The Palm Beach Photographic Centre Awards Committee and Executive Director's Office have chosen Laurence Gartel to receive the Foto Mentor Awardat FotoFusion 2009. The decision has come acknowledging Mr. Gartel's lifetime achievements pushing photography and image creation to new horizons. As a true pioneer of the digital aesthetic he will be honored at the FotoFusion banquet and will be highlighted as a role model for a new generation. Previous recipients have included Gordon Parks, Sebastio Selgado, Arnold Newman, Ruth Bernhard and Duane Michals. Laurence Gartel is the first Digital Artist to be given the Award. His innovative and groundbreaking Digital Art over 30-years sets him apart. At the tender age of 19 he was working with video guru Nam June Paik at Media Study, Buffalo and by time he was 24 he was already in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Gimpel Witzenhoffer recognized Mr. Gartel's early vision and included his work in the 1982 exhibition at the University of Oklahoma, Norman, with such artists as Robert Mapplethorpe. Laurence Gartel's work is completely original and clearly unique. Gartel has exhibited his work at the Joan Whitney Payson Museum, Norton Museum of Art, Musee Francais de la Photographie, Bibliotheque Nationale, Museum of Modern Art, Long Beach Museum of Art, Robert Rauschenberg Gallery at Edison College,including recent acquisition into the permanent collection of the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum, London.
In addition to receiving the Award there will be an exhibition of Mr. Gartel's work which will take place in the Photographic Centre's Museum and will be the opening night event of FotoFusion 2009. Laurence Gartel will also give a multimedia presentation for the Master Series Lecture. The Fourteenth Annual FotoFusion Festival takes place January 27th- 31st 2009. The Palm Beach Photographic Centre is located in Delray Beach, Florida.