When I first visited Gentile’s studio in Bali it was like going to a museum of twentieth century art.  I felt like a kid in a candy store.  As an art lover and a student of art history I experienced the joy of being moved by works with meaning and depth. When viewing his work, His training, skill, influences became evident on his canvases.  He is an artist who creates unique and vibrant work yet is unafraid to show the influences of his predecessors.  Paying homage to the masters, his pieces burst with the creativity and excitement of twentieth century art.
    Most creators, including musicians and writers, experiment and go through changes throughout their careers in order to develop their own personal style.  Along this road Gentile has worked his way through various creative disciplines during his evolution as an artist.  This progression is evident his work.  When viewing the body of his work one can observe his journey through various artistic traditions.  These traditions are a springboard, or departure point, from which the development of his personal artistic voice began.
    Having made stops at numerous creative stages during his development, vestiges of various art movements and schools are detectable in Gentile’s work.  Moving from one work to another is like taking an exciting train ride through art history.  All aboard!…first stop Abstract Expressionism.  Next stop Fauvism where you can see a Matisse like influence in his graceful figure studies.  If you look out the left side of the train you will have a magnificent view of works inspired by Dada and Surrealism.  Next we’ll pass through the New York School where works influenced by Rothko, Raushenburg, Jasper Johns, and Franz Kline can be seen.  Further along, we’ll visit Viennese Secessionism where the bold, expressive lines of figurative nudes resonate Kokoshka and Schiele.  If you keep your eyes peeled you may be able to see sculpture, and mobiles perhaps inspired by such greats as Brancusi and Calder.
    These influences are part of the ingredients he mixes into his recipe in an attempt to synthesize these random and often disparate elements to arrive at something entirely unique and personal.
    By no means is his style limited to that inspired or influenced by western art.  As the art train takes a sharp turn one will observe the huge impact Asia and the Orient has had upon his work.  The blending of Eastern and Western styles results in some truly magical pieces.
    This New Yorker transplanted to Bali has produced a remarkable oeuvre, blending a myriad of sources and influences spanning the reaches of time and the corners of the globe.  Those with knowledge of art history, as well as the uninitiated, will thoroughly enjoy this collection of contemporary art works tracing the evolution of a visionary artist moving from one century into the next.

Montgomery Monfore

    With special thanks to the friends and fellow travellers who I have met along the way, all of my friends in my hometown New York City, my adopted home of the last twenty years, Bali, my friends and associates in Kathmandu, India and Ibiza, for their support over the years and their encouragement and assistance with this effort. I’de like to give particular thanks to Rachel Lovelock for her infinite patience and her ability to find a thread of sanity between the chaos and the madness in all of this.
    To Cryll for his artistry and patience in the photographs of these works; to Patricia Bos for helping with the layouts, to Monty and Zante for their time and wise words; to Dee Mytton for her photos and encouragement; to Nyoman Pendik, Freddie Hartono and Lukas Adi W for their technical wizardry, to my family for not letting me forget that they’re still there, to the sages and sadhus, fellow artists and musicians who provided the inspiration for many of these works; Zulu for his faithful companionship; Ibu Ayu for her great nasi campurs and all my brothers and sisters - fellow members of our nomadic tribe the world over.