Sofia
Interior

sofias-art

Artist: David Gamble

David Gamble was born in 1953 in London. He is a multidisciplinary artist, now based in New Orleans. His body of work consists of paintings, works on paper, and photographs, all of which have been exhibited globally.

Throughout the 1980s and '90s, Gamble worked as one of the foremost international editorial photographers for publications such as The Observer, the Independent, LIFE, Fortune, the New Yorker, Town & Country, Newsweek, Paris Match, Sunday Times, and more.

Over his decades-long career spanning the commercial, journalistic, and fine art realms, Gamble has photographed such illustrious figures as Prof. Stephen Hawking and the Dalai Lama with several of his portraits included in the permanent collections of the National Portrait Gallery in London and the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.

In 2000 Gamble published the book Perfidious Man, Viking Penguin. A series of 70 B/W photographs on the condition of late 20th Man. Essay by the writer Will Self.

In 1987, Gamble won the Kodak Award for Best Photographer in Europe as well as a World Press Photo Award in 1988 for his portrait of Stephen Hawking, which was used as the notable cover of Hawking's "A Brief History of Time." In 1989 he was given The American Photography Award. In 1987, Fred Hughes, Andy Warhol's manager, a big admirer of Gambles work asked if he would photograph Warhol's house in NYC just after he passed away in 1987. Photographs, such as Warhol's Medicine Cabinet are now collected by Museums and shown in museums such as the Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. Gamble has been exhibiting work through galleries in Chicago, New York, and Europe. In 2018 he was commissioned to become an artist in residence at Venue and Restaurant, in Aspen, and also creating unique works for Sophia in New Orleans.

Gamble is currently expanding his painting series, Silence, which aims at shining light at victims of abuse and neglect.

Gamble and jazz musician Jonathan Freilich completed Avant-Garde film "Esplanade" early 2019. It was accepted into the New Orleans Film Festival 2019. Also to be shown at the Museum of Modern Art in New Orleans. B/W 16mm film and completely edited inside the camera, Freilich composed the music and sound as an improvisational collaboration between Sound and Images, 38 minutes. A new film collaboration to be completed in 2020 is a short Operetta, based on James Joyce's Letters to Nora. It will be shown in 2020.

Sophia Painting

This portrait of Sophia Loren. Is at the height of her beauty. Her face has become an icon of 20th Century. Representing strong beautiful womanhood. The abstract lines in silver and enamel black paint. It could be a representation of her Italian food, but the lines are more an abstraction of a complicated character. She was always a star, choosing brave roles and subject matter that represented the struggles against woman in the role of society. She portrayed not only comedy and sensuality, but also tragic and strong independent women. She is an is an icon equal to the greats of Warhol's Marilyn and Elizabeth. This painting was commissioned by Billy Blatty, for Sofia restaurant, New Orleans. 50 in x 60 in. Oil enamel on canvas.

SOPHIA

"Everything you see I owe to Spaghetti."

"Everything you see I owe to Spaghetti" is a famous line of Sophia's and also the title of a 6ft x 6ft chromogenic aluminum that hangs next to the pizza bar. The artist, David Gamble, a friend of Fred Hughes (Warhol's Manager), was the only person allowed to photograph Andy's residence after his passing. "Warhol loved his Soup. Loren loved her pasta. Having been in Warhol's house in NYC 1987, and photographed his soup in his kitchen, Sophia should BE like an icon to her food. Printed direct onto metal in flat shiny colors...Warhol never had this technology but he would have loved it. The image enameled onto the surface....It changes with light and reflections. Blatty commissioned me to make unique art, including a colorful and dynamic piece of he iconic actress loving her food..." -- David Gamble | Davidgamble.net @davidgambleartist

Pop-art portrait piece, “Everything you see I owe to Spaghetti”, hanging next to the pizza bar