About the Artist
Claudio Tortorelli
After working as a chef most of his life, mostly in Europe and in New York City, Claudio Tortorelli came to East Hampton, New York in 1982 and started to work as a gardener. His love and passion for art and for creating “things” was always present. “As far as I can remember, I always played with paints, crayons or anything I could find. When I was 3 or 4 years old I once put 2 potatoes together held by little pieces of wood I found in the yard. To me it was a beautiful little sculpture. My mother screamed at me for wasting good food and put it in the trash. What is art? I still don’t know…everything can become art.” Claudio’s style ranges from childish to semi-figurative abstract expressionism.