chapter four

GABRIEL FORTOUL

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artists from the subway to broadway

THE FORTOUL WUNDERKINDS

Written by BEVERLY HAMES Photography by ANDREW BOYLE

The vision of Fortoul Presents exists in a world of art, commerce, family, and dreams. Its a collective in the most basic sensea group of artists working together towards a similar goal while maintaining their own distinct voices and identities. I spend a sunny afternoon in Central Park with two of Fortoul Presents artists, Isaac Fortoul and Heather Gargon, along with Isaacs brother and master organizer, Gabriel Fortoul. Also joining us are Isaac and Heathers five-year-old daughter Elle, who spends most of the afternoon playing on the parks giant rocks and jumping happily back and forth over a miniature chasm while her parents look on, beaming.

Family is a word that comes up frequently in our conversation. Gabriel and Isaac Fortoul grew up in Union City, New Jersey, in a highly spiritual and artistically supportive household. The fact that these two serene vision-questers come from the same household is no surprise when they open up briefly about their parents. They grew up in a house full of wooden models, politics, and spiritual exploration. Gabriel explains their father was a very creative man who worked as a political cartoonist in Spain during the Franco regime, studied architecture, made trousers and jackets from leather, and was a skilled woodworker. Their parents were always interested in different philosophies, exploring everything from shamans to vision quests, powwows to ashrams, and Taoism.

Growing up in the household, Isaac reflects that he never had a moment when he didnt have the urge to create. Their home was full of architectural models that were his fathers work, a craft he would imitate. I remember at a very young age building pyramids out of cardboard. Ive been honing my craft for 30 years. By now Ive developed the tools to realize any goals I have. I feel like theres nothing I cant do artistically. Ive always been making things or drawing or painting. It wasnt for years that I thought of it as a career. But how to make art a career? Thats where Gabriel Fortoul steps in. A former Wall Street suit turned artist manager and event planner, he is the supreme organizer of the group. Instead of mercilessly hyping the artists to create a brand, he is interested in articulating a vision. He only talks about money as an opportunity enhancer. Gabriel has been building this visibility for the artists for several years. From his art lounges in Phoenix to the wild success of Februarys group show at the Dash Gallery in New York, it all boils down to the art being seen by a wide audience. The Dash Gallery show was not only the inaugural show for the gallery, but a jumpingoff point for Fortoul Presents. Gabriel speaks very positively of his experience with the gallery. He was given free rein and exercised a single goal: to make an impact in the art world. The show was a success, getting them a lot of attention from benefactors. Until now everything has been funded by us. Now more resources allow us to go into solo shows and provide a greater representation of what we actually do. To Gabriel, success is defined in terms of visibility, not necessarily profitability. The need to communicate with an audience is paramount.

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chapter four

BOBBY CASTAEDA

the ddd : fall 2010

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artists from the subway to broadway

HEATHER GARGON

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fall 2010 : the ddd

chapter one four

ISAAC FORTOUL

the ddd : fall 2010

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artists from the subway to broadway

As he watches Elle scramble over the rocks, Gabriel muses, Its the same as the beauty of a child running around on a boulder pretending it is a mountain. As a youth, the mind is endless, everything is fresh and new and exciting. The purpose is to transport patrons to a different place where everything is new to them and inspiring. Isaac nods, continuing, The key to my artwork is to show positivity.. Its one thing to complain and to show what is bad. You show what is better and how you can change things; otherwise you are just reiterating whats wrong and creating negativity. Isaac uses references ranging from Greek mythology to the Bible to find similarities with spiritual meanings and symbols today. He draws with pen and ink and then paints over his images with watercolor. His work is ripe with images of nurturing, defiance, pride, and grace. He is keen to mention that there are angels, saints and heroes among us every day, and I try to catch them in my artwork. Not wed to any particular denomination, Isaac casts a wide net of respect: All religions essentially preach the same values. There are many ways to say be a good neighbor. Heather joins in, If you could take fate and turn it into a religion, Id say everything is based on fate. Everything falls into place like a puzzle. Heathers use of religious metaphor extends well beyond fate, something that is clear upon examination of one of her more richly symbolic series, The Evolution of Mary Magdafin. I thought of relating myself to Mary Magdalene. The evolution of human beings is the evolution of society. The series of drawings depicts the detailed change of a woman: She comes from the water as a fish and becomes human slowly. As she loses her innocence as a fish, she becomes a human being. This theme of the human evolving from the animal and back again is highly present in much of her work. A lot of the animal figures she builds and draws have human hands. She is searching for an answer to the question of, Where do we become innocent again? Some of the main themes weaving throughout the perspective of Gabriel and the artists are fate, positivity, and a return to the innocence of childhood. As Gabriel puts it, You see things as you grow up. Some you understand, some you dont, but as you grow older it all fits together, positively. Heathers work is the most subtle in its symbolism. As she puts it, The metaphor doesnt knock you out. Sometimes I find the intenseness doesnt allow artwork to speak for itself. There is one missing link in our meeting in the park: the third artist of the group, Bobby Castaneda, is at home in Phoenix working on murals and a solo show. While Isaac Fortoul and Heather Gargon are engaged in their slow dance of seductive spiritual symbolism, Bobby Castenda

is on the other side of the room shouting his message from a bullhorn. An atmosphere of outright emergency lurks in every corner of his work. He exhibits a frenetic passion for his beliefs, talking at a fast pace, rapid-fire ideas tumbling out of his mouth. And before the listener can wrap their ears and minds around the ideas put forth, hes already onto the next thing. He paints with the same urgency, describing his current work as trying to place the viewer in the position of someone sitting in the middle of a whirlwind with its giant interchangeable 8 X 4 canvases. Bobbys work may appear to shout out loud; its his tactic for being noticed. Youve got to put

As a youth, the mind is endless, everything is fresh and new and exciting. The purpose is to transport patrons to a different place where everything is new to them and inspiring.

something so bright and big in front of them they cant help but stop and start reading, looking, absorbing. His paintings are an articulation of his stream of consciousness, something that is hard to keep up with over the phone. Its laid out more clearly in his work. Im the one who doesnt make the most amount of sense. Im scattered everywhere, but when I paint its there. Bobbys life is very involved with the others. According to him, When you find a group of hyper-creative individuals who think in the same way, you are pretty much unstoppable unless you fall victim to laziness. His riffs on positive thinking are similar to the Fortoul brothers. While Isaac maintains, Art should be something you enjoy, something you want to wake up and look at every day, Bobbys viewpoint expands on this: You have to find peace in the struggle. Be in the moment and be happy. I stopped looking at problems because they are everywhere. Instead I looked to the solution, which is to be happy. In a world that is so often mired in negativity, the refusal to participate in the cycle of cynicism by these artists is refreshing, and hopefully contagious. Shot on location at DD172 Gallery 172 Duane St, New York City Monday - Friday 1pm to 6pm. www.fortoulpresents.com

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