Artist Domingo Zapata loves his Gramercy Park triplex so much that he sometimes doesn’t step out of it for weeks at a time. “When I’m in the midst of my creative process, I don’t leave the house,” says Zapata, enjoying a cigarette in his cozy living room beneath a Patrick McMullan paparazzi shot of Andy Warhol.
From the moment of entry, it’s easy to see why.
Zapata’s apartment is set inside an elegant 1850 townhouse with an Italianate façade that resembles the many grand European beauties overlooking Gramercy Park. But once visitors unlock the stately iron gates, they step into a world of whimsy — a blend of Old World glamour and New World creativity.
Zapata’s paintings are influenced by the European masters but in the context of today — a blend of modern wit and urban grit. The work is prominently displayed throughout his home, where weekly salon-style dinner parties lure writers like Salman Rushdie and Hollywood stars, artists, philosophers, politicians and musicians, including Johnny Depp, Lindsay Lohan, Ron Burkle and Carlos Slim.
“When I held a fundraiser for Bill de Blasio here in October 2013, he called it ‘the best studio apartment ever,’ ” says Zapata, who moved in last July.
Hardly a “studio” in NYC-apartmentese. At 8,600 square feet, the four-bedroom, three-bathroom apartment features separate dining, entertaining, sleeping and work spaces.
Zapata lives on the first three floors of the townhouse, which is owned by music producer John “Jellybean” Benitez, who got his start, personally and professionally, collaborating with Madonna back in the early 1980s. Two other tenants, with separate entrances, occupy the top two floors.
The first level features a chef’s kitchen — Zapata loves to cook for family and friends — and a tree-filled garden, along with a laundry room, housekeeping room and powder room.
Upstairs, there’s a dining room and his painting studio, which also showcases a 1916 Steinway grand piano.
On the third floor is the master bedroom along with two guest rooms and an entertainment room filled with photos of Zapata with his boys, Domingo Jr., 5, and Paul, 4. The boys live in Saratoga, NY, with their mother, Stacy Belyea, but visit Zapata regularly.
In his studio hangs a commissioned portrait of billionaire Stewart Rahr on the cover of Forbes magazine, along with paintings of Superman and James Bond. They’re just a few of the pieces Zapata creates in New York, where he spends the majority of his time; he also keeps a studio in Miami’s Design District, where he creates his post-abstract representational art and sculpture.
Currently, Zapata is preparing a mural for the lobby of the city’s Freedom Tower. Other commissions include a panel for the newly restored Colosseum in Rome and the lobby of the Plaza Hotel.
Yet even amid such success, Zapata appears grounded — retaining a sort of innocence, charm and passion that is rooted in his homeland: the Spanish island of Mallorca. It was there that he was raised by a tailor-mother and car painter-father.
“When I told my parents I wanted to be an artist, it was like I told them I was a bank robber,” says Zapata, whose parents are now divorced. Still, they supported him. “I came to New York with nothing but a dream. New York gave me the opportunity. The city inspired me to be myself. It was like coming out of the closet. I tried being an artist, and it worked. Here I am,” says Zapata, who arrived in New York in 1997.
And New York, it seems, is where Zapata truly feels inspired — particularly at home. “This is my dream house. I’d like to be here forever,” Zapata says. “Having the townhouse means that I can disconnect. I don’t need to interact with New York, and yet, at other times, I need it.”
When Zapata does step outside, he loves to play pool and have a few drinks at the Rose Bar at the Gramercy Park Hotel, and dine at area restaurants such as Casa Mono, Bar Jamón and Gramercy Tavern. He also enjoys using the private key to Gramercy Park.
It’s all a far cry from his first rental in The Bronx 15 years ago. From there it was a straight rise upward, first to SoHo and, later, to a striking penthouse in the Bowery Hotel, and ultimately to Gramercy Park.
In the library, by the fireplace, are matador jackets that Zapata transformed into sculpture.
“The bullfighting jackets have the energy of the fight, the fear of death and the search for glory. You can still see the sweat. I try to express all that with my art,” Zapata says.
“They are part of my heritage. I have friends who are bullfighters. They are the gladiators of today, whatever you think of bullfighting.” Picasso portrayed them in his 1933 and 1934 bullfighting paintings, including “Bullfight: Death of the Toreador.” This is Zapata’s nod to his culture as well.
The library also contains a 20-volume set of the complete works of Charles Dickens, published in 1936 by the New York Post. Zapata found them in an antique shop in the Bowery.
“I love the taste of history,” Zapata says. “This house is from the 1850s. That was another New York, and I can experience it and mix it with today’s New York.”
