(NOrth HOllywood, CA – September 29, 2005) –Now is the time to say goodbye – arrivederci – to the Italian images of the Godfather, John Gotti and “la cosa nostra” and welcome the positive images of Italians who have, are and will make positive contributions to the world of art. ART is the Italian Way…ART is “La Cosa Nostra.” In honor of Italian-American Heritage Month, NoHo Gallery LA dedicates the month of October to Los Angeles’ brightest Italian-American VISUAL Artists and Italian-inspired art representing a variety of mediums and styles in the “ART: La Cosa Nostra” Group Show. The show will feature L.A.’s new rising artist Thom Bierdz and the water color series of Leslie Marcus from October 2-29 at NoHo Gallery LA (www.nohogalleryla.com)in the NoHo Arts District. Join us in celebrating the positive images of Italians at our artist reception party on Saturday, October 22 from 4-8PM, featuring fine art, music, food and wine. Polish-Italian American painter, Thom Bierdz, former Young & the Restless star and VOX and Out magazine’s Emerging Voices of Style + Design Award recipient, is NoHo Gallery LA’s featured artist showing that Art is “His Way” of overcoming horrendous tragedies. The brutal murder of his beloved mother at the hands of his paranoid schizophrenic brother in 1989 ended Thom’s 20s and his three-year gig as a regular on the soap opera The Young and the Restless. Most of his 30s were spent in silent catharsis as he labored intensively over his art, motivated by the primal desire to make sense of the matricide. In 2000, another blow would enter the artist’s life when his other brother, in a paranoid depression, committed suicide. Thom’s need to express his inner fears became an obsession. “Each painting became an earnest attempt to make sense out of the senseless; to make something beautiful out of something tragic,” says Thom. ART became “His Way” to deal with personal tragedy and what emerges from his personal journey onto the canvas is at times heartbreaking, haunting and profoundly affecting. “Thom’s body of work ultimately proves to be an inspiring experience of the resilience of the human spirit,” says NoHo Gallery LA curator, Daniel C. DeBevoise. “The ‘Art: La Cosa Nostra’ exhibit has a dual purpose: to say goodbye to negative images of the Italian community via art; and with Thom, to show how art can be “our way” to say goodbye and to heal.” Contradictory strategies for painting have quickly become Bierdz’s hallmark. Although he uses the same touch throughout, it can at times appear to be a number of different voices, even personalities. The reluctance to lay claim to a fixed position might at one time have been attributed to youth but it is clearly now an integral aspect of Bierdz's methodology. Nothing is by chance. Even when the form appears to be a sort of free association, that’s really his expertise in terms of handling paint. The process is at times extremely rigorous and other times purely subconscious. His paintings prove cunningly hard to pin down. One painting might be purely decorative abstraction; another, an architectural interior or a figurative work. A single landscape might contain the following: asymmetrical branches that engulf a whimsical cabin, naïve animals that refer to Henri Rousseau’s paintings, atmospheric washes that evoke Rothko’s use of vivid color and bold strokes of shapes that seem to pay homage to Matisse. The “ART: La Cosa Nostra” Group Show features a blend of artists, highlighting our eclectic Italian roots and influences. “ART: La Cosa Nostra” Group Show October 2 – 29 Artist Reception: Saturday, October 22 from 4-8PM 5108 Lankershim Blvd. NoHo Arts District (North Hollywood) www.nohogalleryla.com NoHo Gallery LA was created to give all artists of all mediums a platform in which to promote their work. Curator Daniel Coronado DeBevoise’s goal is to see art in every home and artists successfully immersed in their art. NoHo Gallery LA, a division of NoHo Communications Group, is housed in the historic Lankershim Arts Center, built c. 1939 as a DWP building, renovated by the City of Los Angeles and is now a designated historic landmark. The center is also home to the award-winning Road Theatre Company making it a true center for the arts. The NoHo Arts District is home to more than 20 theatres, diverse art galleries, public art, professional dance studios, music recording venues, annual festivals, international dining options and a myriad of clothing and specialty shops. NoHo is “Where the Arts Are Made.” For more information on the NoHo Arts District, visit www.nohoartsdistrict.com. ###

Thom Bierdz

Leslie Marcus