A MULTITUDE OF ARTISTIC INFLUENCES

His music as well as his pain tings are inspired and influenced by abstract expressionism, including artists such as Jackson Pollock, Clyfford Still, Mark Rothko, Richard Diebenkorn, as well as Cy Twombley.

Garten has an encyclopedic knowledge of art from a vast number of styles, regions and periods, having obsessively visited museums in more than 40 countries.

He often paints with both hands, sometimes both at the same time, a technique directly influenced by playing the piano, like the right and left hand parts of a piece of music.

BASQUIAT'S INTENSITY

As an artist, Garten was deeply influenced by the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat. "I saw a photo of a painting by Basquiat that was to be auctioned by Christies. Looking at the painting, II started to feel energy flowing through my arms, and the next day I looked at the painting again and I became immensely inspired and energetic. I saw so much energy and vibration coursing through the painting, so much intensity. This lead to an hour long piano improvisation inspired by the Basquiat work. I then went on to create a vast series of visual artworks that flowed from that inspiration. Meanwhile, the Basquiat ended up selling for $16 million."

ART MUSIC

"My music, like my art, is my own personal creation." says Garten, "I value an intimately personal and intuitive approach to creation. My work comes from a primal source, like neolithic cave paintings. As well, my music is just as much art as my paintings. It is Art Music."

FLOW

Garten says, "A vital point to my work in music and art is a sense of flow. My art and music are not created with some greater structure or program imposed or preconceived, rather the they grow organically from moment to moment. In fact, what I really feel when I play music or paint is a sense of flow, like the piece itself is leading me on and telling me exactly what to do. The sense of flow means everything progresses at its own pace, and there is only a minimal amount of conscious intervention from me. The music and art in a sense creates itself naturally as I work."

Garten's work is direct and not contrived. It is unabashedly beautiful, original and effervescent. Like the abstract expressionists, he feels his music and paintings tap into the sublime. His work derives from a primal source.

The ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST SHOW

The Architectural Digest Show is located in New York City on Manhattan's Pier 94, and brings in an audience of more than 44000 people, from the art and design trade as well as upscale consumers.

MADE SECTION

Garten's solo exhibition of works at the show is in the prestigious "MADE" section, which features independent artists and designers. His booth is M89.