Domingo Zapata is a Spanish artist, writer, and fashion designer. He became a full-time artist in 2002 and sold his first major painting to George Soros in 2005. In 2017, he launched a fashion collection at New York Fashion Week and also published his first novel, The BeautifulDream of Life.
Early life and education
Zapata is from Palma, Mallorca, Spain. His father was a car painter and his mother was a tailor. In 1993, he moved to London and studied art at the Regent's University London. He then moved to Washington, D.C. where he attended American University and studied contemporary and studio art. Prior to embarking on an art career, Zapata moved to New York City in 1999 and worked in finance and, briefly, in the music industry as a chairman for IMC Records.
Career
In 2002 while Zapata was still working on Wall Street, he began pursuing his hobby of painting. It was at this time one of his paintings of polo horses attracted the attention of contractor Michael Borrico. In 2004, Borrico hosted a private art show at his home that contained some of Zapata's paintings. Businessman, George Soros, attended that event and later purchased Zapata's "Blue Horse" in 2005. In 2011, Haute Living magazine commissioned Zapata to do the cover art for 24 issues of the magazine. In 2012, Zapata appeared in tabloid headlines after loaning his Porsche to friend, Lindsay Lohan, who was accused of clipping a pedestrian in it. That year, he also created a 35 by 15-foot mural for the Wynwood Walls in Miami. In 2013, 30 of his works were displayed for the Venice Biennale at the Palazzo da Mula. Many of the paintings exhibited were part of Zapata's Mona Lisa series, a collection of pieces featuring Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa in various "disguises." In July 2014, Zapata's painting of the crucifixion of Jesus was put on display at the Palma Cathedral. In 2015, he entered into a licensing agreement with clothing company, Alice + Olivia and collaborated with the footwear brand Superga. Zapata's Superga shoe collection featured 11 styles based on his original paintings. In December of that year, the Cha Cha art gallery in Aspen, Colorado opened as a collaboration between Zapata and Charlotte Lena to showcase Zapata's work. In 2016, Zapata announced that he had sold a novel to Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. The book was titled The Beautiful Dream of Life. It was published in July 2017. In February 2017, Zapata unveiled a clothing collection at New York Fashion Week based on his artwork. He also organized other shows at New York Fashion Week and Los Angeles Fashion Week in 2018. In his most ambitious project to date, the summer of 2019 had Zapata receive an opportunity to paint the largest vinyl mural in the history of New York City. The mural itself is positioned in Times Square, on the East, West and South facades of the One Times Square Building. On each of these three facades, it wraps 15 stories in length, 300 feet in height and covers a total area of 30,000 square feet in total painted surface. The motifs used by Zapata for this work include a retrospective of his prior work including Polo Players, Pandas, Flamenco dancers and Flowers, all influenced by his native Spain and time spent living in NYC. It took more than 4 companion artists working with Zapata more than 3 weeks to complete his work with scaffolding suspension holding the crew over 200–400 feet above NYC during the installation and painting. It will be maintained and featured in Time Square throughout 2019 through the summer of 2020 for all to enjoy.
Style and Persona
Zapata has been referred to as the "next Andy Warhol" for both his pop art sensibilities and his celebrity lifestyle. He has also been described as a neo-expressionist because of his use of bright colors and his "visceral," "graffiti-like" painting method. Zapata has noted that he uses color to evoke and represent emotion. Many of his works explore thematic elements such as "sexuality, opulence, and vitality" often incorporating text into the artwork. Zapata often creates different series based on a single theme. These include his Polo series, Matador series, Ten series, Mona Lisa series, Panda series, and others.
