Artist Statement
Found objects are inspiring to me because they have a history of their own. A nail through a scrap of wood or rust on old wire gives the viewer a hint that the object has a life span much like ours—with a past, present and future. There was a time when my canvases were door slats or shingles, and there will be a time when they will cease to be anything at all, but for right now, in this moment, they communicate a unique space and feeling. In the forms captured on each piece I try to convey fleeting moments—a quiet urban moment or the bridge at dusk. Each has a past and a history that is different from the moment captured, but there is only the present to explain to the viewer where it all fits.
Many found objects show me what choices to make next. Wood and salvaged materials have an organic life of their own in how it is used and then distressed over time. Many of the pieces in this collection were salvaged from a Williamsburg tenement renovation and feature their local landscapes. I try to leave the objects in the same physical form as they were found, with nails, chips and holes unaltered so they can lend some direction to the content of the final piece.
When rendering a subject, I look at form in an analytical way, breaking it down first to simple shapes and colors. When looking at compositions, I look for the space between things, framing in ways that are unexpected, creating images that are always new and yet strangely familiar.
Gabe Scelta has been drawing and painting since childhood. He holds a BFA from Boston University and an MA from the University of London. He currently resides in New York City. You can see more work at www.gabescelta.com or www.facebook.com/gabe.scelta.artist
Artist CV 
Gabe Scelta
New York / London
Selected Solo Exhibitions
- Variety, "Williamsburg Landscapes," Brooklyn, December 2012
- Borderlands, "Circus," San Francisco, August 2010
- Lyon Martin Center, "Gabe Scelta: Paintings," San Francisco, February 2010
- Good Vibrations, “Gabe Scelta: Paintings,” San Francisco, November 2008
- Lexington Club, “Gabe Scelta: New Work, Drawings & Paintings,” San Francisco, August 2008
- One Taste, “Gabe Scelta: New Work,” San Francisco, July 2008
- Eros, “Men & Boys: Drawings & Paintings by Gabe Scelta,” San Francisco, April 2008
Selected Group Exhibitions
- Vyner Street Gallery, “Ten @ Cultivate 3,” London, October 2013
- Listed on Amazon FIne Art, beginning August 2013
- Jeffery Leder Gallery, “International Painting NYC II,” New York, February 2013
- Crest Hardware, “CrestFest 2012,” Brooklyn, June 2012
- Femina Potens Gallery, "The Thin Line II," San Francisco, July 2010
- Femina Potens Gallery, "The Thin Line," San Francisco, February 2010
- Crest Hardware, “CrestFest 2009,” Brooklyn, June 2009
- Femina Potens Gallery, “Under The Big Top: Freakishly Carnivalesque Vaudevillian Portraiture Meets Aerial Performance Art Installations,” San Francisco, April 2009
- SomArts Cultural Center, “Nude Aid,” San Francisco, December 2008
- Crest Hardware, “Crest Music & Culture,” Brooklyn, June 2008
- Club Mighty, “Nude Aid,” San Francisco, December 2007
- 111 Minna Gallery, “Nude Aid,” San Francisco, December 2006
- CellSpace Gallery, “International Mechanical, Kinetic & Electronic Arts Festival: Art That Moves,” San Francisco, October 2005
- The Shipyard, “RIGGED: An Assembly of Airborne Aesthetic Curiosities,” Berkeley, June 2005
- Mill Brook Gallery & Sculpture Garden, “New Work,” Concord, NH, May 2002
- Boston Public Library, “South End: A Neighborhood of Ideas,” Boston, November 2002
Selected Publications & Reviews
- Time Out New York, “Your Perfect Weekend,” June 2009 New York Times, “In Williamsburg Store, Customers Find Art Among the Wrenches,” July 2008
- San Francisco Chronicle, “Don’t Miss: Nude Aid,” December 2007 Washington Post, “The Art of Traveling: Boston,” November 2002
- ArtsMedia, “Off the Wall and into the Garden,” May 2002
Awards
- Top 100, American Design Awards, San Francisco, August 2009
- Muralist, Citizens for Political Action, Boston, May 2001
- Finalist, Arches New England Printmaking Competition, Boston, February 2001
Education
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Boston University, 2002
Master of Arts, University of London, 2012
Born
Brooklyn, New York
