Described by The New York Post as "the next Andy Warhol", Spanish-American artist Domingo Zapata paints Neo-Expressionist works which explore themes of opulence, sexuality and vitality. His La Gioconda collection reimagines Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa in a street art style, while his new Pandamonium release fuses Chinese traditions with urban elements and his own Mediterranean heritage.
With studios in New York City, Miami and Hollywood, Domingo has nevertheless retained his humble roots. He grew up in Palma de Mallorca in Spain, where his mother was a painter and his father fixed cars. Surrounded by “paint and fumes”, he explored his heritage and learnt about artists like Diego Velázquez, Francisco Goya, Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dalí.
His art studies in London and subsequent business degree took him to Wall Street, New York, in 1999, before he embarked on a career in the music industry and wrote lyrics for Michael Jackson. He was hugely influenced by pop culture and the aesthetics of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Created in oil and acrylic, Domingo’s works incorporate mixed media, collage and graffiti. His poetic imagination is visualised through layers of text and visual cues including symbols and iconic brands and figures. He says his work is a “conversation of colours”, with its distinctive style identified by the raw strokes of paint. Each piece is designed to have a positive influence on the viewer.
Domingo’s art is collected by celebrities including Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, the Missoni family and the investment banker Goldman Sachs. His work has seen him paint with the Pope and create a record-breaking mural in Times Square.
Domingo can spend up to 14 hours per day creating art! In August 2019, he embarked on his most ambitious project to date: a retrospective of his work across a 15-story vinyl canvas at One Times Square. The 30,000sq ft mural took pride of place in one of New York City’s busiest spots, where an estimated 350,000 people walk by each day. For six days, Domingo painted from suspended state-of-the-art scaffolding, capturing themes and highlights from his 20-year career, including his mantra, ‘Life is a Dream’.
In January 2020, Domingo once again collaborated with Pope Francis to celebrate the head of the Catholic Church’s 50th year since ordination. The sovereign of the Vatican City State added his signature cross and a bird to Domingo’s red heart. The canvas will be auctioned in New York City to benefit the arts education charity, the Pontifical Scholas Occurrentes Faoundation, through which the pair have raised over $1.5 million.
Outside of his paintings, Domingo designs clothes (including for New York Fashion Week), has written a novel and was a guest speaker at the United Nations to advocate for art education.
Zapata bring his Neo-Expressionist flair to the UK and beyond with his incredible Pandamonium collection. Featuring two limited edition on paper, a selection of original paintings on canvas and a series of hand-embellished works, the contemporary release takes inspiration from the street art and culture of SoHo, Little Italy and Tribeca in New York.
Fusing Chinese traditions with elements of urban style and Domingo’s own Mediterranean heritage, each of the colourful pandas is titled after a Chinese word – including ‘confidence’, ‘precious’ and ‘beautiful life’ – and is hand-signed by Domingo in paint.
Encompassing a wide range of inspirations, from modern street art to Reinaissance painters like Leonardo da Vinci, his paintings touch upon contrasting genres. Jonathan says: "Like the work of our other artists – including James Gill, Paul Kenton and Ronnie Wood – it is both traditional yet contemporary. 'Chi Chi’ has touches of Realism, with its fine grey brushstrokes capturing the texture of the panda’s fur. But the background is pure Expressionism: it’s chaotic and free. Domingo breaks up the traditional to create a style that is truly unique.”
Bold colours, dripping lines and swooping hearts echo Domingo’s belief in the concept of el duende: a heightened physical and emotional response to an artistic performance. Like the flamenco dance, his art expresses movement and passion, as Jonathan explains: "Without that genuine emotion, these artworks would be so different. There are no perfect colour tones; it’s that messiness, rather than a flat and controlled image, that creates such a feeling of pure expression.
Domingo's graffiti-style lettering, symbols and imagery pay homage to the street art of New York, where artists like Cornbread, Dondi White, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Richard Hambleton made their name. Jonathan says: "Being from Bristol – the home of Banksy – I’m a huge fan of street art. It’s the purest form of expression: it’s just you and the wall. This art is created in public, not in solitude; it’s honest and open to judgement. Street art is about getting paint onto the canvas and putting your feelings out there. While Domingo isn’t a street artist, his art has the same intention: it expresses his motto that ‘life is a dream’.”
In January 2020, Domingo collaborated with Pope Francis to celebrate the head of the Catholic Church's 50th year since ordination. Together, the pair have raised over $1.5 million for the Pope's arts education charity, the Pontifical Scholas Occurrentes Foundation. For their latest work, the sovereign of the Vaitican City State added his signature cross and a bird to Domingo's red heart.
Domingo's most ambitious project to date is a 15-story vinyl canvas at One Times Square. The 30,000 sq ft mural took pride of place in one of New York's busiest spots, where an estimated 35,000 people walk by each day. For six days, Domingo painted from suspended state-of-the-art scaffolding, capturing themes and highlights from his spectacular career.
Domingo's art is collected by stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom, and features in the collections of the Missoni family and the investment bank Goldman Sachs. The controversial British artist Damien Hirst attended his 2005 exhibition in Miami, whilst he is also good friends with Diana Widmaier Picasso. He has worked with the former Banksy protégé Mr. Brainwash, written lyrics for Michael Jackson and painted Hollywood actresses including Sofia Vergara, Angelina Jolie and Michelle Rodriguez.
What would happen if Leonardo da Vinci's 'Mona Lisa' was exposed to street art and graffiti? That's exactly what our artist Domingo Zapata explored in his stunning debut collection, La Gioconda. Reimagining the archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance through street art and graffiti aesthetics, New York-based Domingo contrasts the work of an Old Master with contemporary techniques. He layers fantasy with reality, visualising his poetic imagination through layers of text and visual cues, including symbols. Each hand-embellished giclée is a conversation of colours, with Domingo's distinctive style identified by the raw strokes of paint.
Emblazoned with bold colours, dripping lines and swooping hearts, Domingo Zapata captures a panda in his signature Neo-Expressionist style for his brand new release, 'Pandamonium'.
We caught up with one of the UK's best chefs to find out how he's styled our art at his two Michelin-starred restaurant in Cambridge. Discover why art is the perfect side dish for spectacular food.
He's written lyrics for Michael Jackson, painted with Pope Francis and headlined at New York Fashion Week. Here's a glimpse inside the world of Domingo Zapata.
Described by The New York Post as ‘the next Andy Warhol’, Spanish-American artist Domingo Zapata paints Neo-Expressionist works which explore themes of opulence, sexuality and vitality.
Despite artists like Banksy achieving international fame, graffiti is still considered a crime under British law. We investigate the societal impact of the genre .
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