It has been a very grief stricken month. First the loss of my dear friend Nam June Paik. Now the sad news of one of my close Italian friends and brilliant artist: MIMMO ROTELLA. The last of the Nouveau Realists.

Mimmo passed at the age of 87, but his sense of youth and spirit never left his work. A brilliant mind with a keen sense of what was contemporary, even in his last years. He reminded me of Matisse, still working well into his last days. The child in him, never left.

It has been a most difficult time, losing such great people in my life, who influenced my art, and were responsible for the expansion of my imagination. While their art will never be forgotten and will live forever, the loss of a friend can never be compensated for. You miss their brilliance which
makes up your own personal fabric. A big part of me has been lost with both their passing.

Good bye Mimmo. Thank you for the words you left me with in my second book, and the insights you always gave me. I will never forget you.

-Laurence GARTEL

A link by Pierre Restany on Mimmo's history:
http://www.mimmorotella.it/eng/story.htm

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