Meet Andrew Palermo | Purveyor of Paintings and Performing Arts

We had the good fortune of connecting with Andrew Palermo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Andrew, can you share a quote or affirmation with us?
‘They do what they want’-Gerhard Richter

In the documentary, ‘Gerhard Richter Painting’, Richter, in response to the filmmaker’s question about his frustration while working on a piece says, ‘They do what they want’. Richter planned for the piece to be bright and fun, and it wasn’t going that way. After struggling against it for a time, Richter revealed his relationship to his work, essentially stating that you can’t force a piece to be something it’s not. The art makes itself. We artists are just the conduit.

Richter’s pithy statement changed the way I create art in massive and minuscule ways. The first 46 years of my life were dedicated to the performing arts. Dance classes at 5, high school of the arts, a BFA in Musical Theatre, a decade as a Broadway performer, artistic direction of an NYC-based contemporary dance company, direction and/or choreography on Broadway, Off-Broadway, around the country and the world, a professorship at UC Irvine. All of that work was done with focus, determination, ambition, blood, sweat and tears. This way of interfacing with my career worked for me for a long time. Until it didn’t. I burned out. I fell into depression. I got divorced.

When I started doodling on my Ipad as a form of therapy, I found that not only did I enjoy it, but I might have a bit of acumen for it. From that point 7 years ago until now, Richter’s off-handed comment has steered me in the way I create paintings, and art in general. I’m an intuitive painter, largely because I have no training. I try. I fail. I try again. I fail again. I try again. I stumble onto something that feels…right. If I remember that ‘they do what they want’, my only job is to get out of the way, help the painting find it’s POV and keep moving.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As I mentioned before, the arts have basically been my life. I honestly sometimes resent that fact. I’ve been blessed beyond belief to have lived an entire life within the art fields, made a living doing it and passed it on to the next generation. But even with all the good fortune I’ve enjoyed, living as an artist is no joke! We put ourselves on the line, literally, not figuratively, with every step danced, every brush stroke, every note sung, every word written. We bare our souls for the world to see, feel and hear, but also to judge, critique and accept or deny us.

I think most artists feel like they don’t really have a choice. It sounds cheesy, but many of us feel like our art chose us.

I forget sometimes that ‘expression’ is my first language. Dance, painting, theatre, all of that work is an emanation of ME. This artist life, it’s not for the faint of heart. The rejection. The ruts. The highs and lows. The bit of madness that is the other side of many creatives’ psyche. Having the guts to wring yourself out for the world to see, along with the added pressure of making a living doing it, is kinda nuts! But we do it anyway.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
-LA has an incredible art scene. I’m so blessed to live in an area that is so artcentric. So checking out some museums and galleries would be a great first step.

-The same is true for food. SoCal dining is some of the best in the world. Whatever my friend would be in the mood for, we’d find it, and not too far away.

-Is it a nice day? We go to the beach, or at least a beachy area with a boardwalk.
Is it ‘winter’? We go to Big Bear or Lake Arrowhead or any of SoCal’s awesome mountainy spots.

-At night, we get a world class dinner, cause we can, cause we’re in LA. Then we go to a performance. Maybe the LA Phil with Dudamel conducting. Maybe the Segerstrom Center in the OC to watch an international dance company. Maybe a comedy club.

We Southern Californians (I’m an adopted one at least ;), are just so damn lucky. It’s impossible to narrow down what a perfect day with a guest would be. We’d need a month to live all those perfect days.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
This may be cliche, but my mother! She was my number one fan and supporter. We didn’t have much. She and my dad both worked and we really didn’t have any extra in our monthly budget. Despite that, she drove me to every rehearsal, practice, game, performance, event, etc. She came to every show, no matter if it was in our basement or across the country. My mom never told me I couldn’t do something I wanted to do. She was strict as hell and a hardcore boy-mom (I’m the youngest of 4 boys), so she was no pushover. That’s what made her support even more amazing. For as tough as she could be, there would absolutely be no way I would’ve had the career I have without her there with me, every step of the way.

Website: https://www.andrewpalermo.com

Instagram: andrew_palermo__

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-palermo-a4a3b86

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