Michael Netter's CRYPTOGRAPHICS Exhibition Opens at ACA Galleries Today

ACA Galleries presents the exhibition, Michael Netter: Cryptographics, on view beginning today, June 2, continuing through July 29, 2016. The exhibition will feature paintings, video art and assemblages from the 1970s to the present.

For more than 40 years, Michael Netter has been religiously creating video art, paintings and assemblages. A self-taught artist, he became a protégé of Andy Warhol, fully immersed in the dynamic art world of New York City in the early 1970s.

In 1970, as a 22-year-old fledgling painter, Netter was drawn to a major technological innovation, the Sony Portopak, the world's first portable video system. From a family of Hollywood moviemakers, Netter was no stranger to the power of storytelling and the moving image. He spent his last dime, bought the video system, and began creating pioneering video art. At this point, Netter was introduced to Andy Warhol by his good friend and fellow Georgetown alumnus and Interview Magazine editor, Bob Colacello. From 1970 to 1973 Michael worked with Warhol and shot 200 videos of Factory superstars Joe Dallesandro, Jane Forth, Candy Darling, Brigid Polk, events like David Bowie's first visit to Andy's Factory, and celebrities including actor Dennis Hopper at the Chelsea Hotel and fashion designer Halston to name a few.

During those formative years in Warhol's Factory, Netter continued to paint. Warhol encouraged Netter after seeing a series of colorful grid paintings of brick walls and a portrait he painted of Andy. In 1973, Netter left the world of Warhol and, as a painter, went underground.

Over the next three decades, Michael Netter built a successful corporate consulting practice. Capitalizing on his artistic background, Netter developed logo designs, branding strategies, and product innovations for Verizon, United Artists, Coca-Cola, Merrill Lynch, Kraft, Chase Bank, American Express, and many other companies. For Netter, painting has always been about self-fulfillment and the act of creation; he chose to keep the purity of his experience by remaining private with his art for decades. The work exhibited at ACA Galleries will showcase a raw talent long overdo for artistic recognition. Rarely has such a singular body of work been hidden from the public eye for so long.

Pictured: Three Wise Men, c. 1995, mixed media on canvas. Copyright © 2016 ACA Galleries, All rights reserved.

Test and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia?	Play the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
How well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends.	Can you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!