I had the opportunity to interview 3-D Pop Artist Charlies Fazzino who showcased his amazing 3-D Pop artwork around the 9-11 theme at the 911 Memorial Museum and the Carlton Fine Arts Gallery in Manhattan.
Here’s the transcript and video of the interview:
Video of my interview on YouTube here:
Suzanne: So you’re a 3-D pop artist and you had your exhibit on the twenty-third, which is Monday. How did that turn out, first of all?
Charles Fazzino: Well, first we did the unveiling at the 9/11 Museum. Really fantastic. We had so many people on different crews show up. And of course, we had Bernie Williams there and Pete Alonzo, Jeff Wilpon from the Mets, who originally owned the Mets, and then so many other people that were involved or were in 9/11 back 20 years ago. They had a police department, they had a fire department, and many other people. So it was really wonderful that so many people showed up for this important event. And it was very humbling.
“I am a kid born to two artists. My father was a shoe designer in New York. He works for companies like B. Altman and Saks Fifth Avenue, used to make the shoes and the bows that used to go on the shoes. He had a factory up here in New Rochelle, where my studio is today. My mom was from Finland and she was also very creative, always sewing and sculpting and doing all sorts of art. So my brother and sister and I grew up with that in the whole always seeing somebody drawing and being creative. So I sort of had no choice as a kid. I wasn’t very creative. But I mean, I was creative, but not very artistic, I should say. I really honed my skills later on when I went to the School of Visual Arts here in New York on twenty-third Street and met with other artists and really, you know, got better and better at what I was doing.”
Suzanne: And what is your background as a 3-D pop artist?
Charles Fazzino: My guess— the easiest way to say is I am a kid born to two artists. My father was a shoe designer in New York. He works for companies like B. Altman and Saks Fifth Avenue, used to make the shoes and the bows that used to go on the shoes. He had a factory up here in New Rochelle, where my studio is today. My mom was from Finland and she was also very creative, always sewing and sculpting and doing all sorts of art. So my brother and sister and I grew up with that in the whole always seeing somebody drawing and being creative. So I sort of had no choice as a kid. I wasn’t very creative. But I mean, I was creative, but not very artistic, I should say. I really honed my skills later on when I went to the School of Visual Arts here in New York on twenty-third Street and met with other artists and really, you know, got better and better at what I was doing. My style of art is a cross between pop art and three and three books, my love of 3-D pop art books. When I was a kid, I sort of when I graduated from School of Visual Arts back in the late seventies and decided, wow, there’s no jobs for illustrators or printmakers. What I was that I took in school and painting. So I took some of my favorite pop-out books and some of the prints that I made at school. I made them 3-D and tried to make a pop-out book and showed them at a local arts and crafts show in New York called the Washington Square Outdoor chowing down in the village. And they were a hit from day one.
Suzanne: So your exhibit was at the Carlton Fine Art Center Arts Limited. And your new artwork will be unveiled at the National September 11th Memorial and Museum. So that already happened.
Charles Fazzino: Yes, it happened Monday night. And then following the unveiling at the museum, then we had an open and a second unveiling at the Carlton Gallery on Madison Avenue.
Suzanne: Right. Are you going to be selling your artwork?
Charles Fazzino: The original is going to be housed at the museum, but the limited editions will be available, which will also be fundraisers for the museum. And they also took my original artwork, scans, and produced product from it sold out, and which is one hundred percent of the proceeds goes back to the museum. And, you know, they made all sorts of products for their gift shop at the museum gift shop. So that was very it was great.
Suzanne: How did the nine that day, 9-11, know the 20th anniversary is coming up, how did that affect you? I mean, did you know anybody that that succumbed to that tragedy or. Do you know what I mean? You know, what inspired you to produce your artwork with 9/11? I mean, you have other artworks besides just 9/11, but this one particular is dedicated to 9/11.
Charles Fazzino: Well, I think as a New York artist, everyone was affected. Our lives have changed forever since just like the pandemic today. Our lives will change from this. So all of these historic events, there’s nothing like art that really can make a milestone, pay homage to a horrific event like this. And that is only accomplished through art. I personally did not have anybody that was affected. My brother at the time was working down at The New York Times in the city was a little scary for a while because I didn’t know if he was down in Lower Manhattan that day. But no, I was home. I had just returned from a trip doing an art show abroad. So I was at home. And like I said, I don’t think you needed to have anybody that was personally affected. I think we were all affected. Of course, the people who were affected the most were people that had lost friends and loved ones and still, today continue to lose family members to the aftermath of all the pollution that, of course, am an artist. It’s very important that I have been commissioned by the museum to do this, because as in New York City artists and because my artwork is usually happy and bright and poppy and 3D—it’s not usually associated with sad subjects.
Charles Fazzino: Recently, I was I had just a couple of years ago commemorated the Holocaust for the Holocaust Museum and created a show around it. That is another horrific event. But I was able to create a piece of artwork that was uplifting and really shows resilience to the people that survived and continue to survive. And the same thing with this is the piece when you look at it, it’s uplifting. It’s it it has an ethereal look when you look at the towers are in the middle of the piece, but they’re there, but they’re not there. And I’ve accomplished that through color and design and through my 3-D process.
Suzanne: So I notice it has a lot of bright colors. It’s not reminded of the tragedy that occurred.
Charles Fazzino: Exactly, there’s two renditions of this I made one that was in black and white with just the flag and the towers in a little bit of color. And then there’s a piece in full color. So depending on how a person feels and looks at the subject, I thought that it was appropriate to do two different feelings, two different looks to the limited edition. And the limited edition, as I said, is the fundraiser that will be sold at the museum. And then also I have about 40 to 60 galleries worldwide showing my work. So it’ll be shown everywhere. Germany, France, Japan, everywhere that carries my work will be carrying the 9/11 case.
Suzanne: And will you be at the 20th-anniversary ceremony coming in?
Charles Fazzino: Believe it or not, I will be in Europe. So I’m leaving on the first to do shows in Germany and to show the 9/11 peace there. They’re all releasing it now. And we’re going to have ceremonies. And you’d be surprised, not just as Americans, but it affected the world in France, Germany, and Japan. Everybody watched the horror of that day and has those deep feelings. And, you know, my work is also New York-based. And as I travel and go to all these shows worldwide, the one city in the world that everybody knows and loves is New York.
Charles Fazzino: Â Yes. 50 % of my collection is New York-based artwork. So they are scenes of either Central Park, Lower East Side New York, how it looked in the 1950s, Harlem, how it looked in the 1970s. So there’s 50 percent of my collection at any time of my career. It’s always been new. The rest are I paint the same style, but I paint Berlin, Paris, Tokyo, Lyon, France, Budapest. So I paint all different cities and I paint a lot of pieces that have to do now with the world. Even though when I first started, it was only New York.
Charles Fazzino: Â My studios are in New Rochelle. I’m actually in the original Terry Tunes building in New Rochelle. That is where Hanna Barbera, the animation artists who did The Flintstones met and they were working for Terry Tunes. And it’s an old animation studio here, right near the train station downtown, built at the turn of the century. And of course, another building across the street that I occupy. And it has a lot of history. And it’s really cool that I own this building today because it’s so historical. And I live nearby, I live in another town nearby.
Thank you to Charles Fazzino for contributing to this interview.
