Don Florence
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Born: 1949

Hometown: Pasadena, CA

Lives and Works: Cross River, NY

Education: The California Institute of the Arts, Valencia, CA, 1966

Don Florence Bio

About The Artist

Through painting, drawing, and collage, the artist Don Florence creates Pop Art-style portraits of cultural figures who are famous for their eccentric reputations—such as including J.D. Salinger, Karl Lagerfeld, and Isabella Blow—and dramatically renders them in bright, gaudy colors. Florence is also obsessed with the obituaries in the New York Times, and in his Good-Bye series he plasters the figures of such noted dead celebrities as Alexander McQueen with their own obits as they wave with "good-bye" written in the background.

In another series, 100 Homos, the Florence depicts celebrated gay figures like Tallulah Bankhead, Tennessee Williams, and Andy Warhol. The artist has had solo exhibitions at Boltax Gallery, Phantom Gallery, and the Long Island Arts Council. He is represented by Boltax Gallery in Shelter Island, NY.