MEET THE TOWER MUSIC TEAM #7

OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER
FRANC PALAIA

FRANC PALAIA is an award winning artist working in several media including, painting, photography, sculpture, murals, signmaking and lamp design.

A few major museum exhibitions include the Metropolitan Museum of Art , NY, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, the Fundacio Gala-Salvador Dali in Spain, PS 1 and the Museum of Contemporary Art (LAMOCA) in Los Angeles and others.

He has presented window installations at the Whitney Museum Store Annex, Macy’s, Barneys New York and Broadway Windows all in NYC.  Some solo exhibitions include the O.K. Harris Works of Art, New Jersey State Museum, bau Beacon, Vassar College, Rutgers University, Gabrielle Bryers Gallery, Calandra Institute/Queens College and Kean University.

He has been awarded 19 grants, fellowships and residencies including the prestigious Rome Prize Fellowship, two Polaroid Sponsorships, The Painted Bride grant, Ludwig-Vogelstien grant, three NYFA grants, a L. Comfort Tiffany grant and three New Jersey and Dutchess County Arts Council grants.

He is also an educator, gallerist, TV cameraman, film producer, musician and TV host as well as a practicing independent curator. He has curated over 30 group art exhibits primarily on photography in the U.S. and in Italy receiving reviews in the New York Times, Village Voice, Parachute and Tema Celeste magazine to name a few.

He has received commissions for several outdoor public art projects, such as murals, Train Station windscreen designs and solar-powered illuminated photo-sculpture from the New Jersey and New York transit systems.  He has been included in over 350 group shows and more than 40 solo-shows, regionally, nationally and internationally.

Some group shows include Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art, Center for Photography at Woodstock, Museum of Neon Art, Newark Museum, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Kingston Sculpture Biennial, Carl Van Brunt Gallery, American Academy in Rome, Albany International Airport Gallery, Alternative Museum, New Museum, Clocktower, O.K. Harris Works of Art, Sidney Janis Gallery, Pratt Institute, Morris and Monmouth Museums and many others.  His artworks are in many public collections such as; MoMA, NY, Brooklyn Museum, Newark Museum, McDonald’s Corp., Polaroid Corp., Johnson & Johnson, the New Museum, the N.J. State Museum, the American Academy in Rome, Check Point Charlie Museum, Berlin. Private collections include Sen. Frank Lautenberg, Arman, Ariadne Getty, Diana Ross, Billy Name, Ron English, Richard Ekstract, Peter R. Stern and many others.

Franc has painted dozens of indoor and outdoor murals in the tri-state area. His murals have appeared in Hollywood movies, NBC TV and the Discovery Channel. He has collaborated, worked and/or performed or commissioned by painter Jean Michel Basquiat, photographer Annie Leibovitz, theater designer Robert Wilson, Crash, Daze, Billy Name, Richard Hambleton, Wiliam Pope.L, and others.  Most recently, Franc was selected “Distinguished Alumni of the 2012” by Kean University of New Jersey.