Brilliant strokes: Teen's art has fans galore
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Boca artist Matt Godwin is on a roll. In a local arts scene where selling even one painting is sometimes a lofty goal, Godwin's stuff sells like discount gas.
WPB gallery owner Donna Tribby says she has unloaded 29 of his paintings in five weeks ? at between $300 and $1,500 a pop.
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'Sometimes, I paint for four or five hours after school,' says Matt Godwin, with a creation.
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Then you hear that Godwin is 18 and a senior at the Alexander Dreyfoos School of The Arts. Yep. Just a high school kid.
"It's astounding," says Tribby, who owns CityPlace's Donna Tribby Fine Art. "At first, you look at his pieces as being cartoonish. Then, the more you look, the more you notice the substance of an artist much more mature than 18."
Godwin's success has persuaded Tribby to stay in the business. Her gallery is closing April 30, and she considered abandoning outright. But with Godwin, she says, she'll reopen later in the spring on Antique Row.
The teen, meanwhile, says he finds inspiration in variety, from Gilbert and Sullivan operas (he just finished caricatures from Bunthrone's Bride) to quips by TV's Dr. Phil. With one of his first checks, he flew to New York City to hang out in art galleries but also found muses in the subway.
"Sometimes, I paint for four or five hours after school," he says. "It comes naturally. And to be respected in such a way that people are willing to spend money on what I do feels good."
But Godwin's feet are firmly planted. He enjoys talking with people who've bought his work. And with his growing piggy bank, he's buying his first real canvases and better paint.
"His stuff isn't for everybody," says mom, homemaker Patricia Godwin. "But it's fun to see your kid do something he loves."
ANTIQUARIAN'S OLD STORY HAUNTS HIM
Unbeknownst to many of his high-profile customers, Palm Beach antique dealer Jay Halperyn is out on $20,000 bond after the FBI arrested him on suspicion of bank fraud.
The feds allege Halperyn, 57, used the wrong Social Security number to obtain a $1.8-million loan.
Known to hold caviar soirees at his Style of Vie store on Hibiscus Avenue for clients such as rocker Rod Stewart, Halperyn allegedly tried to conceal from Key Bank in his native Rochester, N.Y., that he owed $250,000 in back taxes ? information that could have prevented him from getting credit.
According to records, Halperyn then defaulted on the loan.
"It's an old case," Halperyn said. "I'm talking to the bank, and the matter is resolving itself. It was very embarrassing that the FBI arrested me at the store. I came to Palm Beach to find peace and quiet."
Halperyn said the money was to buy a tobacco business with a partner, who disappeared with the cash.
SEEN AND HEARD...
. . . The upcoming Palm Beach International Film Festival will have a touch of Cuban flavor. Port St. Lucie filmmaker Jose Garofalo is presenting his Sacred Waters. Narrated by Scarface's Steven Bauer, the documentary shows Cuban-Americans talking about their flight from the island. Bauer, musician Arturo Sandoval, actor Andy Garcia and TV talker Cristina Saralegui, also in the flick, are expected at the showing. Why did Garofalo pick Palm Beach instead of the recently ended Miami Film Festival? "Palm Beach is my hometown," the Puerto Rican Garofalo said . . . U.S. senator wannabe Katherine Harris Friday high-tailed it out of Tampa at rush hour so she could make face time with rich Palm Beachers at Mar-a-Lago for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital black tie. She arrived right on time, but few people knew it. When she walked into the grand ballroom on the arm of former ambassador Mel Sembler, emcee Dick Robinson introduced Sembler to the cheering crowd ? but forgot Harris. Oops! . . . Isadore Bolton, the Boynton man who sued pugilist Mike Tyson after he was beaten and bitten by Tyson on the side of I-95 may not see much of the $275,000 he won. After his attorney, WPB's Bob Montgomery, gets paid, Bolton's ex-wife Stephanie may dip into what's left. "I didn't know he was getting money until I read it in your column," she said. "He owes me child support." . . .
PUFF PIECE
It's the birthday party that almost wasn't.
Philip Morris invited 5,000 of its most faithful smokers to the old Miami Arena last weekend to hail Marlboro's 50th birthday with a private concert by superstar Marc Anthony.
I hear that, a few days before, Wellington businessman and arena owner Glenn Straub had turned off some utilities in advance of shutting down the Miami Heat's first home June 1.
A source tells me Straub wasn't inclined to flip them back on ? contract with Philip Morris or not.
It took hours of negotiations and a few more bucks from the tobacco pusher for him to change his mind.
"It was a great show," says Straub, who also owns Palm Beach Polo.
EXTREME LOCAL TV
Channel 25-WPBF honchos decided after all to air the station's special about ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition being in Riviera Beach.
Anchored by Tiffany Kenney and Corey Saban, it airs at 6 tonight ? before the network's 7 p.m. tearjerker about the reconstruction of cancer patient Dunstan Rainford's home by hunk Ty Pennington's vols.
Last month, however, PBF News Director Joe Coscia told Page Two he was tentative about the special when questions arose about Majestic Homes, the contractor who donated time and know-how.
Dozens of Majestic's paying customers from Vero to Pompano complained that the good deed was a public relations ploy by owner John P. George to shield another reality: that many of his projects are a year behind, and at least one of his subcontractors isn't getting paid.
"We addressed that on the news two weeks ago and went ahead with the special because it mostly celebrates the richness of Riviera Beach," Coscia said.
The show features rappers, politicians and civil rights activists, and even delves into the city's segregated past.
