ABOUT LIPSTICK BUILDING DRAWINGS
I started drawing on the window at my job when a friend gave me a set of window crayons. As I looked out of the window, I was thinking of one of my favorite childhood books “Harold and the Purple Crayon” where Harold can draw anything he wants with his purple crayon and it becomes real. I thought if my crayons were magic, I would put trees on the buildings, and I would make it sunny because it was very grey.
That was the very first drawing and it just kept going from there. More and more people wanted to see them every day. I posted to facebook but some of my friends aren’t on it, and many people wanted to share them with other people. After a lot of urging, I started this blog for them. I hope you enjoy!
I am actually a painter, albeit with much more detail, when I’m not working as a software tester (with a view of the Lipstick Building). You can see my art and dance (yes, I’m also a dancer) on my website: www.gaylemadeira.com.
ABOUT GAYLE
Gayle Gibbons Madeira is an award-winning painter, dancer and choreographer based in New York City. She is also a software tester and manages a software testing team in a major international financial institution.
Painting
An internationally recognized professional artist and dancer who grew up on a farm in Northern Virginia, Gayle Gibbons Madeira explores her fascination with the physical body through both media. In the words of the artist: “I am obsessed with figures and giving them the most honest representation that I can in artistic form.” As a painter, she shows an exceptional attention to detail and applies techniques that distinguish her work. Her black and white charcoal portraits on gesso board, like those featured in the film possess both painterly and graphic qualities. In these highly detailed, to-scale, tightly cropped portraits, every hair and wrinkle is visible. From afar, it is possible to mistake the drawings for black and white photographs. Upon closer inspection, the lines and shading, the trace of the hand, becomes apparent. Madeira has been working in this particular medium since 2009. She is also known for her animal portraits in watercolor which she creates using a unique dry-brush technique. Madeira’s work has been exhibited extensively in New York City and throughout the United States and her paintings are included in numerous private and institutional collections.
Last year, Gayle Madeira received an important commission from filmmaker Dan Eberle to produce original artwork to be included in his recent award-winning independent film titled “Prayer to a Vengeful God.” Drawn from still photographs, Madeira created intimate black and white portraits of each of the eight main characters capturing the essence of the film roles portrayed in the artworks. Each image acts as a marker beginning a new chapter of the film. Madeira’s work is further integrated into the narrative through the female lead who plays an artist whose work is actually Madeira’s. In her stark portraits, Madeira conveys the drama depicted in the film, which explores the contrast between comfortable domestic existence and the dark world of drugs, violence and murder, perhaps suggesting the fine line between the two. As a result of the artist’s contribution to the film, Madeira has received several private commissions. Her most recent completed work is a portrait of New York financier Barbara Huduck commissioned as a gift from her husband.
Dance
In her professional dance career, Gayle Gibbons Madeira has performed with many dance companies including: Gleich Contemporary Ballet, Merce Cunningham Repertory Understudy Group, David Gordon’s Pick-Up Dance Company, Antonio Ramos, Thingsezisee’m Dance Theater, Shapiro & Smith, DanceCompass, Phffft Dance Theater, D.D. Dorvillier and Matthew Nash Ballet, among others. Madeira also performed burlesque for many years, dancing the can-can with choreography by Denise Dalfo-Zay every Bastille Day at Restaurant Florent in New York City since 1993 and a variety of other burlesque dances in the same venue, some of which were her own choreography.
In 2006 Madeira started dancing Argentine tango. In July 2008, she won the U.S. Argentine Tango Championship with partner Lexa Roséan, then winning the salon category in 2011 with partner Sidney Grant. She has also had the great pleasure to perform Argentine Tango with Carlos Vera, Artem “Tioma” Maloratsky, Anton Gazenbeek, Raul Cabral, Jorge Juanatey, Monica Paz, and Walter Zylinski. Gayle has performed at various milongas in New York City including the Black and White Ball, the All Night Milonga, Milonga Rosa (and La Belle Epoque, the former name for this milonga), Mala Leche, RoKo, Armenonville, Lafayette Grill, Stepping Out, Studio 101 and Dance Manhattan.
Gayle Gibbons Madeira had her own dance company in New York City for three years and her choreography has been produced in numerous venues including: Dunois Theater (Paris, France), Spoleto Festival USA, Here Theater (NYC), Joyce SoHo, Ohio Theater, PACE University and SUNY Purchase. She has also worked with well-known theater and opera director Sam Helfrich on several projects including “The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny” (Opera Boston), “The Transparency of Val” (NYC, written by Stephen Belber), “In a Pig’s Valise” (Bard College, by Eric Overmyer), and “Mirandolina” (Manhattan School of Music).
Computer science
Gayle Gibbons Madeira began computer work in 1992 at Goldman Sachs as a professional end user with extensive experience in the entire Office Suite. She moved on to template creation and administration including working with Microsoft on high level issues, testing, documentation and technical writing. Madeira became a business analyst at Merrill Lynch in 2006 with continued technical writing and testing responsibilities. She is currently working as a quality assurance tester and manager of the quality assurance test team on a tool that automates financial trades for InterContinental Exchange. Her window at 875 3rd Avenue looks out directly onto the Lipstick Building providing the perfect canvas to alleviate stress at work.
Website: www.gaylemadeira.com
Linked In profile: www.linkedin.com/in/gaylemadeira
Youtube channel: www.youtube.com/user/gayleymadeira
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Gayle-Gibbons-Madeira-Artist-Dancer-Choreographer/186640521374514
