While most people may only recognize actor Billy Zane for his efforts in film, he is now solidifying his role as a talented painter. Zane, who began painting in 1997, was surrounded by some of the city’s most elite onlookers at this year’s Art Basel in Miami. He unveiled his newest collection entitled Nowness with much anticipation. Done in collaboration with Lionheart Capital, PPMG and the Rosenbaum Gallery, the invite-only reception was held on the sweeping terrace of the iconic Hotel Victor.
Zane’s signature paintings draw from the abstract expressionist and action painting movement. When asked about his method for painting, Zane explained, “So human, so primal, so total is the method, yet its name Action Painting is wonderfully simplistic, macho, and curiously incomplete in its service to the function. Its flaw is proof of life, and thus perfect.”
“As an actor, I don't like to over prepare a scene. It always will change, subject to a variety of conditions. I simply want to arrive on set and co-create based upon what is, and then wait for the beautiful accidents to occur; to seek the immediacy, the truth, the nowness. In painting, it's exactly the same thing, only better hours,” Zane said.
Having filmed more than 100 movies, Zane is most noticed for his role in Titanic, for which he won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Best Supporting Actor. Zane’s career as a painter shows no signs of slowing either, with three solo exhibitions in the U.S., as well as his first recent solo exhibition in London in November, he continues to have an impressive impact on the industry in both acting and painting.
