For the last decade, Francesco LoCastro has been South Florida's thoroughfare to the national New Contemporary art scene, as both a respected artist and as the curator of intrepid art exhibitions.

LoCastro was born in Catania, Italy in 1976, raised in Germany, and transplanted to sunny-yet-strange Ft. Lauderdale during high school. His collegiate employment at a commercial art studio opened his mind to art as a life-long career as a curator and painter, which in 2000, lead him to found Pop Art Studios, a creative services company, commercial art   design studio and launch pad for LoCastro's diverse art projects.

In 2006, his group exhibition during Art Basel Miami Beach at the Art Center / South Florida received numerous art industry accolades. LoCastro, who continues to push the boundaries of emerging art at home and abroad, with exhibitions scheduled in Rome, London & Berlin for 2009, is also featured among the 100 distinguished artists to forge the South Florida art community in the definitive book "Miami Contemporary Artists" released by Schiffer Publishing in 2007.

Furthermore, LoCastro was recently named Executive Director of New York-based arts organization Gen Art's 1st Annual Vanguard Art Fair, the first fair of its kind to emphasize emerging trends of the Street Art and Pop Surrealist movements, which will take place in Miami during Art Basel 2008.

LoCastro lives in South Florida with his wife and two cats.