Cultural Council for Palm Beach County Hosts Free Exhibition by Artist Serge Strosberg VENI, VIDI, VICI

In its dynamic Donald M. Ephraim Family Gallery, the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County will present another thought-provoking exhibition: Veni, Vidi, Vici by international portrait artist Serge Strosberg, January 6 through February 18, 2023. The exhibition is an artistic exploration of the life and influence of Henry Morrison Flagler, the founder of Standard Oil and the Florida East Coast Railroad, as well as the cities of Miami and Palm Beach.

Strosberg takes Flagler as captured in portraits and vintage photographs provided by the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum and the Historical Society of Palm Beach County, and reimagines him in a modern context, costumed in contemporary vibrant patterns and colors by Lilly Pulitzer or Maus and Hoffman, while a frieze composed of train tracks borders the works. Descriptions of the historical images were written by popular Worth Avenue tour guide Rick Rose, author of Palm Beach: The Essential Guide to America's Legendary Resort Town.

"The captains of industry from the Gilded Age seemed to have a fascination for Ancient Rome, Greece and Europe, which constructed infrastructure such as roads, aqueducts, and monuments while also building economic empires," explains Strosberg. "Henry Flagler transformed Florida (which was still mostly swamps in the late 1800s) into a flourishing state by building a railroad going all the way to Key West, plus monumental hotels and cities, 'conquering' this 'inhospitable' land. In fact, it was the monumental bust of Caesar Augustus adorning the entrance of Whitehall at the Henry Morrison Flagler Museum that inspired this exhibition."

"After all, Palm Beach today is an ultra-wealthy enclave, a modern Rome separated from the rest of the world by an intracoastal where workers do not reside and only an exclusive crowd now lives. It is also decadent and surreal in a world that is quickly evolving," adds the artist.

The exhibition Veni Vidi, Vici by Serge Strosberg is available for free viewing in the Cultural Council's Donald M. Ephraim Family Gallery Tuesdays through Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m., January 6 through February 18, 2023.

Influenced by artists Alice Neel, Christian Schad and Lucien Freud, Serge Strosberg was raised in the U.S. and Europe, and received classical training at Paris Académie Julian, where he learned the beautiful and difficult technique of oil and egg tempera painting from German expressionist painter Joerg Hermle. He has exhibited his work internationally: The Orangerie of the French Senate, Espace Saint-Honoré (Paris), The Lighthouse Art Center (Florida), The Zendai Art Museum in Zhu Jia Jio (Shanghai). In 2008, Strosberg participated in major group exhibition "The hidden truth" at the Felix Nussbaum Museum (Germany) in the company of artists Rothko, Lucian Freud, Philip Pearlstein, Rebecca Horn, Alex Katz, Modigliani, etc. Works by Serge Strosberg are in the permanent collections of The Musée of Pontoise, Shanghai Himalayas Art Museum, Jewish Museum of Belgium, Mercersburg Academy, the Daniel Hurley Federal Courthouse of West Palm Beach, and more. Veni, Vidi, Vici is Strosberg's third conceptual show, following Agalmatophilia about the cult of mannequins in NYC, and GirlsGirlsGirls about 4th wave feminism exhibited at Manhattan's Studio 26 gallery. Strosberg's portraits have been commissioned by many prominent families and institutions in the Palm Beaches and elsewhere.

The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County is the official support agency for arts and culture in The Palm Beaches, Florida's Cultural Capital. Headquartered in the historic Robert M. Montgomery, Jr. building in Downtown Lake Worth Beach, the Council presents exciting year-round exhibitions and performances featuring artists who live or work in Palm Beach County. The Council features spectacular work by Palm Beach County-based professional artsts in its Roe Green Uniquely Palm Beach Store, offers complimentary resources for visitors in its Jean S. and Frederic A. Sharf Visitor Information Center and hosts frequent events in its outdoor Project Space, offering views of the building's iconic Martin Luther King Jr. mural by renowned Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra. The council is open to the public Tuesdays through Saturdays from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more information and a comprehensive calendar of cultural events in The Palm Beaches, visit palmbeachculture.com.

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