Eau Gallie artist Derek Gores designs Playboy cover for Hugh Hefner special tribute edition

Rick Neale | Florida Today

Celebrating a legacy Colorful collage includes fragments of Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol, other famous Playboy covers

MELBOURNE — Two days after legendary Playboy founder Hugh Hefner died in late September, Eau Gallie artist Derek Gores emailed the magazine a brief proposal offering his services.

Time-lapse video: Hugh Hefner Playboy cover See how collage artist Derek Gores created the Hugh Hefner Playboy cover in this time-lapse video.

Now, Gores' brand of pop surrealism is immortalized in vintage colors on the cover of Playboy's 120-page special tribute edition to Hefner's legacy.

Using hundreds of bits of paper culled from the Playboy magazine archives, working in his industrial-loft studio on Eau Gallie Boulevard, Gores created a collage portrait of Hefner based on a classic photo of the media pioneer smoking a pipe.

"I snuck Farrah Fawcett in there, because I know my dad would have liked that from the ‘70s. I also use a lot of text as well, so I included their original record review for ‘Purple Rain’ and included a David Lee Roth interview. And just little details that matter to me," Gores said.

“All the way from the ‘50s, there’s something in there from every decade that covers not only the sex appeal stuff, but the political articles and the biting reviews and the reports on music and authors and everything. I think it sums up the man’s legacy and life in pictures," he said.

“I probably used the most iconic picture of him, the one with the pipe. In the original, it’s got a dark background — but I changed that. It’s him looking back out at us with his pipe, made up of and surrounded by the media legacy that he created," he said.

At the last minute, Gores decided to create a Playboy masthead at the top of his collage by cutting out P-L-A-Y-B-O-Y from various magazines.

"It gives that kind of ransom-note fun look of it. Came out cool," Gores said.

Playboy's tribute issue to Hefner hit newsstands nationwide on Tuesday. The back cover is a reproduction of Andy Warhol's famous January 1986 bunny logo cover.

Chris Deacon, Playboy's creative director, thinks Gores' cover was brilliant — "it was kind of a beautiful, poetic way to celebrate the man."

"With Derek, testament to him: He was one of the easiest artists I've ever worked with," Deacon said during a phone interview from Los Angeles.

"He was personable. He was lovely. I've never met the guy — but he couldn't have been easier to work with. There were a few changes we had to make, just a few tiny tweaks. He did those with no hassle. He's like a joy to work with, really," Deacon said.

"And he nailed it. He absolutely nailed it," he said.

Gores continues to gain a global audience His client list includes the Orlando Magic, E! Entertainment, Prada, Lenny Kravitz, Heineken and U2

Not surprisingly, Gores believes the Playboy cover is one of the highest-profile pieces of his career.

"It's a big one. I've had some big ones. But maybe this is the biggest yet," Gores said. "Especially in the publishing world, this’ll probably be a new level of visibility for me."

But — surprising to casual Space Coast art fans — the Satellite Beach resident has already racked up an impressive list of artistic accomplishments spanning the globe.

After graduating from Satellite High in 1989, Gores studied art at the Rhode Island School of Design. He worked for a dozen years as creative art director at V.F. Imagewear in Tampa, where the firm's clients included ESPN and the NFL.

In 2009, President Barack Obama signed a collage portrait that Gores created for a "Manifest Hope: DC" gallery exhibition commemorating his inauguration.

There's something scrappy about this Hugh Hefner 'Playboy' cover Derek Gores of Melbourne created a collage for "Playboy" magazine’s tribute issue of the late High Hefner. Video posted Nov. 22, 2017, by Tim Shortt, FLORIDA TODAY

Then in 2013, Gores designed the Kentucky Derby commemorative poster and the cover of TLC's 20th anniversary album.

Today, Gores' works are on display at ArtClub Gallery in Paris, LUMAS Berlin, 19 Karen Contemporary Artspace in Australia, Thinkspace Gallery in Los Angeles and the Laguna Gallery of Contemporary Art, among other galleries and studios.

In March, Gores traveled to Vienna, Austria, where he created a collage using photos of European Congress of Radiology convention attendees during a five-day commission. Two weeks ago, Gores exhibited during the Boutique Design New York trade fair.

Last month, Intracoastal Brewing Co. even featured his butterfly collage "Fly By Night" on limited-edition cans of Double Black IPA.

He opened his namesake Derek Gores Gallery in March 2014 around the corner from his previous studio, EGAD! Art Lab. He conducts workshops on collage art and wet charcoal drawing; hosts the Not Quite Right Comedy Improv Troupe; and offers various fashion, film and musical mash-up events.

"Somehow, I've evolved into collaborating: It's always art plus something else. I make two-dimensional art, but I like bringing in the other senses," Gores said, seated at a small table near his gallery's front windows.

"People like the mixing. People like the blending, the multi-function kind of stuff. I've done art plus dance a couple times. I've done art and fashion several times. We had art plus tech — Groundswell (Startups) started here."

Anti-Gravity Project now underway Gores co-curated the 10-day festival, which will add 19 colorful outdoor murals across Eau Gallie

Gores is past president of the Eau Gallie Arts District, a nonprofit dedicated to awakening the small, once-sleepy downtown surrounding Highland Avenue. His gallery serves as an anchor.

"This is where I make my art, but the larger neighborhood is where we make our art. Undoubtedly, lots more eyeballs on the district. Talk about 2007, there's so many more people now," Gore said.

"I don’t know if they're flying their freak flag or what, but more people in the county are letting their personality out," he said.

"We think of it down here as living in full color. You've got enough of the world that's kind of cookie-cutter and mass production. We’ve got the handmade, the colorful personality. And there’s room for everybody to find their inner artist," he said.

Gores is co-curator and key organizer of the 10-day Anti-Gravity Project festival that kicked off Friday in Eau Gallie. A roster of international, national and local artists will paint 21 outdoor murals, and spectators will help create some wall images.

Confirmed artists include Fanakapan from London, Mando Marie and Hyland Mather from Amsterdam, Matt Gondek from Los Angeles, Michelle Tanguay from Detroit, and Hoxxoh from Miami.

Saturday night, Gores' gallery will host the Anti-Gravity Project VIP reception for the mural artists with art exhibits, dance collaboration and live music. The mural festival culminates with a Dec. 2 block party.

"I think people will see it's so far beyond artists wanting to decorate a wall. This is our way of revitalizing. Art is like proof of life. When you can see a mural, it gives you a hint of the passion and activity that happens in a place," Gores said.

"Art is a connector. Art says things that words cannot. And it’s been a tough year of venomous disconnection, I think, out there in the country. And art has the potential to heal and grow, and bond. I think you'll see that this week."

Neale is South Brevard watchdog reporter at FLORIDA TODAY.

Contact Neale at 321-242-3638

or rneale@floridatoday.com.

Twitter: @rickneale1