Napa Valley Series: A Series of Lyrical Abstracts By Sean Starr At Rocca Family Vineyards

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
For more information contact: Sean Starr at sean@seanstarr.com
Or Mary Fran Rocca at 707-257-8467
www.roccawines.com
JPEGS and interviews available


OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY JUNE 4, 2006
Meet the noted abstract artist, Sean Starr, and enjoy some fine-crafted wines from Rocca Family Vineyards!

Rocca Family Vineyards
Rocca Wine Salon
1130 Main Street,
Napa, CA 94559

Sunday June 4, 2006
11:00 a.m. to 3:00 pm

Rocca Family Vineyards is pleased to announce an Open House for artist Sean Starr on Sunday June 4, 2006, starting at 11:00 a.m., as part of Starr’s Napa Valley Series. The public is invited to share this wonderful experience ~ the pairing of art by Sean Starr and fine wines at the Rocca Family Vineyard’s wine salon.

The Napa Series was put together at the beginning of 2006 after Sean Starr decided to relocate his studio to San Francisco. Having a passion for Napa, and a desire to learn more about wine, Starr found that a series of works celebrating Napa would the perfect marriage of wine, beauty, and art. By walking the grounds of each of the wineries and vineyards in the series, Starr was able to translate his personal vision of painting these vineyards into an unprecedented literal version of abstraction. Sean prefers to work in series with his paintings, and is currently arranging his next series in MidCoast Maine, with a series planned for Scotland as well.

A book on the Napa Valley Series will be published soon and the title is “Sean Starr, The Napa Valley Series” It will be a full color coffee table style book with a chapter designated for each vineyard. Award Winning Photographer Ryan Notch is shooting all of the photography. Please contact Sean Starr at sean@seanstarr.com for exact publication date this summer.

Sean’s philosophy:
“I believe it to be the responsibility of the visual artist to communicate the beautiful things of life. Some artists work to shock, upset, or promote political or social change. I think those issues are better left to other art forms like film, literature and music. I think the real challenge for the painter, is to reach deep inside and expose the beautiful things. The terror of doing so is offset by the reward of liberation. There is no shortage of pain, despair, and angst in the world. Those things take very little effort to influence an artist, because they are issues every person on earth has had to contend with. To set that all aside and use your medium to share something of substance is the beginning of truly great art. Morrissey, the great lyricist and poet said it far better than I can articulate: “It’s so easy to laugh …It's so easy to hate It takes strength to be gentle and kind” I believe we are on the verge of a wonderful revolution of substance. We cannot continue as we are. ”


More about Sean Starr, Artist, Lyrical Abstractionist
Sean Starr: b. La Mesa, California April 28, 1968


"Lyrical and emotionally evocative, Sean Starr’s intensely realized paintings capture the viewer’s interest at first sight. Starr’s fluid, spontaneous style is reminiscent of Jackson Pollock’s action painting, while his imaginative color choice and thick pigments recall the work of Chagall. Starr has created his own version of Abstract Expression, one that incorporates the immediacy of inspiration. His complex rendering of light and shadow adds a meditative dimension to his vivid color choices; the viewer sees a comprehensive wholeness to his canvases. His compositions recall the movement of a wild dance, in which the viewer is as free to participate as the artist himself. Starr has displayed his work in galleries in Texas and has paintings in private collections across the United States and Europe. He currently lives in San Francisco, California." Agora Gallery, New York
www.seanstarr.com

About Rocca Family Vineyards:
Based in the fertile Napa Valley, Rocca Family Vineyards estate-grown, handcrafted wines have already received critical acclaim and were featured in The Wine Spectator after their very first release of the Rocca Syrah. Nestled next to the esteemed Stags Leap District, an appellation prized for its history of producing world-class Cabernet Sauvignon, the vineyard lies at the Southeastern corner of the Yountville appellation. www.roccawines.com
####