Who had even even considered the word PANDEMIC as part of our vernacular before March of 2020?

After many years of painting, I found myself really at the top of my game at exactly, ironically, that moment…
Four of my exhibitions were scheduled to open in that VERY FIRST WEEK in March, 2020….
FOUR!

I had moved to Florida from up North in 2017; and career-wise, it had been unequivocally the best move of my life….
I was exhibiting EVERYWHERE and making a very decent living as a working artist/painter ; as well as having quite the impact on topics of “Social Inequity” that are less than “comfortable” for most people to even think about….

I was becoming a real “name” in the art world…

Painting HUMAN SUFFERING in all of its truth….

And BANG!

Just like that, EVERYTHING shut down….
It was surreal…confusing…shocking…abysmal...

I had spent veritable thousands of dollars and countless days and months preparing for these exhibits; I had something like 55+ newly finished paintings ….

Between having to pick up SO MUCH art just days after having delivered it, and the seemingly “apocalyptic” state of the world, to say that I was devastated would be a mild way of actually describing how defeated I felt….
It was like dropping from 100 to ZERO in a millisecond….

The art business, for all intents and purposes, was eviscerated…..
All the galleries and museums closed instantly….
When you’re a professional painter it’s not WHAT YOU DO….

What would I do ?
How would I cover the losses?

In response to the question of “How has Covid changed my business model,?” ,three things happened….

First and foremost , I realized very quickly that I had to “amp up” my Social Media presence, as it seemed to be the ONLY way to continue to sell the paintings… Truth be told, I already had a significant foothold in the social media space, but I found myself painting and posting multiple times per day….around the clock really….to this day….
(Schedules and time became very abstracted and fluid for most people; I’m at the top of that list!)

The second thing seemed like an actual miracle during those dark days….

I had the great honor of being contacted by the World AIDS Museum for the commissioning of a 20 painting exhibition for their grand opening in late 2020….
They had seen my HUMAN SUFFERING work, and they felt that I was the artist for the job….
I was SO blown away by this turn of events……
I threw myself into creating my collection, THE COLORS OF HIV”….. I did very extensive research on the story of HIV/AIDS….the chronology….
It was an incredible learning experience and a beautiful mission …. Several of the paintings are exhibited there permanently…..

The third thing that happened is that a gentleman, a veteran living in Texas, whom I had been friends with on Facebook for years, took a real interest in my HOLOCAUST COLLECTION… (Im probably best known for that collection) ….My parents were Holocaust Survivors….
A righteous, wonderful human being, he bought almost the entire collection within a 2-year period…. (50+ paintings)

So….
Covid has profoundly changed the way that I see the world…..the way that I see myself….the way that I see my art….
And it has had an oddly positive impact on my business…..
It slowed me down… I learned to see the bigger picture somehow, without distraction…
It forced me to THINK…to CONSIDER…..an ascentuon to some level of mindfulness I suppose…

I have been a full-time, self-taught artist/painter for over twenty years…. I literally one day just had a hankering to paint; I had never painted before in my life…
I went to an art store, bought a canvas and some paints, and I have never put down that brush since….
It was a kind of “calling”, if you will, that just appeared one day….

I’ve been very fortunate, but Ive also worked very hard…

When people say that “It must be so relaxing to paint”, my response is always that “It is the most labor-intensive work you can imagine”….
I paint large scale canvases for the most part…It’s arduous…
But I LOVE it….And how lucky am I to be doing sonething that I love?

Even the abstracts, the beach scenes, and all the beautiful flowers have a certain level of emotion & depth, even irony, wrapped into what can appear on the surface as simply a lovely image….

I’ve been doing lots of luxury residential developments, lobbies, etc.
Ive also outfitted many people’s homes with my custom commissioned art from beginning to end….

The best way to see the full gamut of what I can do is on my website

www.tobygotesmanschneier.com

Here are some of my more poetic thoughts-

“I am frequently struck by the sheer beauty of the people, objects and scenes which surround us every day, directly and shockingly juxtaposed with the colossal inequity that abounds in the very same moments.

The COLORS…
The inescapable cornflower BLUE SKY of a July morning,
The YELLOW & GOLD mist floating just above the atmosphere and filter ing down upon the pavement,
The RED of a perfect tomato, the RED of blood.
The YELLOW & GOLD hovering over the homeless man lying on that same pavement.
How can it be that these beautiful hues exist even in the most horrific of times?
How can the faces of the most troubled people be so beautiful? These questions have always baffled me.
Somewhere along the way, the realization that injustice, inequality and tragedy, ironically happen under the very same blue sky as birthday parties and barbecues, became crystalline to me
This chasm began to have weight – legs, even.
I suppose that these sentiments can be expressed most precisely for me in the paintings–
that life is not all one thing, that actual aesthetic BEAUTY is not always wrapped into perfect moments.
Seemingly simple, ordinary things – COLOR, SHAPE, FORM, MATTER…
All of them inform me, in no uncertain terms, that there is a suggestion of destiny, a bigger picture– whispering constantly in my ear to create a footprint of sorts.
So that the DISCOMFORT has a place to rest just beside the MAGIC.
And so, humbly I attempt to somehow impart that which I see & experience to YOU, the viewer of my paintings.
My hope is that the work will perhaps move you in some way – in ANY way.
Perhaps my art will ignite a need to act even, as the objects I’m attempting to de pict, have indeed, moved me to action.
This kaleidoscope of irony, metaphor, and pure allegory, needs to be shared, needs to be exposed somehow.
Or perhaps one needs to be exposed to IT,
If even a modicum of anything on the canvas resonates with you, whether it be disconcerting, heart-breaking, pleasing, or simply familiar, then I suppose that I’ve done my job.

Thank you for allowing me to share these very personal thoughts with you. ~

Toby Gotesman Schneier

EXHIBITION HISTORY-

GardensArt presents 2 exhibitions by Toby Gotesman Schneier-
August 18-November 1, 2022
Solo Exhibition-Toby Gotesman Schneier: “Deep in the Palms”, Sandhill Crane Golf Clubhouse
9500 Sandhill Crane Drive, Palm Beach Gardens, FL

September 12-November 28

Solo Exhibition-Toby Gotesman Schneier: “Still Deep in the Palms”, Burns Road Community Center,

4404 Burns Road, Palm Beach Gardens, FL

SOLO EXHIBITION, November 1-December 31, 2021, North Regional/Broward College Library,
Art Space, Coconut Creek, Florida
SOLO EXHIBITION- October 1-31, 2021, Northwest Regional Library, Broward College, Lobby Art,
Coral Springs, Florida
Capital Building-Tallahassee December 2019 thru “current”…(“On loan” to the State of Florida)
SOLO ARTSTROLL, June ,2021, The Whitney, Fort Lauderdale,Florida
COMMISSIONED SOLO EXHIBITION & PERMANENT INSTALLATION -World AIDS Museum, Nov-Dec, 2020 – present, Fort Lauderdale, Florida(PANDEMIC)