The Color and Whimsy of Max Gottfried

Max Gottfried not only collects comic books, he looks like he might have jumped out of one, with his Where's Waldo?-type glass frames and off-beat dress.

The colorful, whimsical Long Beach-based painter is a throwback to the true living, breathing aesthetic of the "artiste" in the Dali-esque sense: loud clothes, daring use of color and form, and a wonderful eloquence and kindness that comes from being in touch with one's gift.

All of this can be culled from Gottfried's collection of paintings on display at the Coffee Nut Café on East Park Avenue, now through Nov. 29.

Gottfried's New York City roots, his fascination with the pop art movement of the 1960s and his own lightness of being are all infused into his representational work, in which Madison Avenue meets Belgian surrealist artist René Magritte as caricatures of ultra-modern men and women that step out in bold colors and patterns, full of life and confidence. But to Gottfried, these "every day superheroes" often find themselves literally falling victim to the very metropolis that lifts them up.

"There's that connection with comic books," said Gottfried. "The color, the simplicity, and the stylization I've incorporated into my paintings. I take a little bit of here, a little bit of there. I like bright colors and patterns. I also like film noir, so you get these square-shouldered gangsters [in my paintings]."

Gottfried got his early start at the Pratt Institute in Manhattan and for years worked as a freelance illustrator for multiple advertising and marketing companies and campaigns. Deadlines and commitments stifled him, so he took control of his own creative destiny while also helping to shape the destiny of other artists as a teacher and mentor.

Gottfried has taught at Nassau Community College, the USDAN Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, a private Yeshiva in Lawrence, and the Hebrew Academy of Long Beach.

"The little ones are a lot of fun," Gottfried said. "I've had some amazing students. We see these kids that are almost prodigies. It's gratifying."

As he sat in the Coffee Nut recently, it became clear that his reach and influence as a teacher is real. Out of the blue, an admirer and potential student approached him. Bob D'Amico, a patron at the coffeehouse, strolled over and expressed a desire to sit-in on one of Gottfried's early classes at Nassau Community College.

"I never get up at 8 o' clock in the morning," said D'Amico. "But for this guy, I'll try."