Easy Leaf Products 23K Gold Leaf Used to Gild a Cross at USC
LOS ANGELES (July 3, 2012) – Easy Leaf Products, a division of Neuberg & Neuberg Importers Group, Inc., is pleased to announce Giusto Manetti 23 Karat Deep Gold Leaf was used to gild a cross at USC Caruso Catholic Center by well-known multi-media artist Victor Raphael.
The USC Caruso Catholic Center is the hub of USC, functioning as a gathering place for students to help them thrive in all their endeavors while in college. It would be none other than an honor to contribute anything to the facility and this man, Victor Raphael, was fortunate enough to have an opportunity to do so.
In 2012, Victor Raphael was hired to gild a 10 foot by 5 foot steel cross that weighed almost 300 pounds. The process of gilding the cross started in April and took about a month, involving several different steps that included: multiple coats of an under sealer which was the Gold Leaf & Metallic Powders #51 Sparkle Gold – Mica Powder in a lacquer base media and several layers of Giusto Manetti 23 Karat Deep Gold Leaf. After the leafing was completed, the cross stayed in Victor’s studio for almost a week curing and drying before it was installed. On May 7, the cross was mounted 80 feet high atop the Bell Tower of the newly rebuilt Our Savior Parish and USC Caruso Catholic Center; it is the crowning jewel of the Center. Although the cross has already been resurrected, the Center is scheduled to open in the fall of 2012. Victor was initially contacted about this project by the USC community; he was already a familiar artist within the community due to his 30-year survey exhibit at the USC Fisher Museum of Art.
Larry Neuberg, President of Easy Leaf Products, said about the project, “Victor and I have developed an outstanding relationship throughout the years and it was an honor to work with him on this project. I can’t even begin to describe what a miraculous day it was in Southern California to see that cross mounted on the tower. This was an extraordinary opportunity and I’m thrilled Easy Leaf Products was a part of it”.
Thousands of people see gold crosses on a daily basis, whether it is dangling from a necklace or simply just décor in a friend’s home; but certainly few have seen a cross this spectacular. It has become quite a spectacle and the buzz on campus; several university events are held at the Caruso Catholic Center throughout the year, from Sunday mass to Catholic Olympics to the yearly Baccalaureate service, and the cross Victor gilded makes the area so much more meaningful to the students of USC.
For more information and to purchase gold leaf, visit www.easyleafproducts.com. Images, a video showcasing the creation process and additional information are available upon request.
ABOUT VICTOR RAPHAEL
Victor Raphael is a multi-media artist, who works in painting, photography, printmaking, video and digital technology often combining new and old technologies (i.e. applying metal and gold leaf to the surface of Polaroid’s). Victor Raphael also has a long history of working in video, beginning in the mid 1970s; he has produced and directed both documentaries and art videos. Most of his projects and artworks are self-originated and he has become known for using gold and metal leaf in his artwork. For more information, visit www.victorraphael.com