Gregory de la Haba

Apart from being an exceptionally skilled painter with a pedagogical lineage that stretches back to the great Neoclassicist Jacques-Louis David, de la Haba is a gambler in more ways than one. Hosting casino nights in his loft where a 14' craps table takes center stage the artist spent more than 10 years at Belmont and Saratoga racetracks handicapping the ponies-and winning, to the point where he became horse owner, stepping into the winner's circle on more than one occasion (hence the horse iconography in his work). He created the murals for Sean MacPherson's Roger Room in LA, Temple Bar in Caesar's Palace, Atlantic City and most recently for Armin Armiri's Mister H. inside the new Mondrian Hotel in Chinatown. Selected solo and group exhibitions by de la Haba include: "SWELL" Nyehaus Gallery, "Equus Maximus" Jack the Pelican Presents, "Queens International 4" Queens Museum, Trash Art Museum, Munich; Salzburg Arts festival, Austria, "Surfboards and Skateboards" World Erotic Art Museum, Miami, Scope Art Show 2010, Miami, Tacheles, Berlin and Salzach Biennale, Austria. A cum laude graduate of Harvard University, de la Haba's writings and artworks have been published in numerous publications including the Southampton Review, Rizzoli's Irish America and New York Arts magazine. He is featured in the latest documentary by notable Hollywood director Michael Knowles 'Gambling In Art, A Story of Six New York Artists Who've Gone All In' and in May of 2011 de la Haba collaborated with award winning playwright Mike Gorman on a 'dramatic performance and art installation' at the venerable La MaMa theater in New York's East Village. Currently working with the author/surfer/memoirist Allan Weisbecker (In Search of Captain Zero, Cosmic Banditos) as an executive producer on his film Water Time, Surf Travel Diary of a Madman.

The Art Newspaper Interview with de la Haba

http://www.theartnewspaper.tv/content.php?vid=1992