Fisher Island Club CEO Bernard Lackner Welcomes Famed Digital Artist, Laurence Gartel, To Unveil $200k "Art Car" During Art Basel Miami Beach 2014

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Nov 25, 2014, 01:56 ET

MIAMI, Nov. 25, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Fisher Island Club, one of the world's most exclusive private island communities, will present an extraordinary exhibition by the "Father of Digital Art," Laurence Gartel, who will unveil his latest "Art Car" in the form of a $200,000 RENNtech Mercedes-Benz Super Car during Art Basel Miami Beach 2014, today announced Club CEO Bernard Lackner. A collaboration with Club Member Nataly Stuart, the car will be wrapped in an abstract digital collage of vibrant images inspired by the tropical beauty and nature of Fisher Island Club, and revealed at the island's Town Center during an event being held exclusively for Club Members on Saturday, Dec. 6, from 5 – 7 p.m.

Gartel, a globally acknowledged pioneer of the Digital Art movement who originally taught Andy Warhol how to use the Amiga Computer in the 1980s, will also present recent prints of exhibition announcements, museum shows, art conferences and nonprofit causes. These works portray a prolific international career that touches on a spectrum of sociological influences though dramatic and colorful geometric renditions. Utilizing Stuart's original photographs as a source of inspiration, Gartel will additionally unveil a newly created Fisher Island Club work of art designed exclusively for the event and in celebration of this year's Art Basel. A portion of the proceeds from this special limited edition print will benefit Miami Children's Hospital.

"We are pleased to welcome Laurence Gartel for this inspiring installation," said Lackner. "His diverse collection of pieces, particularly the Art Car, truly captures the progress of digital art over the decades and will provide an engaging exhibition that is sure to excite our Members and stimulate the senses."

Gartel has spent the last four years producing Art Cars. His first commission was with Tesla Motors to transform an electric Tesla Roadster into a work of art by wrapping the car's body in bold, colorful vinyl designed by the artist. The Roadster, which was unveiled in 2010 during Art Basel Miami Beach, quickly went viral to over 25,000 websites and is still making waves today. Gartel, who was featured with his own pavilion at the 113th New York International Auto Show, has also done Art Cars with Rolls Royce, Ferrari and Cadillac.

"My newest Art Car in collaboration with Fisher Island Club will be the most exciting installation to date," said Gartel. "It is an outrageous design that strikes a balance between realism and digital fantasy, all displayed on the sleek steel and carbon fiber canvas of a Mercedes-Benz Super Car."

Over his 35-year career as an artist, Gartel's work has been exhibited in some of the world's most prestigious art venues, including the Museum of Modern Art, Joan Whitney Payson Museum, Long Beach Museum of Art, Princeton Art Museum, PS 1, Norton Museum, Palm Beach Photographic Center and in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of American History, Bibliotheque Nationale Paris and the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum, London. He has also been commissioned by famed musicians, such as Debbie Harry (Blondie), Sid Vicious (Sex Pistols), Stiv Bators (Dead Boys), Ace Frehley (Kiss), Wendy O Williams (Plasmatics), and most recently, pop music stars Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. His ABSOLUT GARTEL, commission for Absolut Vodka, is perhaps his most well known artwork, which received international recognition and was featured by ART-IN-AMERICA, Artforum, Sothebys, Art and Auction, Art and Antiques, ArtByte, Scientific American, Technology Review, WIRED and New York Magazine. For more information visit www.gartelart.com