect” which is an acronym for Substance, Energy and Art.
Artist Matthew Garcia was one of the artists that I met last year and was delighted to see him back with a new and exquisite piece entitled “Octopie”.
This piece sat upon an easel in an area upstairs that demanded attention. It was brilliantly positioned next to the white chaise in front of the large window that overlooked the street of Los Angeles and all its beautiful night lights. The window was framed by large drapes that were pulled to a gather on each side. Matthew’s art always beckon you to sit and stare as you take in the eclectic way he combine different objects in his paintings that in nature would not be seen together. It is this creative level that keeps me wanting to see more from this talented young artist.
Friend and artist Mego Street Art (M) has always fascinated me. So much so that I had her on the cover of Creative Artist Magazine back in the spring of 2019 along with a spread of over 6 pages. Her story of emerging to the brilliant artist that just recently had two booths at the LA Art Show at the convention center with the group “Viva LA” and now just a few blocks away being prominently featured in the VIP suites of the “A” list’s that were in attendance at the Art Hearts Fashion show.
Mego is no stranger to the Art Hearts Fashion and has been feature there doing her high energy live art performances that are like a rush of oxygen to the brain and psyche of all those who are fortunate to experience it. Running into Viva LA’s very own Christian Mittman was another moment of seeing old familiar faces. He and I actually nestled into a great spot to capture the events of the evening and had a few laughs along the way.
Seeing the return of some of my favorite artist from last season made this more of a coming together and sharing in the joys of seeing old friends, as was the case with the artist known as Fatigue.
Seeing Fatigue’s larger than life art pieces demanded a photo opportunity as I observed many people paused to photograph and just sit and ponder the depth behind his brightly colored painting “The Amazing Dr. Sebi” which stands at a whopping 7 feet!
Artist JaJa Dario had everyone’s attention with her exquisite and somewhat psychedelic intricate circles, I found them to be quite hypnotic.
I could have looked at them for hours and still find fascination with her paintings entitled “One Drop” and “Save A Prayer” both painted on wood.
The special effects of some of the art by artist Sheina Dorn were perfectly placed in a dark area of the venue just outside of the fashion runway.
This was perfect because it showed off the brilliant effects she added to create her colorful eye catching works of art, which had the effect of glowing in the dark. Walking by the colorful lion piece entitled, “Glaring Lion” demanded you stop and take a closer look, which only caused her other pieces to come to life. You could easily find yourself standing there for several minutes.
Artist Allois art piece entitled “Balthazar”, was a rather eclectic piece that offered element that had you searching for meaning in the metaphor of its imagery.
With the alluring boar dressed in a coat with lucky fish swimming happily at her feet as she gazed at a half eaten green apple most definitely gave the viewer something to ponder.
Artist Cindy Keefer’s art can be described as figurative and I found them to be a delight to explore as I stood looking with my camera in hand observing before I snapped my photos of them. Upon first glance you see the big picture and then the details and the hidden gems start to appear. This was the case as I stood observing her painting entitled “Meerkats”.
I was hooked and in search of the treats once I found the little meerkat hiding at the bottom just out of site. Cindy’s love for capturing figurative images is evident in the way she captured her subjects in motion in her painting entitled “Escape”. Cindy had another hidden gem to share in that she is the CEO of Fashion Techworks. This is the location where Art Hearts Fashion introduced their day shows. My fascination with this amazing co-working space for creatives to build their career in the art of fashion was at a peek, as I thought of the many creatives that could benefit from a place like this. Cindy said they are capable of housing gallery exhibits, fashion shows and include several bonuses including a standard vision wall to bring anyone’s event to life. One other thing Cindy was proud of is that they have the capability to print images sustainably on fabric, allowing for you to add your creative custom art on any fabric.
The painting “Andre 3000” by Ana Benitez-Duarte added a super colored display of purple fuchsia combination held you captive as it felt like their was some surreal thing happening as you gazed into the eyes of her rendition of the singer. This was only rivaled by her other mixed media piece entitled “I Want To Be Better” (Balance) which aside from the deep color tones, ask you to look pass what at first seem whimsy to what looks for a second more deeper meaning.
It is always a pleasure to see super talented Los Angeles photographer Matt Doheny (@dohenyphoto) who's work was featured and is a fan favorite.
All of the art work featured at the Art Hearts Fashion extravaganza is curated by Six Summit Gallery (SSG). For more information about any of the artwork featured please contact Leo Feroleto, Director of SSG at (917) 573-0029, 625 8th Ave., Times Square, NYC 10018 and 6 Summit St., Ivoryton, CT 06442. Visit them online at www.sixsummitgallery.com. Follow on Instagram @sixsummitgallery
With so much going on in the world of art at the Art Hearts Fashion I decided to do two articles on the event; one for art (this one) and another on the fashion. The fashion on display was a creative display of artistry by designers who showed their creative side and added many exciting elements to this year show! Like, follow and subscribe to be notified when we post up new articles.
A very special thank you to my good friend Robby Devine who made this event possible for me. Robby has been the Co-Curator of the Art Hearts Fashion for the last 6 years and works directly with Founder/CEO Erik Rosete and Leo Feroleto the Director of Art and Curator of the largest Fashion show in Los Angeles!
Robby said that he enjoy watching the event continue to grow and expand with each show here in Los Angeles. He quickly added that they are also successful with the New York Fashion Week as well as Miami Swim Week.
Robby is perfectly placed here surrounded by the fashion, art and luxury that surrounds the event where he gets to show off his talent. That talent is not often known by random people he sees after all is done and he is walking the floor. He said that it is a real calm from the storm of getting everything in place to actually see people just enjoying themselves and appreciating all the work that went into it.
In Closing Robby said that he fully enjoys having a hand in helping others dreams come true and fashions himself as a dreamer and a dream maker.
Outside of the artists exhibiting at the show I was able to hang with others who are artists in their own rights. I thing it's pretty cool that I can call them friend!
This article would not be complete with out mentioning those individuals who helped make my time at the event even more special capturing all the art, fashion, energy, establishing new contacts and hanging with friend Kelvin Anderson Sr (Owner of the World Famous VIP Records Long Beach) on Thursday night, Friend Lonzo Williams (Founder of the World Class Wreckin Cru where Dr. Dre got his start in the industry) on Friday and one of the most amazing vocalist I have ever heard my friend Luca Sormani on Saturday, who I met at the Fall show and we have remained friends ever since. It was super nice hanging with my friend, drone pilot and social media manager for Roscoe’s Jazz Lounge, Byron Mumford (drone copone).
Thank you for taking the time to read our article. It is our hope to take you on this incredible journey and feel the art, vibes and the people sharing the beautiful world of art.
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