Dalton Portella Discusses Painting Animals, Running a Gallery & More

This week’s Dan’s Papers cover artist, Montauk’s Dalton Portella, discusses his exciting art  across a variety of subjects and media — including the cardinal depicted on our cover, which has a unique origin story — along with several upcoming exhibitions, and the possible return of his popular 484 Gallery this summer.

A Conversation with Dalton Portella

Tell me about this painting. You mentioned you made it under unusual circumstances compared to most of your work?

I was asked for photos of me actually painting for an article that was being written about me in The Express Magazine. I had a young photographer, Milan Foley at my studio, I was making prints for her to include in the inaugural exhibit of 484 Gallery which I opened in August of 2023. I gave her my camera and dove in to this painting of a cardinal I had photographed while gathering source material for a commission. I’m not comfortable painting in public, but I put aside my discomfort and  painted this, and the bird burst out in under 10 minutes, the wire and feet took a few more days until I couldn’t sleep and painted them in the middle of the night.

Along with birds, you’ve also painted some wonderful images of sharks, a rhino and other animals. Can you talk about that? Some are local to the East End, others couldn’t be farther away. What draws you to the creatures you paint?

They each have their own story. I have a fascination with crows, their intelligence, their color (I love black and the iridescence in their plumage), and their shape. A friend saw my crow paintings and asked me to paint a cardinal, which was his dead father in-law’s spirit bird. That initiated the cardinal paintings. I’m also inspired by ospreys and their resilience, thanks to Rachel Carson and Silent Spring. Egrets for their elegance. Sharks for their plight, elegance, power and for being so irrationally feared and hunted. They became compositional elements in a series of watercolors. I wanted to draw attention to their beauty.

The rhinos started with a series of photographs I shot on the beach at Ditch Plains in Montauk at sunset in January 2012 of my friend Davis Murphy’s life-sized rhino sculptures — the light was amazing and inspired the first paintings, which led me down a rabbit hole reading about their demise. We sold prints and donated proceeds to rhino conservation. They resurfaced as a theme when Peter Beard went missing during the pandemic, he was a conservationist as well as an amazing artist. I painted some rhinos for Peter.

You are also an accomplished photographer. Do the two mediums inform one another for you? Or are they two very different endeavors?

Thanks. Yes, I often use my photography as reference for my paintings. I also incorporate painting and photography together, I’m a digital artist as well. Often the photograph stands so strongly on its own that doing a painting of it would be pointless. The compositional elements that make a good painting feed the photography and vice versa.

You’ve spent the last two summers running 484 Gallery in Montauk. Does being on the other side of the business affect how you perceive and/or create your own work?

Sitting in the gallery, anonymously, watching strangers react to my paintings among others reaffirmed my belief that painting from my heart and following my instincts is the right path. I thought some of them might be too dark or visceral, but people would gravitate towards them and the response was extremely positive.

Speaking of 484 Gallery, are you planning to bring it back this year? If so, do you have a location yet or any shows planned?

There is a glimmer of hope that the gallery might be back. Stay tuned, subscribe to the mailing list at 484gallery.com and follow @484_gallery and @dltnart on Instagram.

Any other new projects or shows underway outside 484 Gallery?

I’m showing work in a group show at The Lucore Art gallery in Montauk opening April 26–May 13.

I’ve got work up at North Fork Art Collective in Greenport (207 Main Street) and will be showing with them over the summer.

I will be donating art to the LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton’s annual benefit in June or July.

I’m also I’m in a group show at the Clinton Academy in East Hampton (15 Main Street) celebrating a book launch, Light, Sand and Sea: Hamptons Artists and Their Studios. The reception is on May 10 from 5–7 p.m.

Where can people find your work, online or in-person?

I welcome studio visits in Montauk. Call 917-873-6409 or visit daltonportella.com, and follow me on Instagram: @dltnart and @dalton.artwork. I’m also on Facebook, facebook.com/dalton.portella.