Contemporary Authors

• The Beautiful Dream of Life ( novel) Gallery Books (New York, NY), 2017

1. The beautiful dream of life : a novel LCCN 2017018169 Type of material Book Personal name Zapata, Domingo, author. Main title The beautiful dream of life : a novel / Domingo Zapata. Edition First Gallery Books hardcover edition. Published/Produced New York : Gallery Books, 2017. Projected pub date 1111 Description pages ; cm ISBN 9781501129254 (hardcover) CALL NUMBER PS3626.A639 B43 2017 Request in Jefferson or Adams Building Reading Rooms

• Forbes - https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonborbet/2015/07/15/a-conversation-with-artist-domingo-zapata/#4c655df816d8

  QUOTED: "I like to work in series and themes. I continue to paint the bullfighters because of my heritage. I started painting polo horses, because when I was a kid, I was obsessed with polo and horses. My family was very humble so we couldn’t afford to do anything in that world, so I figured I would just paint it."

  JUL 15, 2015 @ 01:58 PM 5,182 The Little Black Book of Billionaire Secrets
  A Conversation With Artist Domingo Zapata

  Jason T. Borbet , CONTRIBUTOR
  I cover the business of the new art world.
  Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.
  Shawn Corey Carter honed his craft to build a brand: Jay Z. He then leveraged the Jay Z brand to build an empire — acquiring and building music labels, running clubs, producing video games and representing athletes (to name a few). For an artist, what you create establishes who you are — what you do with the result defines your legacy.

  If you find yourself walking West along Gramercy Park toward Park Avenue in Manhattan, you might notice three large sets of windows showcasing a legion of easels. Inside, you’ll find Domingo Zapata and his team of assistants working on dozens of canvases. Born in Mallorca, Spain — Zapata is making like Jay Z, and building an empire through creative partnerships with real estate developers, licensing deals with consumer brands like Alice and Olivia, and serving as the Executive Creative Director for Los Angeles-based ad agency — StudioPMG.

  Like Jay Z to music, Zapata is always focused on his true passion — painting. On July 23rd at 6:00pm, Zapata's solo show entitled Summer Times will open at Galerie des Lices in Saint-Tropez. Already a success, four of the twelve pieces (averaging $80,000 per) have pre-sold. Before he left for France, I stopped by Zapata’s studio to chat about his career, business and what it takes to make it as an artist.

  Domingo Zapata In The Studio © Borbay
  Domingo Zapata In The Studio © Borbay

  About how many paintings do you make a year?

  Zapata: We make about 150 paintings a year, and they are all spoken for.

  You were in my first artist studio feature; there, your general price is cited at $50,000 — but I’ve read reports of Zapata’s going for upwards of $190,000 — what is the most you have sold a single piece for, and what is the general range for your work?

  Zapata: The most I have sold a piece for is $275,000, and the average rate of a painting is probably in the $70,000 range.

  How have your prices evolved over the years?

  Zapata: The average price in 2002 was $5000; then $15000 in 2005; and $40,000 in 2010.

  Polo © Domingo Zapata
  Polo © Domingo Zapata

  For years you have been known for your signature polo pieces, but recently, much of your work has been different. Where are you currently finding the most success with your work, and where are you going?

  Zapata: Well, I like to work in series and themes. I continue to paint the bullfighters because of my heritage. I started painting polo horses, because when I was a kid, I was obsessed with polo and horses. My family was very humble so we couldn’t afford to do anything in that world, so I figured I would just paint it. So, I continue to create them today. But as an artist, I always want to explore with different mediums and themes. One of my favorite things to do is to study and understand works by masters, and do a contemporary take on them. I admire the originals, but imagine what would happen to them if they were on the streets of New York. So I write on them, use spray paint and try to bring them alive in a more street, urban and contemporary way.

  What is the ratio of works you do on commission versus spec in a given year?

  Zapata: This year, commissions will be 50-60% of my work.

• Luxe. - https://luxesource.com/features/article/the-contemporary-artist-domingo-zapata

  QUOTED: "Spontaneous and free. I try to develop my body of work on a daily basis because it allows me to express my feelings as they come."

  The Contemporary Artist: Domingo Zapata

  “I just want to make the world a little bit more beautiful,” says contemporary artist Domingo Zapata, the Majorca-born New Yorker who has a knack for creating work that’s often rooted in history. “I try to bring old-master artists into contemporary life by experimenting with new techniques,” he says. “By thoroughly studying a 200-year-old painting, I can interpret how it fits into today.” The result is a vibrant piece of art that simultaneously excites with its newness and comforts with its familiarity. This approach to art is perhaps what landed a commission to create a 25-by-10-foot mural for the lobby of the Freedom Tower: The collage-like piece will fashion an American flag created with materials from every state, such as steel from Chicago and sand from the Florida coast. One of the most poignant aspects of this piece is the 50 mirror-like stars that will reflect its voyeurs. “Everyone who stands before this mural is a part of it,” adds Zapata. “We are all united in respect of the tragedy that happened here, but we are also embracing the future.”

  The Mona Lisa is a common theme in some of Zapata’s work; he likes to add contemporary touches with a more urban style as in The Mona Lisa Queen of Hearts and The Mona Lisa American Flag.

  LX: My work is:

  DZ: Spontaneous and free. I try to develop my body of work on a daily basis because it allows me to express my feelings as they come.

  LX: Dream collaboration:

  DZ: I would love to design a building in New York City with Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

  LX: Describe your home.

  DZ: I live in an 1850s townhouse in Gramercy Park. It’s very traditional with old furniture, high ceilings and beautiful light. My favorite room is the library.

  LX: Favorite hotel:

  DZ: I always enjoy the Hotel Costes in Paris for its exquisite and delicate interiors.

  LX: You can find me at:

  DZ: The bar at Cipriani Downtown. I have a weakness for its famous Bellinis.

  LX: When entertaining:

  DZ: Never have too many people. It’s important to spend time with all of your guests.

  LX: Every artist should:

  DZ: Never stop dreaming and always do your research.

• From Publisher -

  Domingo Zapata is a contemporary artist, originally from Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Currently, he maintains studios in New York City, Venice, Paris, and Miami. The Beautiful Dream of Life is his first novel. Find out more from DZapata.com.

• Latin Times - https://www.latintimes.com/domingo-zapata-merged-art-fashion-during-nyfw-show-be-yourself-tags-are-facebook-432236

  Domingo Zapata Merged Art, Fashion During NYFW Show 'Be Yourself, Tags Are For Facebook' [PHOTOS]
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  By Shirley Gomez | Feb 14 2018, 03:34PM EST
  Domingo Zapata
  Domingo Zapata wowed the audience during his show for NYFW. Arun Nevader/Getty Images/NYFW Powered by Art Hearts Fashion
  Fashion and art came together on a historic and unprecedented night in the successful fashion show of Spanish artist Domingo Zapata during the New York Fashion Week on February 10 at the Angel Orensanz Theater in New York.

  Celebrities like actor Jordi Mollá, Alba Díaz Martín, daughter of designer Vicky Martín Berrocal and bullfighter Manuel Díaz "El Cordobés," actress Kelly Rutherford of "Gossip Girl," famous chef Jean-Georges and the painter's children: Paul and Domingo, walked during the show in support of the LGBTQ community.

  Zapata presented the expectant audience the show "Be Yourself, Tags are for Facebook" to create awareness and tolerance about discrimination and homophobia towards the LGBTQ community. "Be yourself, we need a world without labels and with respect," said Zapata.

  Celebrities and models wore pieces by great designers such as Marija Shatilo from Lace & Angels, Vicky Martín Berrocal, Commes Des Garçons and the famous bullfighter jackets from the artist. The dresses and half-naked bodies were intervened and painted by this master of art with messages in favor of human rights.

  The proceeds of the show will go to the organization "Camp Aranu'tiq," which offers safe and fun camp experiences for transgender youth. This show created by the painter who fused fashion, art and awareness, has undoubtedly been one of the most important events of the New York Fashion Week.

  Find below images of the "Be Yourself, Tags Are For Facebook" show.

  Domingo Zapata
  Domingo Zapata In NYFW: Artist Fused Art, Fashion During His Show 'Be Yourself, Tags Are For Facebook' Arun Nevader/Getty Images/NYFW Powered by Art Hearts Fashion

  Domingo Zapata
  Domingo Zapata In NYFW: Artist Fused Art, Fashion During His Show 'Be Yourself, Tags Are For Facebook' Arun Nevader/Getty Images/NYFW Powered by Art Hearts Fashion

  Domingo Zapata
  Domingo Zapata In NYFW: Artist Fused Art, Fashion During His Show 'Be Yourself, Tags Are For Facebook' Arun Nevader/Getty Images/NYFW Powered by Art Hearts Fashion

  Domingo Zapata
  Domingo Zapata In NYFW: Artist Fused Art, Fashion During His Show 'Be Yourself, Tags Are For Facebook' Arun Nevader/Getty Images/NYFW Powered by Art Hearts Fashion

  Domingo Zapata
  Domingo Zapata In NYFW: Artist Fused Art, Fashion During His Show 'Be Yourself, Tags Are For Facebook' Arun Nevader/Getty Images/NYFW Powered by Art Hearts Fashion

  Domingo Zapata
  Domingo Zapata In NYFW: Artist Fused Art, Fashion During His Show 'Be Yourself, Tags Are For Facebook' Arun Nevader/Getty Images/NYFW Powered by Art Hearts Fashion

  Domingo Zapata
  Domingo Zapata In NYFW: Artist Fused Art, Fashion During His Show 'Be Yourself, Tags Are For Facebook' Arun Nevader/Getty Images/NYFW Powered by Art Hearts Fashion

  Domingo Zapata
  Domingo Zapata In NYFW: Artist Fused Art, Fashion During His Show 'Be Yourself, Tags Are For Facebook' Arun Nevader/Getty Images/NYFW Powered by Art Hearts Fashion

  Domingo Zapata
  Domingo Zapata In NYFW: Artist Fused Art, Fashion During His Show 'Be Yourself, Tags Are For Facebook' Arun Nevader/Getty Images/NYFW Powered by Art Hearts Fashion

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  Domingo Zapata
  Domingo Zapata In NYFW: Artist Fused Art, Fashion During His Show 'Be Yourself, Tags Are For Facebook' Arun Nevader/Getty Images/NYFW Powered by Art Hearts Fashion

  Domingo Zapata
  Domingo Zapata In NYFW: Artist Fused Art, Fashion During His Show 'Be Yourself, Tags Are For Facebook' Arun Nevader/Getty Images/NYFW Powered by Art Hearts Fashion

  Domingo Zapata
  Domingo Zapata In NYFW: Artist Fused Art, Fashion During His Show 'Be Yourself, Tags Are For Facebook' Arun Nevader/Getty Images/NYFW Powered by Art Hearts Fashion

• New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/fashion/domingo-zapatas-best-known-work-may-be-himself.html

  QUOTED: "Of course, people want to know about a painter who is compared to Andy Warhol in his lifestyle. ... My life is a tabloid target."
  "I was always painting. ... When I was ten, I did a mural at my school. I was obsessed with it."
  "It’s the only thing I ever wanted to do. ... You only have one life, so you better be what you want to be."

  Domingo Zapata’s Best-Known Work May Be Himself
  By STEVEN KURUTZAPRIL 24, 2013

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  The artist Domingo Zapata in his studio atop the Bowery Hotel in Manhattan. He is confident that his star will rise and has hired a public relations agency to help him get his work noticed by museums like the Guggenheim and MoMA. Credit Casey Kelbaugh for The New York Times
  Some artists shun the spotlight, letting galleries promote their work while they keep to their studios. Others are savvier, stoking just enough buzz to get the art cognoscenti’s attention.

  And then there is Domingo Zapata, a 38-year-old Spanish artist who counts Leonardo DiCaprio and George Soros as clients, parties with Lindsay Lohan and Scarlett Johansson, and appears regularly in the pages of The New York Post, which has called him the “next Andy Warhol.”

  During Art Basel Miami Beach in December, for example, Mr. Zapata held a party at the SLS Hotel. He invited more than 2,000 guests, including Lance Bass (’N Sync) and Jill Zarin (“The Real Housewives of New York City”), and sold his fiberglass tiger sculptures to the former football player Jeremy Shockey and other art-struck buyers for upward of $100,000 each. A media release sent out on his behalf proclaimed it “the biggest and hottest party of Art Basel 2012.”

  Yet, for all his P.R. efforts, Mr. Zapata has not exactly been embraced by the serious New York art world.

  “I don’t know who he is,” said Zach Feuer, the Chelsea gallery owner known for cultivating young artists, when asked about Mr. Zapata’s work. That reaction was echoed by other gallerists along the Chelsea art corridor.

  Photo

  Domingo Zapata with his son Domingo Alba Zapata. Credit Casey Kelbaugh for The New York Times
  Moreover, Mr. Zapata’s name is absent from the pages of ARTnews, the 111-year-old magazine that chronicles the comings and goings of the art world. “He’s linked to the fashion world a little, right?” asked Barbara MacAdam, the magazine’s deputy editor.

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  When told that some tabloids have called Mr. Zapata the next Warhol, Ms. MacAdam was unmoved. “How many next Andy Warhols are there?” she asked. “Hundreds of thousands. Everybody is the next Andy Warhol.”

  But Mr. Zapata is too confident of his own artistic ambitions to let the art elite stand in his way. He recently hired Paul Wilmot Communications, a public relations agency specializing in fashion, to help him “get to the next level,” he said, and get his work noticed by museums like the Guggenheim and the Museum of Modern Art.

  “Of course, people want to know about a painter who is compared to Andy Warhol in his lifestyle,” Mr. Zapata said. “My life is a tabloid target.”

  ON A RECENT NIGHT, Mr. Zapata stood in his penthouse suite atop the Bowery Hotel in the East Village, with its sweeping views of the city and big, comfortable furniture. Half the space is used as a studio, although he also paints on the couch, the walls, the headboard of his bed, even on his French bulldog, Gordo.

  Smoking an e-cigarette, he explained why he started painting flowers based on the doodles of his toddler sons. “Art is about expressing feelings and passion and love,” he said, without a trace of irony. “How can you find the most pure state of that? Only in the soul of a child, because it’s not contaminated.”

  Photo

  His acrylic-on-Polaroid portrait of Ms. Vergara, “Sofia y el Toro.”
  He took a contemplative drag. “So I asked them, ‘Can you paint some flowers for me?’ And I tried to copy them.”

  Mr. Zapata had just returned from a three-week trip to Europe, to see his art dealer in London, discuss a possible commission of gladiator paintings in Rome and attend meetings in Paris, where he said he maintains a daily ritual: “I wake up and I go to the Louvre and I see ‘Mona Lisa.’ I say, ‘Good morning,’ and then I leave.”

  Short and stocky, with a broad, bearded face and shaggy brown hair, Mr. Zapata looks and talks like an artist out of “Zoolander.” His skin is often flecked with paint, as if advertising his artistic dedication. His arm is tattooed with an image of a woman he saw at a Parisian cafe. For a time, he kept a studio at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, and, like Picasso, he barters his artwork for meals at restaurants like Cipriani Downtown in New York.

  Even his name, spoken by his admirers with a three-syllable trip of the tongue (“doh-MING-go!”) provides maximum pop.

  Born on Majorca, Mr. Zapata is from “a very humble family,” he said, and growing up he helped mix colors at the auto shop where his father painted cars. “I was always painting,” he said. “When I was 10, I did a mural at my school. I was obsessed with it.”

  He studied art in London before moving to New York in 1999, where, following his father’s advice, he took a day job on Wall Street. Mr. Zapata also worked briefly in the music industry as chairman of IMC Records, a Spanish-language label (he co-wrote lyrics to an updated version of Los Del Rio’s 1996 hit, “Macarena”).

  Photo

  Mr. Zapata with Lindsay Lohan and Vikram Chatwal at the opening of the artist’s “Life Is a Dream” exhibition. Credit Carly Otness/BFAnyc.com
  But an investment in udate.com, an online dating site that was bought by Barry Diller’s company in 2002, earned him a $300,000 windfall, he said, and allowed him to paint full time.

  “It’s the only thing I ever wanted to do,” Mr. Zapata said. “You only have one life, so you better be what you want to be.”

  Exactly how he went from a fledging painter to a “celebrity artist du jour,” as his Web site describes him, remains a bit sketchy. And Mr. Zapata tends to gloss over his apprentice years, preferring to name-drop celebrity friends or share titillating stories, like when he said he painted a naked female subject and stripped down in solidarity.

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  From what can be puzzled together, Mr. Zapata met a wealthy contractor and polo enthusiast named Michael Borrico, who liked his paintings of polo horses. In 2004, a private show was held at Mr. Borrico’s home, where Mr. Soros and other guests were similarly struck.

  “I could have been painting fish tanks and I would still be in a dump somewhere,” Mr. Zapata said. “But I decided to do polo horses. That’s where my life changed.”Philip Rebeiz, whose HUS Gallery in London represents Mr. Zapata, said that the artist’s “panache” and subject matter — symbols of virility like horses and semi-naked women that have a LeRoy Neiman aesthetic — appeal to power-broker types like Mr. Soros and the National Basketball Association executive Pat Riley.

  “Domingo brings a lot of ‘wow,’ ” Mr. Rebeiz said, adding that Mr. Zapata’s work sells for $50,000 to $195,000. “People almost spend money on his paintings just to be around him.”

  Photo

  Mr. Zapata astride one of his works at his Art Basel Miami Beach party in December. Credit Patrick Mcmullan/PatrickMcMullan.com
  “We have a lot of financiers who love the matador series,” he added. “Saudis love the polo horses.”

  For his part, Mr. Zapata seems to devote as much attention to cultivating celebrity friendships as to his art. Beautiful actresses in particular seem charmed by his romantic outlook. He is friendly enough with Ms. Lohan (they met through a mutual friend in California) to have lent her his Porsche. Mr. Zapata became tabloid fodder after a man accused Ms. Lohan of clipping him with the car outside a Chelsea nightclub.

  In late 2011, Mr. Zapata took Polaroids of Ms. Lohan wearing a thigh-baring dress and then scribbled on the prints, selling the graffitied images to a collector for $100,000. The work is part of his ongoing series “Ten,” for which Alexandra Richards, Michelle Rodriguez, Kim Kardashian and Sofia Vergara have all modeled.

  Mr. Zapata said he planned to capture 10 “iconic women of our time,” although his description of the project sounded more like a seduction strategy recommended by Penthouse. He painted Ms. Vergara spur-of-the-moment at her house in Los Angeles, he said, using her semi-naked body as a canvas and then photographing the results.

  Mr. Zapata, who is separated from his wife (she lives in upstate New York with the couple’s two sons), said he never wants the project to end. “A woman is a mother of creation,” he said, turning philosophical. “Without creation, we don’t exist. Therefore, I find women extremely important and caring and loving, you know?”

  MR. ZAPATA SPENDS up to 14 hours a day painting, then makes his social rounds several nights a week. “I love New York City night life,” he said, ticking off his favorite clubs, like Electric Room and Provocateur.

  Photo

  Mr. Zapata with Sofia Vergara. Credit Eugene Mim/PatrickMcMullan.com
  Back at his Bowery penthouse, he poured himself a whiskey, in anticipation of going out. His friend, Malini Murjani, a handbag designer and the daughter of the Indian textile magnate Mohan Murjani, soon arrived, bringing with her a Hong Kong-based clothing manufacturer who was interested in buying art. Mr. Zapata gave the man a studio tour and spoke of the uncontaminated souls of children.

  Then everyone rode the elevator downstairs and took a chauffeured SUV to Cipriani Downtown, where one of Mr. Zapata’s large bullfighter paintings hangs above the bar.

  Dressed in a black Fuddruckers T-shirt and jeans, Mr. Zapata was joined for dinner by his studio manager, a Brazilian former model named Cinthia, and his friend Paolo Zampolli, the former owner of ID models and perennial bon vivant. After dinner, during which Mr. Zapata showed off his new BlackBerry 10 and announced that he was “ready to make more babies,” the night progressed to Provocateur, where the velvet rope parted for the artist and his entourage.

  “Domingo! Domingo!” several people shouted above the music. One of them, Arty Dozortsev, an enthusiastic, fast-talking liquor distributor, warmly greeted the painter.

  Mr. Zapata may still be unknown to the fine art crowd, but if it were up to the liquor distributor, his paintings would already be hanging in MoMA, alongside Warhol and other contemporary masters.

  “Domingo is the best,” Mr. Dozortsev said, wrapping his arm around the grinning artist. “This guy is the next Basquiat.”

• Art News - http://www.artnews.com/2016/08/05/domingo-zapata-has-sold-a-novel/

  Domingo Zapata Has Sold a Novel
  BY Nate Freeman POSTED 08/05/16 12:11 PM
  5 113 2 123
  Zapata.COURTESY DHPA
  Zapata.

  COURTESY DHPA

  Domingo Zapata—a painter who once lent his Porsche to Lindsay Lohan, who then hit a guy while driving it—has sold a novel to Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books imprint about an artist that seems to resemble Domingo Zapata. According to Page Six, the book, which is called The Beautiful Dream of Life, will chronicle the life of a rich artist with celebrity friends “until he experiences a downward spiral ” and is “tortured by a decadent lifestyle trapped in money and fame.”

  Perhaps you, dear reader, are unfamiliar with Domingo Zapata. After all, The New York Times wrote an entire story that describes the circumstances by which he became a famous artist who no one in the art world had ever heard of. The evidence of this, as provided by the Times, is that “Mr. Zapata’s name is absent from the pages of ARTnews, the 111-year-old magazine that chronicles the comings and goings of the art world.” Well, we’ve up and changed that, haven’t we!

  And while who knows what wonders await us in “The Beautiful Dream of Life,” perhaps there will be parties in the Hamptons, like the one Zapata hosted in 2015 with “Real Housewives of New York” star Jill Zarin to benefit The Eric Trump Foundation. Or maybe there will be an incident similar to the time Kim Kardashian commissioned a portrait from the artist in 2012, and Zapata made a photo collage of Polaroids of Kardashian surrounded by Maya Angelou quotes. Then there was the time in 2009 when Zapata wrote some lyrics to a new version of the 90s hit single, “Macarena.” Will there be Macarena dancing in “The Beautiful Dream of Life?” One would hope there will be Macarena dancing.

  I’ve reached out to his agent, Steve Fisher at APA, to get more details about the book, and the cost of its acquisition. We’ll update this post as needed.

  Copyright 2018, Art Media ARTNEWS, llc. 110 Greene Street, 2nd Fl., New York, N.Y. 10012. All rights reserved.

• Page Six - https://pagesix.com/2016/08/03/artist-domingo-zapata-is-coming-out-with-a-book/

  Artist Domingo Zapata is coming out with a book
  By Emily Smith August 3, 2016 | 10:40pm
  Modal Trigger
  Artist Domingo Zapata is coming out with a book
  Domingo Zapata Getty Images
  Artist Domingo Zapata, who’s created works for the Freedom Tower and the Plaza Hotel, has added author to his résumé, having sold his debut novel to Simon & Schuster’s Gallery Books.

  We’re told the tome, titled “The Beautiful Dream of Life,” is a first-person account of the life of an acclaimed and wealthy artist in contemporary New York, a passionate man “tortured by a decadent lifestyle trapped in money and fame.” (Wonder where he came up with that?)

  The protagonist’s paintings have made him a millionaire enjoying a life of luxury until he experiences a downward spiral.

  In real life, Zapata lives and works in a Gramercy Park mansion and his work is collected by Leo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp.

• Domingo Zapata Website - http://www.dzapata.com/artwork/biography

  BIOGRAPHY

  Domingo Zapata is a Spanish-American artist born in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Currently, Zapata maintains studios in his Gramercy Park townhouse in New York City, the Design District in Miami, and Hollywood. In these private ateliers he produces Neo-Expressionist paintings as well as sculpture. He paints in both oil and acrylic, often incorporating mixed-media, collage and graffiti.

  For over 20 years Zapata has built a body of work, which varies significantly in motif, though consistently explores themes of sexuality, opulence, and vitality in his signature style. In this distinctive hand, Zapata layers fantasy and reality, luring the viewer into his potent, cosmically beautiful world. Known for his signature "Polo" series, which first gained him critical acclaim, more recent work focuses on themes including his native Spanish culture, American Pop icons, and the state of the contemporary practice. He often draws on his experiences as a songwriter (Zapata co-wrote lyrics for Michael Jackson and Jon Secada), and exposes his deeply poetic imagination by incorporating text and visual cues into many of his works. In this way, his images coax the viewer into his realm where fact and fiction persist simultaneously, fortifying each other’s beauty, depth, and meaning.

  Named an "artist to watch," in 2011 by the prestigious Whitewall Magazine, Zapata has quickly fulfilled this prophesy. Since, his work has lauded praise from international press such as The New York Times (cover story, Thursday Styles April 25, 2013), Esquire Spain, Vanity Fair Italia, and The New York Observer. Recently, The New York Magazine deemed him, "in a league of his own," while the New York Post proclaimed Zapata to be the "new Andy Warhol, with starlets begging for a sitting."

  The future continues to promise illustrious milestones for Zapata. This year the artist is preparing a poignant, commemorative mural for the lobby of Freedom Tower in Manhattan. The piece will be unveiled as part of the building's opening ceremony and remain on permanent display. Additional commissions include a panel for the newly restored Colosseum in Rome as well as the lobby of the landmark Plaza Hotel in New York.

QUOTED: "Rodrigo is unlikable and less self-aware than he's meant to be, especially when making sweeping statements about women."
"a frustrating novel that strains to take on metaphysical questions and the New York art scene."

Zapata, Domingo: THE BEAUTIFUL DREAM OF LIFE
Kirkus Reviews. (Aug. 1, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Zapata, Domingo THE BEAUTIFUL DREAM OF LIFE Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster (Adult Fiction) $26.00 7, 25 ISBN: 978-1-5011-2925-4

A successful New York artist, disenchanted with his hedonistic lifestyle and the contemporary art world, begins to lose touch with reality.Debut novelist Zapata, a contemporary artist born in Spain, invites the reader to follow along as Rodrigo Concepcion's extravagant and debauched life unravels. Part critique of the contemporary art world and part philosophical inquiry into the meaning of life, this novel takes on more than it can chew. It opens in a SoHo loft with 49-year-old Rodrigo hung over and being served his daily "survival kit"--coffee, painkiller, marijuana, and omega-3 pills--by his butler while another of his employees rushes to get him ready for his flight to Art Basel. Besides his staff, Rodrigo's friends include a billionaire and a pimp. Both attend Art Basel with him, but to Rodrigo everything--the drugs, the alcohol, the art (which is hardly mentioned), the models--is empty and disgusting. Soon after, he has an "amazing and life-changing series of dreams" in which he's in Florence and meets a woman named Carlotta, whom he calls "an ideal and a perfect creation of my mind." The self-described "matador of art" becomes obsessed with Carlotta and his dream world, shucking his responsibilities and renouncing his old life (the "New York-life nightmare"). What follows is confusing, and it's unclear whether or not the lack of certainty is intentional. Rodrigo's character tells more than Zapata shows when it comes to major plot points or themes: "This was my journey, and it had been necessary for me to get to the next level of understanding" or "I'm sensitive. Thoughtful. I'm a divo sometimes, because of my fame and the fact that I can get away with almost anything, but deep inside...I am still humble and my heart is pure." Rodrigo is unlikable and less self-aware than he's meant to be, especially when making sweeping statements about women or cringeworthy jokes at the expense of the LGBTQ community. A frustrating novel that strains to take on metaphysical questions and the New York art scene.

Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Zapata, Domingo: THE BEAUTIFUL DREAM OF LIFE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A499572845/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=1e6c14fd. Accessed 14 Apr. 2018.

Gale Document Number: GALE|A499572845

"Zapata, Domingo: THE BEAUTIFUL DREAM OF LIFE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Aug. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A499572845/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=1e6c14fd. Accessed 14 Apr. 2018.

• Diandra Reviews it All
  https://diandrareviewsitall.com/book-review-domingo-zapatas-the-beautiful-dream-of-life/
  Word count: 814

  QUOTED: "He writes as if he, himself, is scribbling visions, which might throw readers off. Hence, The Beautiful Dream is one to read for its overarching themes and messages like an art piece. Sometimes, it is not about the specifics of the colors or technique as much as how everything comes together."

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  Book Review: Domingo Zapata’s The Beautiful Dream of Life
  July 31, 2017Diandra Reviews

  Synopsis: World renowned painter Rodrigo seemingly has it all: a multi-million dollar loft in SoHo; a talent for creativity that seems never ending; a recurring invitation to the exclusive modern art exhibit Art Basel; and lovers by the dozen. But what his longtime admirers don’t see is Rodrigo’s deep frustration with the world around him: the wild and sinfully luxurious parties have lost their luster, those who worship him and those who work for him seemingly do so out of greed, and worst of all, his art has lost meaning. As he begins to slip further and further into the rabbit hole of despair, so begins his descent into madness, culminating with a beautiful, pristine vision in the shape of the perfect woman: Carlotta. As the lines between reality and fantasy slowly begin to blur and fade, Rodrigo finds himself at a very difficult crossroads: will he choose to live in his imagined world with the woman of his dreams by his side, or make a swift return to sanity, success, and the life he was always supposed to live?

  The Beautiful Dream of Life by acclaimed artist Domingo Zapata is as particular as its protagonist,Rodrigo Concepción. While most novels, especially debut, want a likable lead and a clear setting, Domingo aims to guide readers through the unclarity of a man as hateful to himself as he is to others. The question is, “Will you care?”

  What I like about The Beautiful Dream is that I did not like the protagonist, but yet I followed him through his journey. Rodrigo is a wealthy, acclaimed New York artist, and is also prejudice, petulant, and pompous. He tussles between seeing the world as his playground, while feeling like he is choking in the monkey bars. There are times throughout The Beautiful Dream where you want to go on Facebook and troll Rodrigo. He is the epitome of everything people imagine and hate about “the rich”. He lives a lavish lifestyle with drugs, women, expensive things, and art at his beckon, but, as the book progresses, he becomes a textbook example that the source of all brood and boredom is a gapingly, bitter loneliness. As Rodrigo consumes “luxury” like he is engorging himself through an over-stuffed fridge, you cannot help but squint, at times, especially with his treatment of women. He numbs himself, but then mourns how unfeeling he is as he marches through his own life. Zapata writes Rodrigo as someone who wants to be better, but does absolutely nothing for his cause, which is why, as a reader, you grow frustrated but watchful of Rodrigo. We all want to see a “bad guy” redeem himself because we all feel like a “bad guy” waiting for redemption, and Rodrigo symbolizes every person’s battle between will and desire to better him or herself. Hence, his visions of Carlotta and living in Florence are reflective of his want to “be better”, but his desire to stay in these hallucinations over his reality is testament to his own spiritual vacancy/ laziness.

  We all dream of happiness, but not many actually try to make it real. Rodrigo, despite having it all, has nothing, and his dreams of Carlotta turn her into a sensual delusion of what “happiness” is to him, Yet, they do show his struggle to feel fulfilled by emptier routes. There are times when Carlotta or even the settings/ people that cross Rodrigo’s path, teeter between character depth and dryness. Yet, it all stems from Rodrigo, as well. It is hard to aim for better thing in life, like real love, over finer things like, a mansion. Moreover, Rodrigo never fully grasps a sense of mindfulness over matter, despite how desperately he needs to do so to begin self-healing. Zapata’s writing plays to this notion by being painting beautiful, but uncertain pictures. He writes as if he, himself, is scribbling visions, which might throw readers off. Hence, The Beautiful Dream is one to read for its overarching themes and messages like an art piece. Sometimes, it is not about the specifics of the colors or technique as much as how everything comes together. To Buy Domingo Zapata’s The Beautiful Dream Of Life Click Here. It is 330 pages, and was published by Gallery.

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