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Jerome Gastaldi was born in Oakland, California, in 1945. At an early age, Gastaldi was fascinated by the icons and art that he viewed at Latin mass ceremonies in the Roman Catholic Church. He incorporated these visions of stained glass, rich color, sculpture and gold decoration found in church when he developed his drawing and wood carving skills. When still in grade school, Gastaldi viewed a film of sculptor Henry Moore. It was then that he decided to devote his life to the arts and the humanities. In later years, Gastaldi attended Orange Coast College followed by buying a one-way ticket to Europe to study drawing; and to paint the people, the architecture and the landscapes he discovered there. Eventually, he extended his travels to Greece, Thailand, Burma, Iran, and India. Upon his return to California, Gastaldi founded the Modern Museum of Art in Santa Ana, California. It was here that he organized major retrospectives for such well known artists such as Tamayo and David Hockne, among others. Gastaldi's works are powerful pieces that express the immediacy, movement and timelessness of his subjects, which are predominantly landscapes. The seductive colors and fierce strength of nature seems to lure the spectator into his realm. In the 1990's, Gastaldi began exhibiting his work extensively throughout California and elsewhere. Today, this artist is preparing for a museum tour in Mexico. SELECTED EXHIBITIONS: 1992 Gallery of the Pacific, Waimea, Hawaii 1993 Time Space Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA 1994 National Museum, Seoul, Korea 1996 Los Angeles Studio, Los Angeles, CA 1997 Museum of Mexico, Mexico, D.F., Mexico 1998 International Olympic Committee, New York, N.Y. |