Visit Michael's work at: Michael Zambelli
Artist Statement
My paintings allow me to capture the emotional aspects of abandoned or overlooked objects, with a focus on old vehicles, products and structures. The way the sun hits it, the way the rust transforms it or the way its beauty and personality goes unnoticed are what attracts me to a particular subject matter.
Artist Biography
Michael Zambelli has been drawing for most of his life. His high school fascination with designing automobiles led him to a career in Industrial Design earning a BSID degree from the University of Bridgeport. Throughout his 35 plus years of designing products, everything from telephones for AT&T to plumbing fixtures for American Standard, he always maintained his interest in the fine arts. He has visited museums and galleries throughout the US and Europe with the intention of creating art someday in the back of his mind.
In 2011, he picked up some paint brushes and began painting in acrylics for the first time in his life. He has participated in workshops at the Center for Contemporary Arts in Bedminster and the Visual Arts Center in Summit, NJ. His paintings have been exhibited at juried and members show at both centers. Michael's painting, "The Monaco", was accepted in the 2012 annual juried exhibit at The Center for Contemporary Arts. In 2012 he received an honorable mention for his painting "Idle Jitneys", which along with another painting, "Dairy Queen", was accepted in the Ocean City Cultural Arts Center annual juried show. In 2013, he was accepted as an Associate Artist (emerging artist) at the Noyes Museum in Oceanville, NJ. He is a member of the Ocean City Fine Arts League where he received an award for his painting, "Reporting For Duty", a painting that featured an Atlantic City jitney. More recently he received the top prize for his painting "Before Starbucks" for the "Interiors" exhibit at the Arts On Asbury Gallery in 2013. Two paintings were also selected for the December 2013 juried show at the Ocean City Arts Center.
Most of his paintings focus on artifacts of the 20th century including interesting products, automobiles and structures in urban landscapes. His primary objective is to capture the emotional aspects of these artifacts. Most of his images emphasize the play of light and shadow that not only help define the object's form, but also conveys the mystery, history or the sense of sadness that is often missed by the casual observer. His paintings are representational, but are deliberately executed in a painterly fashion to capture various emotions.
Michael currently spends most of his summers and weekends exploring South Jersey as a part time resident in Ventnor, NJ. He finds the morning and late afternoon light ideal for capturing the attributes he looks for in the subjects he enjoys painting.