Bradford J. Salamon

Common Objects, Uncommon People

July 15, 2017 - September 3, 2017

Bradford J. Salamon was born in Los Angeles, California to a creative family. His father Joseph enjoyed painting and his mother Mary Lou loved to write and play piano. Salamon learned how to play the drums at 13 and when he was 16 he started performing with several bands in local nightclubs, schools and churches. When he was 18, he did the drawings for the album cover of his band Idle Lovell which was then signed to Blonde Vinyl Records. 

When his talent became apparent, Salamon’s father began publishing charcoal drawings that Salamon was doing of rock and roll stars and other celebrities. Within a few years over 100 subjects were published and distributed to nationwide retailers like Virgin Megastores and Tower Records.

In his mid-thirties after graduating with a college degree in art and studying abroad, his journey led him back to portraiture. He began painting in oil and was highly influenced by Lucian Freud and Alice Neal. From 1996 to 1999 Salamon was chosen as an official Grammy artist by The National Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Salamon began painting friends, family members, musicians and many LA area artists, such as Don Bachardy, Andy Moses, Llyn Foulkes and Roland Reiss. His paintings showcase his signature texture, boldness and economy of brush strokes.

In addition to portraits, in 2011 Salamon saw an old toy car left in his studio by one of his daughters. Using a new painting technique, he realized it was not just a still life that he had painted, but a portrait of an utilitarian and often vintage object such as: aspirin bottles, typewriters, robots, radios and stereo turntables. Pleased with the results, he began a new series of object paintings that became his main focus along with his continued interested in portraiture. His works have been on display in a number of California museums, including the Laguna Art Museum, the Bakersfield Museum of Art, the Lancaster Museum of Art and recently the Hilbert Museum of California Art.