He's Got Bette Davis Eyes

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA: The hills above Sunset Boulevard are filled with ghosts of Hollywood's past. If these walls could talk, a particular one block area in the Hollywood Hills would have more to say than most. A hideaway home once owned by the dramatic Oscar-winning actress Bette Davis sits here with its rich history on this hillside street above Tower Records. Across the street was the site of the original Spago restaurant. Swifty Lazar's legendary post-Oscar parties were held here. It was also here that Madonna showed up post-Oscars dressed ala Marilyn Monroe and hand-in-hand with Michael Jackson. The Hollywood elite of Davis' golden era and the more recent famous Spago crowd partied, socialized and lived out their private lives…and scandals….here.

The cottage behind the hideaway home Davis once owned has even more stories to tell. Screen legend Humphrey Bogart stayed here in this small bungalow at the invitation of Miss Davis….he once lived just down the street and was between wives and volatile divorces. Greta Garbo also passed through these doors a time or two. Alexander Gudonov lived in the tower across the street, as did actor Mark Wahlberg during his Marky Mark days.

With its colorful past, there is a new generation living in this historical one block area…and making a splash on the world of their own through their work. Artist Steve McElroy works out of an unusual loft overlooking the Davis property and immediately under the same loft where singer/actress Bette Midler started her Hollywood career. Step through his studio doors today and experience Museum of Modern Art meets Alice in Wonderland meets Hollywood & Vine. A giant oil painting of an abstract peacock is under construction at right, an elegant woman playing the mandolin hangs in a burst of color at left. Marilyn Monroe and James Dean are prominent subjects. Barbie and Spider-Man are their whimsical artistic neighbors on these walls. This unusual space serves as both studio and clearing house for the museums, galleries, interior designers and collectors who come here to acquire his latest output.
(McElroy Studio: McElroyFineArt@aol.com)

As he works, McElroy meanders in and out of the Davis property daily as his friend Ghislaine Sanon prepares her new show, coincidentally entitled Second Chances (MagicWingsProds@aol.com), out of the former Bogart bungalow. Her show will profile individuals who have reinvented themselves later in life or have otherwise been given a second chance at new beginnings…much like the bungalow in which she is reinventing herself. Sanon is currently in negotiations with the networks for her show's television debut.

Because of his flair for creating unusual images, McElroy is joining forces with art juggernaut ArtMerchandising & Media AG. ArtMerchandising & Media AG, the largest of its kind in the world, is the Germany-based firm which has worked with the estates of van Gogh, Warhol, Picasso, Dali, Rembrandt, Degas and other major artists. Coincidentally, ArtMerchandising & Media AG has also worked with the estates of both Humphrey Bogart and Marlene Dietrich. Once again history is repeating itself here as McElroy now creates unusual protraits of some of the very same Hollywood icons who passed through this one block area.

After the global release by Mattel of his Barbie interpretations alongside the Barbie by Andy Warhol, McElroy is now set to release his The World of McElroy and other images through ArtMerchandising & Media AG. Greeting cards and other fine secondary products with his art will soon appear worldwide as well. McElroy's selection to join the ArtMerchandising roster puts him in legendary artistic company with the likes of Warhol, Picasso, Monet and other artists associated with ArtMerchandising & Media AG. His face is unknown, his work is again about to be everywhere. The World of McElroy series is a diverse mix of imagery in his own unique style. McElroy's are paintings which jump off the wall with multiple surprises. The irises of his subjects depicted as planet earth are no accident…these images represent the world through McElroy's eyes.

Although McElroy often paints the faces of collectors and celebrities, his own face is unknown. This is a man who is more inclined to let his paintings do the talking. But these paintings speak volumes and must be seen to be believed. Already numbering over 500 around the world, the collectors who bought his work early on are about to become very happy indeed. Some of his early originals were purchased at bargain prices during McElroy's early years. But now these collectors may soon discover they've won their own kind of lottery.

From meager beginnings McElroy has since done work for Mercedes-Benz, Absolut Vodka, McDonald's and the television show Mad About You. As Madonna is said to have rummaged in dumpsters before making it big, the dumpster is precisely where some early originals were discarded by McElroy before being rummaged by as-yet unknown lucky recipients. Fast-forward to present and Madonna and Carlos Leon's daughter owns McElroy's original "The Ballerina and the Bear' and his Barbie work. But by now this is no surprise, as in this one block area above Sunset history must always repeat itself.

For more information:
ASGMGroup@aol.com
310-717-9502 or 310-659-2673

To contact artist Steve McElroy: McElroyFineArt@aol.com