Sal Monetti is a New York City based artist who was born in 1952 in Newburgh, New York to a musical/artistic family. Preferring the joys and disciplines of the visual arts to music and writing (which he explored in his adolescence), he began creating art as a small child, concentrating on paintings, drawings and mixed media pieces. The works were always of an original nature, concerning themselves with issues of portraiture, humanity, self expression, and self examination.

He formally began his career in 1975 at the Albright-Knox Gallery in Buffalo, New York, exhibiting abstract paintings which were also shown in New York City upon his move there later that year. In 1985 he began painting portraits exclusively, an ongoing series that continues to today. In 1989 his art about a close friend who passed away from AIDS was featured with works by AndyWarhol,Robert Mapplethorpe, Keith Haring, and David Hockney in the first AIDS art auction held for ACT UP. At this time he also did original theater graphics for productions at The John Houseman Studio, The Dramatist Guild, The T. Schreiber Studio, and One Dream Theatre, among others.

Mr. Monetti rarely strays from New York City and his art reflects this, being about the people and places he encounters there. Most notable is his art about the late Quentin Crisp, whichchronicles the last four years of Mr. Crisp’s life. Three of these portraits have been accepted into the permanent collection of The New York Historical Society to represent Mr. Crisp and his years in New York City. Reproductions of the entire series are in the Library of The National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. and The Museum of the City of New York. Mr. Monetti has also just completed writing a book about his art and times with Mr. Crisp and is currently working with The Curtis Brown Ltd. literary agency to get the book published. The New York Historical Society has also included, in their 9/11 holdings, a copy of a limited edition booklet Mr. Monetti self published showing a series of drawings he did of The World Trade Center site live at Ground Zero (November 3 - December 28, 2001). The drawings are accompanied by a poem he wrote about what he saw, heard, and felt while there.Other portraits include those of Manhattan Cable Television superstar Robin Byrd, choreographer/dancer/founder of SENSEDANCE Henning Rubsam, adult film stars Donnie Russo and Will Clark, writer Perry Brass, and pioneer Manhattan Cable Television producer Lou Maletta. All of the portraits deliberately portray the individual in their day to day or “natural” world and include an ongoing series (started in the early 1970’s) of self-portraits. Other works include an altarpiece series that examines the fascinations, rituals, and desires of modern day sexuality along with numerous paintings and drawings of his favorite models which address topics ranging from the tenderness and loving relationship of a man and his pet lizard to betrayal at the end of a love affair to the frustrations and feelings of growing older and losing one’s sight. In 1976, Mr. Monetti won an award from The Scarsdale Art Society for a mixed media piece he did of The Statue of Liberty. More recently, a photographic essay about Wall Street was included in an exhibition addressing the theme of corporate misdeeds and greed plus a series of drawings of the dancers in the company, SENSEDANCE, depicting them in rehearsal was shown opening night of their new season. Nearing completion is a series of paintings of the now demolished Union Square Theatre. Also, a long term project of painting quick portraits of friends, foes, and family was begun in July of 2003. They are called 12 x 12’s because each portrait is done in oil and pencil, exactly life sized, on a 12” x 12” piece of paper. Mr. Monetti has also been included in a German documentary film that profiles six specific people whose common bond is that they each have a destiny in. The documentary is being made by Simone Weist and Gundula Friese in Berlin. Cinematography is by award winning Matthias Fleischer. Edition is to begin in December 2005.

Mr. Monetti has had New York City exhibitions at 24 Hours For Life Gallery, A Different Light Bookstore, Art @ Large, Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, Creative Visions Bookstore, The Emerging Collector, Fire Patrol No. 5 Art (Harlem), Get Real Art, Joyce SoHo, La Mamma La Galleria, Leslie-Lohman Gay Art Foundation, MBM Gallery, Marcoleo Ltd., Sacred Body Art Gallery, Simon Watson Gallery, Vince Gabrielly, Inc., and Vincent Louis Galleries. Recent publications include A&U Magazine (Radical Redefinitions, an interview by Lester Strong, July 1998) and Blueboy Magazine (Sal Monetti’s Altar Boys, April 1998). Mr. Monetti has appeared on 60 Minutes (the Nine Network in Australia) and MTV Taiwan in features about his work with Quentin Crisp. He was also featured on a number of Manhattan Cable Television shows including It’s A Wonderful Life, Gay USA, Static, The Malignant Muse and Volcanic Video.