Written in Partnership with Amir Bakian
Hope Zarro is inspiring many through her passion and dedication to her art. Born and raised in Woodstock, New York, to a sculptor mother and painter/new-age author father, Hope’s innate passion for art ran in the family; her grandfather was a legendary classical pianist and professor at the Juilliard school of music, where she learned hair and make-up for character design on Broadway musicals like Cats and Chicago.After high school, the licensed beauty stylist found work in New York City as a TV makeup artist, before moving to Los Angeles in 2000. Zarro racked up a resumé of gigs on star-studded shows, any free time was spent painting, creating and building a collection of art that is vast and experimental.
“Looking at Hope Zarro’s work, it is naturally reminiscent of the works of abstract expressionist masters such as Clyfford Still and Jasper Johns. Zarro’s work takes viewers from two-dimensions to multi-dimensional space-time, soaring endlessly.” -Liu Qiming, New York Research of Contemporary Arts. Luxuriously large and irresistibly eye-catching, her color-rich canvases stun with mixed-media layering, dramatic texture and breathtaking boldness that’s become her trademark. In 2021, Zarro’s contempo-expressionist work was featured in The Los Angeles Art Show and Art Basel Miami Week’s Context exhibit, being showcased across major galleries in Los Angeles as she sold to a steady stream of clients in New York, Miami and the Midwest. A solo exhibit of her collective, “Summoned,” debuted at the ACAA gallery of Beverly Hills from July-September 2022.
From custom collections to turn-and-stare statement pieces, her sweeping, gestural designs each reveal a captivating story all their own. Zarro admits she thinks outside the brush, often using an inventive mix of home-improvement tools to help each speck of paint really pack a punch. And forget inspiration; she’s all about instinct, and impulse. “Whenever I plan to paint something, or think too much about what it should be, it always ends the same way: a confused canvas waiting for me to clarify it. I like to just let the colors go where they want to.” One figure who does inspire her is Colombian artist Santiago Parra, a famed abstract expressionist known for his ability to fuse seemingly incompatible aesthetics with calligraphy-like imagery and sculptural brushstrokes.
Her knack for polished presentation extends to her personal life; in November 2022, South Bay Magazine published a spread on Zarro and her husband, architectural designer Jeff Stimpfig, on their professional partnership transforming outdoor spaces into “living room” sanctuaries, revamped with comfort and decor of inside areas and California-cool vibes. With a growing brand that eclipses the status quo, many things are left to come for Hope Zarro.
See for yourself here:
Website : hopezarroartist.com
Instagram @HopeZarroArt
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