"Salamon uses the rendition of his subjects as a	celebration of color and form and
creates a three-way dialogue between subject,	artist, and the painting process."
	-Tyler Stallings
	Curator of Exhibitions
	Laguna Art Museum

I was born in 1963 in Los Angeles, California, and was lucky to grow up in a creative household. When I was 4, my father did a portrait of me and my two brothers in oils, and I remember loving the way the paint smelled and watching the painting progress. My mother sang, played piano, and wrote a little, always working on a book that never seemed to be finished. My older brother Joseph became an accomplished artist, and my younger brother Mark is a gifted theater actor and director. My first creative passion was music. I learned to play drums at 13, and performed in night clubs at 16 (often lying about my age to book shows where alcohol was served) at the Cuckoos Nest in Costa Mesa, and the legendary Golden Bear in Huntington Beach. When I was 18, my band called Idol Lovell released an album, and I did charcoal portraits of the band for the jacket cover. My fellow band mates told me I had a talent for portraiture. Over time, I joined dozens of different bands, first as a drummer, then as a lead singer and guitarist. We played anywhere and everywhere: churches, bars, school campuses, and backyard parties, to classic downtown Los Angeles joints like Club Lingerie, Madame Wongs, and the Music Machine. At that time I was working for my father’s art framing business, Salamon Art. Impressed with the album cover I did, my father sought out talented artists and offered to trade framing costs for private art lessons for me. He included in his deal a clause where I could ask how they executed any part of their work (including so-called secrets). My father also offered to pay to print lithographs of my charcoal drawings of rock stars like Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie in exchange for all the prints he could sell in the two galleries he now owned. So we started a business, and after just a few years I had about 100 subjects published; I opened my own gallery to sell them. My subjects were diverse: from Malcolm X, to James Dean, to Led Zeppelin. Soon I was selling my prints and originals locally in Southern California, and eventually nationwide, to major retailers like Virgin Megastore and Tower records. In 1993, I was 30 years old, and my fascination with celebrity faded. I began a several-year search for a new direction for my work. I finished my college degree, traveled to Europe and abroad, and studied art in every great museum I could. By my mid-thirties my journey led back to portraiture, but now I was painting in oil. Influenced by the styles of Lucian Freud and Alice Neal, I focused on portraits of fellow artists, family members, and friends. In 2003 the Orange County Tastemakers book was published to document my solo portrait show at Square Blue gallery in Newport Beach. The show nearly sold out, and many paintings were purchased for major collections, including The Orange County Museum of Art, The Laguna Art Museum, and Chapman University. In my early 40's I began a series of landscapes (which were included in several group and solo shows) that celebrated color and form. I found it necessary to express something spiritual after spending all my time intensely focused on the human psychology in my portrait subjects. Now, in my late 40's, I continue to paint oil portraits and landscapes of people and places in my life, however I have a new obsession. For years I had been working on a new technique to paint light and shadow patterns in oil. I wanted a way to touch the painting as few times as possible and keep my colors pure. I experimented with pallette knives and under-painting techniques, but I was having trouble making it all work with the complexity of my figurative compositions. Then one day I saw an old toy car that one of my daughters had left in my studio, and I painted that using these new ideas. After painting a few more vintage objects in this manner, it became clear that I was not painting “still life’s” but portraits of objects. These old objects had stories to tell and they got more interesting with age. Combining this new painting process and presenting the work in a contemporary context created a juxtaposition that elicits in me a multitude of reactions, remembrances, and emotions. I have been a full-time artist for almost 30 years, and feel lucky that I get to pursue my passion everyday. I still live in Southern California; I’m happily married to my incredible wife, Katherine, and I have three wonderful daughters: Monet, Lauren, and Sarah.

2006 Gail Roff International Fine Art, San Clemente, CA

2006 Voshan Gallery, Palo Alto, CA

2006 Marc Whitney Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA

2006 Santa Barbara Natural History Museum, Santa Barbara, CA

2006 Festival of Arts/Pageant of the Master’s "A Passion for Art", Laguna Beach, CA

2006 Conejo Valley Art Museum, Thousand Oaks, CA (2nd Place Award)

2006 South Coast Gallery "Spring Group Show", Newport Beach, CA

2006 Bradford Studio/Gallery "Tin Can Metaphor II", Newport Beach, CA

2005 Orange County Museum of Art "Little Squares Project", Newport Beach, CA

2005 Laguna Art Museum "All California!" Juried and Invitational Auction & Exhibition (Invited Artist), Laguna Beach, CA

2005 Festival of Arts/Pageant of the Master’s “On the Road”, Laguna Beach, CA

2005 Orange County Museum of Art, “Art & Architecture Tour”, Newport Beach, CA

2005 Laguna Art Museum “Art for AIDS IV”, Monarch Bay, CA

2004 Laguna Art Museum 22nd Annual Art Auction, Laguna Beach, CA

2004 Millard Sheets Gallery, “Love:Whimsy &Wonder”, Pomona, CA

2004 Orange County Museum of Art, “Art & Architecture Tour”, Newport Beach, CA

2004 Showcase Gallery, “Collaboration”, Santa Ana, CA

2003 Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, “Beefcake/Cheesecake II”, Santa Ana, CA

2003 Laguna Art Museum, “Auction: 21 The Art Pack” Laguna Beach, CA

2002 Orange County Museum of Art, “Benefit Art Auction 2002" Newport Beach, CA

2002 Laguna Art Museum,“XX Marks the Spot” Laguna Beach, CA

2002 Square Blue Gallery, “Self Portrait’s”, Newport Beach, CA

2002 Square Blue Gallery, “Painter’s Painter's", Newport Beach, CA

2001 Square Blue Gallery, “Figuratively Speaking”, Newport Beach, CA

2001 Bradford Gallery, “Perspectives on Landscape”, Newport Beach, CA

2000 Millard Sheets Gallery, “Art 2000: Applauding Revolutionary Talent”, Pomona,CA

2000 Bradford Gallery, “Five Perspectives”, Newport Beach, CA

1999-2000 Huntington Beach Art Center, “Centered on the Center”, Huntington Beach, CA

1996-1999 Jacob Javitz Convention Center, “Artexpo New York", New York, NY

1996-1998 Los Angeles Convention Center, “Artexpo LA”, LosAngeles, CA

1998 Newport Beach City Hall, City of Newport Beach Juried Exhibition, (Second Place Award), Newport Beach, CA

1996-1999 Waldorf Astoria, The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences :Grammy’s “Person of theYear” (MusiCares), New York, NY

1996-1999 Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (MusiCares) Directors Guild The National “Real Radio 97.1 Celebrity Art Auction”, Los Angeles, CA

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Laguna Art Museum
Orange County Museum of Art
Chapman University
National Museum of Catholic Art & History
The Abraham Lincoln Museum
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Gerald Buck
Darrel and Marsha Anderson
Peter Blake
Brown and White Law Offices
Tom and Lisa Dowling
Jim Doti
Don Bachardy
Tyler Stallings
Todd Miller
Geoffrey R. Le Plastrier
Phyllis Lutjeans
Michael H. Harrah
Eric Sanders
Joseph R. Stack
Jamie Wilson
Gary Cambio
Transamerica Occidental Life

EDUCATION

2009-10 Jeremy Lipking
2005 David A. Leffel
2002 J. Paul Getty Museum
2001 Ken Auster
1998 Art Institute of Southern California
1997 AA, Fine Art, Orange Coast College
1985-88 William Gilpin

TEACHING

San Clemente Art Association, lecture and demonstration, March 2010
Coastline Community College, lecture, October 2009
Southcoast Art Gallery, demonstration, August 2009
Laguna College of Art and Design, 2008
Concordia University, lecture and demonstration, November 2008
Orange County Museum of Art, demonstration, July 2008
Santa Ana College, Art Forum Speaker Series, March 31, 2008
Art Loft 205, lecture and demonstration, 2007
Orange Coast College “Painting Fundamentals” Workshop, Spring 2006
Orange Coast College “Painting Fundamentals”Class, Summer 2006

PUBLICATIONS

Richard Chang, "Artists Pay Tribute to Norman Rockwell in Fullerton", Orange County Register, 08/05/2011

Roberta Carasso, "2010:The art year in review", Orange County Register, 12/27/2010

Liz Goldner, ArtScene, 05/2010

Roberta Carasso,"The Body and Soul of Art", Coast Magazine, 05/2010

Roberta Carasso, "For Salamon 'every picture tells a story'", Laguna News Post 05/03/2010

"From Class to Canvas", Coast Report, 04/27/2010

"Art News", San Clemente Times, 03/11-17/2010

"It's Laguna; Art Happens", Laguna Beach Independent, 03/26/2010

Roberta Carasso, "My Father's Party is Busted!", Coast Magazine 01/2009

"My Father's Party is Busted!", ArtScene 01/2009

"Untitled Love Project", ISM: a community project 12/2008

Roberta Carasso,“Salamon paints ‘talking’ portraits”, Laguna News Post, 02/07/2008

“Visual art Top 5 events” Orange County Register, 2/01/2008

Roberta Carasso,“Friendship Animates CAP Exhibit”, Laguna Beach Independent, 11/23/2007

Roberta Carasso,"Salamon exhibits 'Dialog with a Mentor'", Laguna News Post, 11/08/2007

"Art Expo Las Vegas Preview", Art Business News, 08/2007

"Project Little Squares", .ISM : A Community Project, July 2007

Roberta Carasso, "2005 was an artful year", Laguna News Post 12/29/05

Roberta Carasso, "Salamon exhibits at Festival of Arts", Laguna News Post 07/07/05

Liz Goldner, “Portrait of a Portrait Arist”, OC Metro 2/19/04

Rebecca Schoenkopf, “The Most Horrible Man in theWorld”, Commie Girl, OC Weekly 11/2003

Rebecca Schoenkopf, Best of 2003 “Best Politics, Art, & Outdoor Sport”, OC Weekly 10/2003

Rebecca Schoenkopf, “Sex Sells-Happy horny artwork”, OC Weekly, 9/2003

Deanna George, “A Closer Look At Seven Creative Forces in O.C.”, Orange Coast, 9/2003

Daniella Walsh, Art Scene, 6/2003

Irene Hoffman (Curator of Contemporary Art at Orange County Museum of Art) , Orange County Tastemakers, 5/2003

Tyler Stallings(Curator of Exhibitions at Laguna Art Museum), “On Receiving A Summons To Be Painted”, Orange County Tastemakers, 5/2003

Rebecca Schoenkopf, “Portrait of the Art Critics-Bradford Makes ‘Em Tastier”, OC Weekly, 5/2003

Richard Chang, “Portraits of O.C. Artistry”, Orange County Register, 5/2003

Daniella Walsh, Riviera Magazine, 5/2003

Roberta Carasso, .ISM Magazine, Spring 2003

Liz Goldner, “Changing Art”, OC Metro, 01/9/03

Daniella Walsh, “From Passion to Commerce”, OC Register, 8/2002

Roberta Carasso, Artwaves, Laguna News-Post, 5/2002

Lauri Mendenhall, Art Access, Coast Magazine, 5/2002

Rebecca Schoenkopf, “Brilliantly Insane”, OC Weekly 3/2002

Rebecca Schoenkopf, Commie Girl, OC Weekly 2/2002

Young Chang, “Not for the Meek of Art”, Daily Pilot, 9/2001

Rebecca Schoenkopf, “We can be Heros”, OC Weekly,1/1999

Rebecca Schoenkopf, “Shiny Happy Artsies”, OC Weekly, 12/1998

Jeiran Lashai, “The Beat goes on”, Daily Pilot,12/1998

Sharon Zerrinnegar, Editor, “Artist finds Inspiration” The Arts, Coast Report 6/1998

Art Trends Magazine, 2/1998

“Musician, Artist Cares”, Art Business News 6/1998

Rebecca Schoenkopf, “Too Much Success/ Bradford Wants to Grow Up”, OC Weekly 11/1997

Alessandra Djurklou, “Picture This”, Daily Pilot, (Cover) 4/1997

Art Expo, “New York Pays Tribute to Love, Art and Commerce”, Art Business News, 3/1997

Gallery Showcase, Artexpo Preview Magazine, 10/1996

“Star Gazing”, Décor Magazine, 5/1997

Art Business News, 3/1997

“Eyecatching Canvas”, Newport News, 3/1997

David R. Swanson, Photograph, Special Tribute on Jerry Garcia Last Rites, People Magazine 9/1995

Wild World Photo, Jerry Garcia Magazine 9/1995

Gavin Edwards, “Technical Knockout”, Details Magazine 10/1994

Art and Coffee, “Former OCC Student Hits Big”, OCC Coast Report 4/1994

“Artist of the 90's Bradford captures the Stars in Charcoal”, Student Magazine 8/1994

Rebecca Shea, “‘Faire’ Weather adds to Art Scene”, Daily Trojan 4/1989

“A Day at the Bazaar, Et Cetera”, New University 4/1989

Melinda Keller, “Salamon Shows at Art-a-fair”, The Costa Mesa News 6/1988

Peter Baker, “Jet Fighters and Holstein Cows”, View, Los Angeles Times 7/1986

INTERVIEWS

“What Inspires the Artist in You?”, Beverly Hills Flat, www.losangelesrealestate.com, 05/24/2010
Laguna Woods, Channel TV-6, 2008
Laguna Woods, Channel TV-6, 2006
“La Jolla Festival of the Arts”, San Diego , CA Channel 9, 2006
“Calabasas Art Festival”, Calabasas Channel 20, 2006
“Affaire in the Gardens”, Beverly Hills Channel 43, 2005
“Real Radio”, 97.1 Radio Los Angeles, Radio Interview, 1997
“E!” Channel, Nationwide, 1997
“City View”, ABC, Los Angeles, Interview, 1995
“From Around LA”, Los Angeles, Cable Television Interview, 1992

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