Philip Barlow

Philip Barlow
Born 1968 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Philip describes his work as a step towards abstraction. It is primarily the exploration of light and the relationship of colour, where he at first captures his images with a camera and then translates them into a painted format. He is interested in the concept of capturing “the moment”, a millisecond in time when everything lines up perfectly. His paintings seek to explore and demonstrate this, rather like a wonderfully composed climax of a symphony, a perfect marriage. His paintings also give us a glimpse in time where form, light and colour come together in all their complexity. Philip has a deep appreciation and love for the power and science of colour. Careful tonal shifts and subtlety characterize his work and the blurred image enabled by the camera lens creates new but familiar understandings of form and the relationship between people and place. He is fascinated with the common notion that everything is random when there can be no question that there is design in everything. His is a philosophy of harmony, where even in the grit and grime of a city there is immense beauty to be discovered. A beauty that lies between the imperceptible and the unknown.

Artist:
Philip Barlow

Born 1968 in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. Philip describes his work as a step towards abstraction. It is primarily the exploration of light and the relationship of colour, where he at first captures his images with a camera and then translates them into a painted format. He is interested in the concept of capturing “the moment”, a millisecond in time when everything lines up perfectly. His paintings seek to explore and demonstrate this, rather like a wonderfully composed climax of a symphony, a perfect marriage. His paintings also give us a glimpse in time where form, light and colour come together in all their complexity. Philip has a deep appreciation and love for the power and science of colour. Careful tonal shifts and subtlety characterize his work and the blurred image enabled by the camera lens creates new but familiar understandings of form and the relationship between people and place. He is fascinated with the common notion that everything is random when there can be no question that there is design in everything. His is a philosophy of harmony, where even in the grit and grime of a city there is immense beauty to be discovered. A beauty that lies between the imperceptible and the unknown.

Biography

1974 - 1986 Rhodes Estate Prep School, Matopes, Zimbabwe St Andrews College, Grahamstown, South Africa 1987 - 1990 Diploma in Graphic Fine Art (Printing, Stained Glass and Photography) from Port Elizabeth Technikon (Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University) 1991 - 1994 Travels Europe while developing his talent. Produces approximately 500 portaits in pastel and charcoal, painted 8 murals and completes around 200 watercolour / pen and ink drawings. 1995 - 2001 Executes murals and ceiling paintings in various homes and corporate spaces. Years distinguished by extensive exploration of other creative aspects of painting. 2002 A new style in his work sees abstraction taking the focus, an offshoot of previous discoveries. Teaches foundational drawing skills to adults. 2003 This Thing of Light - first solo exhibition at the Association of Visual Arts, Cape Town 2004 Identity - group exhibition of South African artists Fortis Circustheater, Scheveningen, Holland Glow - solo exhibition at Obert Contemporary, Johannesburg 2005 Solo exhibition at the Association of Visual Arts, Cape Town 2006 De Light - solo exhibition at Obert Contemporary, Johannesburg 2008 Vapor - solo exhibition at Obert Contemporary, Johannesburg Luminosity - solo exhibition at Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town 2009 Boréal Publishers use “Passing” for a book cover by Dany Laferrière, L`Enigme du Retour. Art That Inspires - 10-20 Anniversary - group exhibition at Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town. Group exhibition at Hespe Gallery, San Franciso, USA. 2010 Light Train - solo exhibition at Obert Contemproary, Johannesburg. 2011 Persona - group exhibition at Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town. Group exhibition at Hespe Gallery, San Francisco, USA. The Homestead Charity Art Auction at Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town. Boréal Publishers print a second ‘compact’ version of the Dany Laferrière novel, L`Enigme du Retour. 2012 -scape - group exhibition at Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town. 2013 Allusions of Abstraction - group exhibition at Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town. the colour of light - solo exhibition at Johans Borman Fine Art, Cape Town. 2014 Summer Salon Show - group exhibition at Rarity Gallery, Mykonos Greece. Winter Exhibition - group exhibition at Everard Read, Cape Town. 2015 Summer in the City - group exhibition at Everard Read, Cape Town. the anatomy of colour - first solo (sell out) exhibition at Everard Read, Cape Town. 2016 Solo studios - group show at The Gallery, Riebeek Kasteel Reality Check - group show at Everard Read, Cape Town 2017 Group exhibition - Summer Exhibition, Everard Read London Group exhibition - @ CIRCA Winter collection, Cape Town Solo studios - group show at The Gallery, Riebeek Kasteel still motion - second solo exhibition at Everard Read, Cape Town 2018 still motion II - solo exhibition at Everard Read, London 28th Février Singapore - first solo exhibition 2019 solo studios - group show at The Gallery, Riebeek Kasteel between broadway and 42nd - third solo exhibition at Everard Read, Cape Town 2020 intersections - first solo exhibition at Galerie LeRoyer, Montreal, Canada 2021 slowing a split second - second solo show at Everard Read, London 2022 investec cape town art fair - with Everard Read, Cape Town miami art fair - with Galerie Le Royer summer group show - Everard Read, Cape Town 2023 african american museum, dallas - if you look hard enough, you can see our future urban glory - solo exhibition with Bugno Gallery, Venice, Italy

Anthony Kosiso Attah

Anthony Kosiso Attah
Anthony Kosiso Attah is a hyper-realism artist. He was born and lives in Enugu in Nigeria being the only artst in his family for two generatons. He has faced a considerable amount of struggle in his pursuit of the ultmate need to express his ideals and emotions. Kosisochukwu has a Diploma in fine art. His journey into art started when he drew his uncle. He made a drawing of his uncle when he was still tender and it was perfect. He was amazed and he said in the next years to come that he'd be very good at drawing that he should just believe in himself. In 2018 he was depressed and fustratated, He heard a voice in he's head saying "BELIEVE". He drew his first personal project "titled "BELIEVE". It is his only way of expressing hidden emotons, dreams and fantasies, giving a louder voice, he learnt from Ebube Onyenwe. This is something he has always intended and dreamt of doing. Aiming only at shining a bright spotlight on his inner thoughts, emotions and strong ideas he has been forced to suppress due to his family background..

Artist:
Anthony Kosiso Attah

Anthony Kosiso Attah is a hyper-realism artist. He was born and lives in Enugu in Nigeria being the only artst in his family for two generatons. He has faced a considerable amount of struggle in his pursuit of the ultmate need to express his ideals and emotions. Kosisochukwu has a Diploma in fine art. His journey into art started when he drew his uncle. He made a drawing of his uncle when he was still tender and it was perfect. He was amazed and he said in the next years to come that he'd be very good at drawing that he should just believe in himself. In 2018 he was depressed and fustratated, He heard a voice in he's head saying "BELIEVE". He drew his first personal project "titled "BELIEVE". It is his only way of expressing hidden emotons, dreams and fantasies, giving a louder voice, he learnt from Ebube Onyenwe. This is something he has always intended and dreamt of doing. Aiming only at shining a bright spotlight on his inner thoughts, emotions and strong ideas he has been forced to suppress due to his family background..

Spannungsleben

Spannungsleben
Es sind Wimmelbilder im Rausch von Assoziationen. Die Gemälde stehen im Zeichen der Vielfalt, verfügen aber über eine ihnen inhärente Ordnung und Harmonie, die erst bei weiterem kontemplativem Sehen aufkommt. So steht es auch mit dem Leben selbst. Kann das Leben nur allzu oft chaotisch erscheinen, hat es doch seine Strukturen in all seinen Facetten und Perspektiven. Die Gemälde der Künstlerin Veronika Spleiss verbildlichen diesen Prozess in zweidimensionalem Stil, stehen aber aufgrund ihrer Formenvielfalt für eine multiperspektivische Öffnung zum Leben. Ganz im Sinne Friedrich Nietzsches wird der Aspekt des Perspektivischen als die „Grundbedingung allen Lebens“ gezeigt (JGB, KSA 5, S. 12). Denn Leben umfasst ein Ganzes. Der Mensch selbst hat aber keinen Zugang zu diesem. Der Lebende ist immer an seine eigene Perspektive und Sichtweise auf die Welt gebunden, der eine gewisse eigene Ordnung innewohnt. Die Werke spielen mit diesen Aspekten. Mehr noch, die Künstlerin versucht Leben in ihren vielseitigen Perspektiven grafisch zu visualisieren. Für den Betrachter bedeutet dies in erster Linie Chaos – eine vermeintlich chaotische Zusammenfügung verschiedener Sichtweisen, die aus dem Schwarz beziehungsweise Nichts hervortreten. Jedes Teilchen, jede geometrische Form steht dabei für sich allein, nähert sich jedoch an die anderen Formen an und stellt so eine notwendige Verbindung her.

Artist:
Veronika Spleiss

Biografie

Die deutsche Künstlerin Veronika Spleiss, geboren 1993, deren Wurzeln in Estland und Russland liegen, beschäftigt sich seit mehr als fünfzehn Jahren mit visueller bildender Kunst. Unter Anleitung der Künstlerin Natalia Zurakowska erlernte Spleiss die Techniken der Malerei, Grafik und Illustration. Nach ihrem Studium der französischen und russischen Literaturwissenschaft als auch der politischen Theorie in München, Clermont-Ferrand und Passau (M.A.) wendete sie sich vollständig dem künstlerischen Schaffen zu. Die Künstlerin lebt und arbeitet in Essen und München. Veronika Spleiss hat an zahlreichen Ausstellungen und internationalen Kunstmessen in Deutschland, Italien, der Schweiz und den USA teilgenommen. Ihre Werke befinden sich unter anderem in der ständigen Sammlung des Hunderwasserhauses "Grüne Zitadelle" in Magdeburg, Deutschland. Die Malerin wurde für zwei Kunstpreise nominiert, für den YAS Award 2020 und den Renate Hendricks & Valentine Rothe Preis 2021. Ihre Werke befinden sich in Privatsammlungen auf der ganzen Welt: in Japan, Frankreich, der Schweiz, Deutschland, Österreich und den USA.

Über den Stil von Veronika Spleiss

Der erste Blick auf das Werk der Künstlerin eröffnet ein berauschendes Fest an Formen und Farben. Auf den zweiten Blick offenbaren sich jedoch aus weißen und farbenprächtigen Fragmentstücken assoziative prägnante Formen der Realität – und auf Metaebene ihre Geschichten. Es sind Wimmelbilder im Rausch von Assoziationen. Die Gemälde stehen im Zeichen der Vielfalt, verfügen aber über eine ihnen inhärente Ordnung und Harmonie, die erst bei weiterem kontemplativem Sehen aufkommt. So steht es auch mit dem Leben selbst. Kann das Leben nur allzu oft chaotisch erscheinen, hat es doch seine Strukturen in all seinen Facetten und Perspektiven. Die Gemälde der Künstlerin Veronika Spleiss verbildlichen diesen Prozess in zweidimensionalem Stil, stehen aber aufgrund ihrer Formenvielfalt für eine multiperspektivische Öffnung zum Leben. Ganz im Sinne Friedrich Nietzsches wird der Aspekt des Perspektivischen als die „Grundbedingung allen Lebens“ gezeigt (JGB, KSA 5, S. 12). Denn Leben umfasst ein Ganzes. Der Mensch selbst hat aber keinen Zugang zu diesem. Der Lebende ist immer an seine eigene Perspektive und Sichtweise auf die Welt gebunden, der eine gewisse eigene Ordnung innewohnt. Die Werke spielen mit diesen Aspekten. Mehr noch, die Künstlerin versucht Leben in ihren vielseitigen Perspektiven grafisch zu visualisieren. Für den Betrachter bedeutet dies in erster Linie Chaos – eine vermeintlich chaotische Zusammenfügung verschiedener Sichtweisen, die aus dem Schwarz beziehungsweise Nichts hervortreten. Jedes Teilchen, jede geometrische Form steht dabei für sich allein, nähert sich jedoch an die anderen Formen an und stellt so eine notwendige Verbindung her. Jedes Kunstwerk von Veronika Spleiss fügt sich zu einer visuellen Geschichte zusammen. Die Künstlerin verschriftlicht ihre Gedanken und Vorstellungen zu jedem Werk. Visualität und Literatur vereinen sich.

Preise

2021 Renate Hendricks & Valentine Rothe Preis - Nominiert- Bonn, Deutschland 2020 YAS Award 2020 - Nominiert- Magdeburg, Deutschland

Kunstgalerien

Galerie Klose, Essen, Deutschland Hunderwasserhaus "Grüne Zitadelle" Magdeburg justBEE Gallery, Elsass, Frankreich Singulart, Online Kunstgalerie Paris, Frankreich

Christian Verginer - Master of Artistic Wooden Sculptures

Christian Verginer - Master of Artistic Wooden Sculptures
Christian Verginer is considered one of the most valid and original expressionists in contemporary sculpture carvings. The subject chosen by the sculptor is the human figure, or rather, the human figure in its relations with other forms of life, with animals, trees, or with various objects of the world and nature. The material used is limetree wood, which is left smooth and covered in details by brilliant and unexpectedly applied acrylic paint. With respect to the long and high tradition of the Dolomites, Verginer remains loyal to the skill and precision of the centuries-old 'Dolomite tradition' of wood-carving by hand, while introducing modern, new and personal subject matter. The artist explores the symbiotic relationship between humans and nature, where tradition and innovation, truth and fantasy come together in a realistic language. The artist has a deep affection for plants and trees and in many of his sculptures, the human is depicted as protecting or nurturing nature, caught in the moment of wonder, when a slight sadness overshadows youth. Childhood, curiosity, and connection come together in every one of this artists' whimsical wooden pieces. Through his art, Christian Verginer explores childhood curiosity and connection. His artistic language combine the play and wonder of adolescence with the vitality of the natural world. His artistic vocabulary has always been orbiting around the relationship between man and nature as a non-static on-going theme, which he believes will follow him throughout his career.

Artist:
Christian Verginer

1982 Born in Bressanone (I) 1995-2000 Studing at School of Arts, Ortisei 2001-2002 Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara Lives and works in Ortisei

Solo shows, collective exhibitions & events (selection)

2023 Art Herning 2023, Herning (DK) „Refractions“ – Kirk Gallery, Aalborg (DK) 2022 Context Art Miami, Miami (USA) Art Parma Fair, Parma (I) „Future Habitat“ – VCRB Gallery, Knokke (BE) Lucca Art Fair, Lucca (I) Art Herning 2022, Herning (DK) Palm Beach / Modern + Contemporary, Palm Beach (USA) 2021 „META MORPH OSIS“ – Sacchetti Contemporary, Ascona (CH) Context Art Miami, Miami (USA) „Italy 35 x 35 Art Project“, Coupelouzos Family Art Museum, Athens (GR) Arte Padova, Padova (I) „Sein – Licht – Irritation – Spielerei“ – Sacchetti Contemporary, Ascona (CH) „20“ – group show new location and opening of VCRB „Shop & Art“ – Ortisei (I) „Beyond imagination“ – VCRB Gallery, Antwerpen (BE) „upside down“ – Kirk Gallery, Aalborg (DK) „Future habitat“ – Sacchetti Contemporary, Ascona (CH) „Serendipity“ – Vecchiato Arte, Padova (I) „Detour Art Herning“, Herning (DK) 2020 Art Miami – special online edition „Legacy“ – Vecchiato Arte, Padova (I) „Zeitgeist“ – Kirk Gallery, Aalborg (DK) Art Knokke-Heist, Knokke (BE) „ERT³“ – Galerie Van Campen & Rochtus, Knokke (BE) „Ester Ladins“ group show, Brunico (I) „Inside out“ – Kirk Gallery, Aalborg (DK) Art Karlsruhe 2020, Karlsruhe (D) Art Herning 2020, Herning (DK) BAF Bergamo Art Fair, Bergamo (I) Art Knokke-Heist, Knokke (BE) „ERT³“ – Galerie Van Campen & Rochtus, Knokke (BE) „Ester Ladins“ group show, Brunico (I) „Inside out“ – Kirk Gallery, Aalborg (DK) Art Karlsruhe 2020, Karlsruhe (D) Art Herning 2020, Herning (DK) BAF Bergamo Art Fair, Bergamo (I)

2019 „Art of giving“ – Galerie van Campen & Rochtus, Antwerpen (B) Antica Namur, Namur (BE) Context Art Miami, Miami (USA) Arte Padova, Padova (I) „Deberieda“ – Galerie Max 21, Iphofen (D) North Art Fair, Aalborg (DK) Wopart Lugano, Lugano (CH) „Unika Art Fair vintecinch“, Ortisei (I) „Skulpturen und Reliefs“ Soloshow – Galleria Berno Sacchetti, Ascona (CH) Art Bodensee, Dornbirn (A) „Uguale e diverso“ exhibition together with brother Matthias – Galerie Van Campen & Rochtus, Antwerp (B) Art Herning, Herning (DK) „A time for giving“ – Galerie Van Campen & Rochtus, Antwerp (B) 2018 Arte Padova, Padova (I) North Art Fair, Aalborg (DK) „Missing Nature“ – Liquid Art System, Anacapri (I) CI – Contemporary Istanbul, Istanbul (TR) Biënnale Veghel, Veghel (NL) „In Art We Trust“ – Vecchiato Arte, Pietrasanta (I) „Good Vibes“ – Vecchiato Arte, Pietrasanta (I) „Blowing“ – Vecchiato Arte, Padova (I) Lucca Art Fair, Lucca (I) Eurantica Bruxells Fine Art Fair, Brussels (B) „On The Move“ – Kirk Gallery, Aalborg (DK) Art Breda, Berda (NL) Art Herning, Herning (DK) BAF Bergamo Art Fair, Bergamo (I) „Winter Salon“ – Wasserman Projects, Detroit (USA) 2017 Scope Miami Beach, Miami (USA) Arte Padova, Padova (I) “Gemischter Satz“ – Galerie Max 21, Iphofen (D) “Extraordinary” – Gallery Van Campen & Rochtus, Antwerp (B) KunstRai Amsterdam, Amsterdam (NL) Art Breda, Berda (NL) “The Italian Connection” – Gallery Van Campen & Rochtus, Antwerp (B) “Carte Blanche” collaboration between Galerie Van Campen & Rochtus and Galerie L’Oeil du Prince, Paris (F) Eurantica Bruxells Fine Art Fair, Brussels (B) “After industry” – Wasserman Projects, Detroit (USA) 2016 Art Breda, Berda (NL) “A winter solstice” – Gallery Van Campen & Rochtus, Antwerp (B) “La stanza delle meraviglie” – Arionte Arte Contemporanea,Catania (I) Setup contemporary Art Fair Bologna, Bologna (I) Realisme Amsterdam, Amsterdam (NL)

2015 C.A.R. Art Fair Essen (D) „Arte Padova“, Padova (I) exhibition with Sam Drukker – Gallery Van Campen & Rochtus, Antwerp (B) “Eurantica” Bruxells Fine Art Fair, Brussels (B) “Affordable Art Fair” , Milano (I) „Realisme Ansterdam“, Ansterdam (NL) „Antiques & Art Fair Luxembourg“, Luxembourg 2014 „Arte Padova“, Padova (I) „DOMEEVENT“ art at home, Antwerp (B) „Art of giving“ – Galerie van Campen & Rochtus, Antwerpen (B) Unika, Ortisei (I) „jumblins sculteures“ – Bildhauerzwillinge Christian und Matthias Verginer, Galerie Max 21 – Iphofen (D) Eurantica Art Fair Brussels Art Fair Luxembourg 2013 „Quelli che parlano agli alberi“, Leogalleries – Monza (I) Art Gent International Art Fair (B) „three by tree“, Galerie Van Campen & Rochtus – Antwrepen (B) Unika, Ortisei (I) „different twins“, civic museum Chiusa (I) Galerie Van Campen & Rochtus – Antwrepen (B) 2012 Transart 12 – Bolzano (I) Galerie Max 21– Iphofen (D) „Verrätselung des Alltags“, Galerie Anne Malchers, Bergisch Gladbach(D) Unika, Ortisei (I) Gallery White Room, Positano (I) 2011 „Unika“, Tubla da Nives, Selva/Gardena (I) Unika, Ortisei (I) 2009 Unika, Ortisei (I) “Trei scultëures”, Wangen im Allgäu (D) 2008 Unika, Ortisei (I) “3xVerginer”, Gallery Max 21, Iphofen (D) Tradefair, Milano (I)

Joseph Lorusso

Joseph Lorusso
Inspired by the expressive power of his medium and its history, Joseph Lorusso produces emotionally evocative oil on canvas paintings. His childhood trips to Italy, where he was exposed to the Old Masters and the country’s rich artistic heritage, sparked his interest in art. He initially studied watercolor painting and later switched to oils, teaching himself how to work with the latter material. He concentrates on urban and natural landscapes and the human figure, rendering his subjects in a naturalistic, impressionistic style. Lorusso is especially interested in painting ordinary people in everyday settings, which he invests with a sense of pathos and mystery. Through his work, he aims to connect to others by conveying universal human experiences. “I believe truly great art serves as a trigger into something deeper within all of us,” he says.
Joseph Lorusso creates landscapes and figurative works. In painting these subjects, He has concentrated on honing his powers of observation, especially as it concerns to color, texture, form and composition. Lorusso’s paintings have been described as warm and dreamlike, places of restful escape with a sense of spirituality, and share timelessness with the works of other eras. The mood and emotion conveyed in Lorusso’s paintings evokes a deep sense of beauty found in the quiet times of daily living. His people are mysterious, lonely, romantic and yet familiar, placed in settings we often see ourselves. Lorusso’s paintings have gained notoriety by their ability to connect with the viewer, resonating in a way that is intimate and personal.

Artist:
Joseph Lorusso

Joseph Lorusso was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1966 and received his formal training at the American Academy of Art. He went on to receive his B.F.A. degree from the Kansas City Art Institute. Born of Italian descent, Lorusso was exposed to art at an early age. Through several early trips to Italy, his parents introduced him to the works of the Italian Masters. Lorusso would look to these influences throughout his early artistic development and they are still evident in his work today. While in school, Lorusso majored in watercolor and considers himself self-taught as an oil painter. He learned to paint by studying the works of master painters, often losing himself in the halls of the Chicago Art Institute during lunch hours, which frequently turned into afternoons of self-study.

Lorusso’s work has been shown internationally and has won numerous awards and honors. He has been featured in American Artist magazine, Southwest Art, U.S. Art, Art & Antiques, The Artists Magazine, Art News, American Art Collector, International Artist and Art Talk magazines. Lorusso’s work is part of many private collections; his work is in the permanent collections of the Albrecht-Kemper Museum, St.Joseph, Missouri and the Wichita Museum of Art, Wichita, Kansas. Joseph Lorusso is currently represented by McLarry Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM, Bonner-David Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ, Newbury Fine Art, Boston, MA, Principle Gallery, Charleston, SC, and Alexandria,VA, Jones and Terwilliger Galleries, Carmel, CA, Broadmoor Galleries, Colorado Springs, CO and Saks Gallery, Denver, CO.

Exhibitions

2019: Wine & Art Soirée, Kelly D Kennedy Fine Art LLC, Midland Wine & Art Soriee, Kelly D Kennedy Fine Art LLC, Midland# 2018: Summer Small Works, Maxwell Alexander Gallery, Los Angeles Within the City, Bonner David Galleries, Scottsdale 2016: Chévere, Sirona Fine Art, Hallandale Beach New Work, Saks Galleries, Denver 2015: The Great Holiday Exhibition, Saks Galleries, Denver Spring Exhibition 2015, Saks Galleries, Denver 2014: American Art Invitational 2014, Saks Galleries, Denver Solo Exhibitions: 2019 Artist's Demonstration: Joseph Lorusso, Bonner David Galleries, Scottsdale 2014 Joseph Lorusso August Artist of the Month, Saks Galleries, Denver

Discovering the works of the Impressionists, he gravitated towards the works of Manet and Vuillard. Lorusso searched for similar work of such emotion and soon became an avid student of painting, seeking out and immersing himself in the works of various artists. This path would ultimately lead him to the works of Sargent, Sorolla, Whistler and a whole army of lesser-known yet equally capable painters. Within this group of artists, Lorusso would find a sense of identity. In these masterful works, he saw the power to harness emotion and convey it with power and confidence, yet with delicacy and tasteful restraint. He also saw in these artists the ability to express the "essence” of an object with just a few carefully chosen brushstrokes, creating a visceral and intuitive state of painting.

Beyond the Canvas: AI's Surreal Provocations

Beyond the Canvas: AI's Surreal Provocations
Welcome to "Beyond the Canvas: AI's Surreal Provocations," an avant-garde art exhibition that pushes the boundaries of creativity, challenging conventional notions of art with the use of cutting-edge AI-generated images. This captivating collection takes you on a journey into the uncharted territory of surrealism, where the imagination knows no bounds. In this groundbreaking project, the artist harnesses the limitless potential of artificial intelligence to craft images that are as thought-provoking as they are visually striking. These surreal and provocative compositions traverse a diverse landscape of themes, from statues passionately protesting for their rights to the harmonious blend of disparate artistic styles, each piece provoking a unique emotional response. As you explore "Beyond the Canvas," you will encounter a world where reality and fantasy coexist in unexpected ways. Marvel at the defiance of classical statues as they rise up to advocate for their rights, blurring the lines between the inanimate and the sentient. Witness the fusion of artistic styles that defy categorization, inviting you to contemplate the interconnectedness of creative expression across time and culture. This exhibition is a testament to the power of AI as a tool for artists to explore uncharted realms of creativity. "Beyond the Canvas" challenges traditional art forms, inviting you to reconsider the very definition of art and the boundaries of the human imagination. Join us on this extraordinary journey into the surreal, where AI serves as a conduit for the artist's vision, pushing the envelope of what is possible in the realm of artistry. "Beyond the Canvas" is a celebration of creativity's boundless potential, provoking thought and emotion in equal measure. Immerse yourself in this world of surreal provocations and let your own imagination run wild, as we redefine the art of the possible.

Artist:
Klaudio Mehmeti

AI Digital Art

Jacques Bodin high resolution painting

Jacques Bodin high resolution painting
Jacques Bodin, painter, lives and works in Levallois Perret near Paris. He is one of the main representant of european hyperrealism. The paintings, are executed from his own photos modified with numeric tools. His paintings accentuate photographic deviations from reality (depth of field, wide angle, lighting, and focus anomalies) to create a hyperrealism reference. Subject matter includes extreme closeup views of exacting images cast in shadow through reflective lighting. The apparent hyperrealistic frontality of the foregrounds is compared with the diffuse aspect of the backgrounds in which we can see vanishing lines which break up the graphic organization of the canvas. His work explores diverse subject themes such as grass, fruits, hair, trees and vegetation and is organized in the manner in which he captures his subjects and depicts them with meticulous attention. Approaching minimalism, some of the works embark on a conceptual aspect of hyperreality. He has been in numerous gallery shows and his work has been featured in many books. He is represented by Plus One gallery in London. Research of perfection during execution contains itself a message. It is perhaps this passage of time which gives a metaphysical dimension to hyperrealism.

Rivoli Genève
The wander of giving the eye what it can’t see. - The frayed segments that protrude from the wound threads of a ball of string, the luminous transparency of the glass bottle that reflects, deformed, the architecture of the room and the brilliant, compelling colors of the fruit in the basket, the strands of tall, dry grass that decorate the back of a woman like a tattoo… With Jacques Bodin every feature is perfectly visible in a bracing sharpness, from the wrinkled but shiny peel of the oranges to their inner white spongy part, to the pulp of which we see the juice that raises it; from the transparent drops of dew worn by a stem of grass like a jewel, to the veins of ivy enveloping around a lying trunk, to a tuft of grass that the wind combs as if it were hair. The wander lies in giving the eye much more than it can see. As Picasso said, “realism is the impossible”. A mysterious, paradoxical phrase, explained by the literary critic Walter Siti. The world, the reality, is too vast and too complex to be dominated by our gaze. To succeed, the realistic painters divide it into small parts to study them in detail. If we want the precision of the detail, it is impossible to have the whole of the real. Looking at hyper - realistic works of art, many wonder what sense it has to realize them. We all, in fact, have more or less sophisticated technical tools to photograph the world and ourselves. It is a well - founded question.
Nowadays we do not choose a smart-phone for its basic technical property of calling and receiving calls, but for the additional features of taking high resolution photos and video pictures. Snapping photos has become a sort of nervous habit, a tic, a compulsive behavior. Our subjects are barely able to show our special look of the world around us. In a museum, for example, our biggest task is to take pictures of the paintings, installations and sculptures even when it is prohibited. Nevertheless the process of creating art proves to be unpredictable. One of the most exciting questions of contemporary art is to ask oneself if something has been photographed or hand painted. This fascinating doubt is the sign of a challenge between creation and reproduction. Realism is a technique to learn more about the world, not through mere imitation nor through the reproduction of things, but through their analytical remaking by our own hands. Bodin wants to be the soil that makes the grass grow, and the dew that quenches it in the morning. Cristina Muccioli Art critic, curator and lecturer

Artist:
Jacques Bodin

Jacques Bodin, painter, lives and works in Levallois Perret near Paris. He is one of the main representant of european hyperrealism. The paintings, are executed from his own photos modified with numeric tools. His paintings accentuate photographic deviations from reality (depth of field, wide angle, lighting, and focus anomalies) to create a hyperrealism reference. Subject matter includes extreme closeup views of exacting images cast in shadow through reflective lighting. The apparent hyperrealistic frontality of the foregrounds is compared with the diffuse aspect of the backgrounds in which we can see vanishing lines which break up the graphic organization of the canvas. His work explores diverse subject themes such as grass, fruits, hair, trees and vegetation and is organized in the manner in which he captures his subjects and depicts them with meticulous attention. Approaching minimalism, some of the works embark on a conceptual aspect of hyperreality. He has been in numerous gallery shows and his work has been featured in many books. He is represented by Plus One gallery in London. Research of perfection during execution contains itself a message. It is perhaps this passage of time which gives a metaphysical dimension to hyperrealism.

BIOGRAPHY

2023 Hyper 23, Musée Photobastei, Zurich Plus One gallery, London Galerie Le Cactus bleu, Reugny Eglise Saint Florentin, Amboise, Levallart, Levallois Perret, L’Hyperréalisme, Mairie de Levallois Perret 2022 Galerie Le Cactus bleu, Reugny Eglise Saint Florentin, Amboise Levallart, Levallois Perret 2021 Jacques Bodin, Peintures autour de Courçay, salle polyvalente Courçay 20x20, Arte Libre galeria Plus One gallery, London Levallart, Levallois Perret 2020 Transperceptions, Institut culturel bulgare Ceci n'est pas une photo, Hotel de Ville , Levallois Perret 20x20, Arte Libre galeria Algo mas que realismo, Zarragossa Plus One gallery, London Levallart, Levallois Perret 2019 20x20, Arte Libre galeria, Zarragosse 20x20, Arte Libre galeria,MEAM, Barcelone Algo mas que realismo, Zarragossa Plus One gallery, London Levallart, Levallois Perret 2018 Plus One gallery, Hyperrealism, Museo del tabac, Andorre State of the Arts gallery, Hong Kong Art fair State of the Arts gallery, Singapore Art fair Galerie atelier Saint Honoré, Hyperréalisme, Paris Réel abstrait, Eglise de la Madeleine, Paris Algo mas que realismo, Zarragossa Plus One gallery, London Levallart, Levallois Perret 2017 La nature abstraite de la réalité, Eglise de la Madeleine, Paris Algo mas que realismo, Zarragossa Plus One gallery, London Levallart, Levallois Perret 2016 Algo mas que realismo, Zarragossa Verité vraie, Le réalisme à travers la peinture contemporaine, Xun art gallery, Pékin, Shijiazhuang Plus One gallery, London State of the Arts gallery, Hong Kong Levallart, Levallois Perret 2015 Galerie Anna Tshopp, Marseille State of the Arts gallery, Hong Kong Plus One gallery, London Levallart, Levallois Perret 2014 State of the Arts gallery, Hong Kong Plus One gallery, London 2013 State of the Arts gallery, Hong Kong Galerie By the Arts, Paris 2012 State of the Arts gallery, Hong Kong 2011 Rarity gallery, Mykonos, Greece Silas Marder gallery, Bridgehampton, USA

2010 Galerie Anna Tschopp, Marseille, France 2009 Galerie Lebreton, Pont Aven, France 2006 Galerie Catherine et Andre Hug, Paris, France Galerie Suty, Coye La Forêt, France Galerie Whitfield, Mexico 2005 Galerie Catherine et Andre Hug, Paris, France Galerie Suty, Coye La Forêt, France Galerie Whitfield, Mexico 1997 Itinéraires Levallois Perret 1991 Espace Michel Simon, Noisy le Grand 1990 France Japon Tokyo Galerie Caplain Matignon, Paris 1988 Shémas Images Acropolis Nice 1987 Portes et portiques, Château de Sceaux 1984 Musée château de Nointel Les 92 du 92 Boulogne Billancourt 1983 Musée château de Nointel 1981 Octogone, Paris Mairie de Boulogne Billancourt 1980 Espace Cardin, Paris 1978 Espace Cardin, Paris 1996 à 2003 Salon d'Automne, Grand palais, Paris 1978 à 1995 Salon Comparaisons, Grand palais, Paris 1981 à 1995 Salon Figuration critique, Grand palais, Paris 1980 à 1982 Salon de Montrouge 1978 à 1990 Salon Grands et jeunes d'aujourd'hui, Grand palais, Paris

RECENT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Hyperrealism Magazine, june 2022 p.36-47 Je découvre l'Art Moderne, Editions Amalthée, may 2022 Hiperrrealism, Museo del Tabac, Andorra, 2018 Poets and Artists, Glorious color, june 2018 Hyperrealism Magazine, january 2018 Arte y Libertad XI, Arte Libre, november2017 Jacques Bodin, Didi Menendez, Poets and artists, july 2017 Vérité vraie, Le réalisme à travers la peinture contemporaine, Feng Liu éditeur, 2016 Arte y Libertad X, Arte Libre, november2016 Art's Vice, march 2016 Jacques Bodin Paintings, 2014, hyperrealism.net ed. Poets and Artists, february 2014 Splux, Japan, august 2012 Art croissance, septembre 2012 Arte y Libertad V, Arte Libre, 2011 Poets and Artists, february 2010 Public Art, january 2010 Nature art today, 2010, E. Patou ed. Dessins et Peintures, january 2010 Poets and Artists, december 2009 Jacques Bodin Paintings, 2009, hyperrealism.net ed. Peinture et photographie, J. L. Chalumeau, 2088

Nigel Van Wieck

Nigel Van Wieck
For nearly two decades, Nigel Van Wieck has been evolving a distinctive idiom firmly rooted in the tradition of American realism. His small-format oils offer glimpses of classic Americana: racetracks and baseball fields, toy sailboats skimming over a pond, tourists relaxing on sun-drenched beaches. Typically his are solitary figures, often recalling the loners once celebrated by Edward Hopper, and though there is no Hopperesque gloom here, at moments there emerges a vague sense of the ominous. Van Wieck has painted a progression of works grouped into series with such themes as Working Girls, Players, and Dancing. Though visually diverse, all have underscored the disjuncture between modern people’s physical proximity and emotional connectivity; whatever their gender, race, class, or occupation, no matter how intimate their contact may be, these figures do not fully “get” each other. Flowing against this thematic continuum was the large number of portrait commissions that Van Wieck undertook during the 1990s. As one would expect, he became deeply interested in his sitters, who connected closely with each other in the image, or at least with their viewers. These are figures whom we “get,” at least to a certain extent.

Artist's Statement
I always want to capture a “moment in time”, it makes my paintings real and timeless. I achieve this by painting the light; whether painting daylight or the lights of the night, light is familiar to us; it’s like music, it evokes a memory or an emotion, and crystallizes the moment. Vermeer was extremely successful at this; even though he was painting a 17th-century scene, the way he paints light allows today’s viewer to connect to that moment thus making the painting both modern and timeless.

Artist:
Nigel Van Wieck

Nigel Van Wieck is a Figurative artist working in the tradition of American realism. His portrayals of America feel as though they’re from another time, even if the content is modern. From an era of romanticism and dreaminess, almost free of time if not for the trappings of culture that carry specific definition. From one side, the painter Nigel Van Wieck (b. 1947) appears to be the proverbial “Englishman in New York,” having discovered Old Master aesthetics and made them his own since 1979, when he immigrated to the U.S. But from the other side, we see the quintessentially American practitioner of contemporary realism he has become during those same three and a half decades. Trippi has been the editor-in-chief of Fine Art Connoisseur magazine since 2006. He was previously the director of New York City’s Dahesh Museum of Art, which is devoted to 19th-century European academic art.

Exhibitions

2015 Didier Aaron Gallery New York 2011 Nigel Van Wieck American Realism curated by Elizabeth Michitsch, Brauneis Klauser, Vienna 2010 Galerie Elisabeth Michitsch, Vienna 2008 Galerie Elisabeth Michitsch, Vienna 2007 Galerie Elisabeth Michitsch Vienna 2004 Kunsthandel Elisabeth Michitsch, Vienna 2001 Beadleston Gallery , New York 1995 The Venice Biennale's Centennial Exhibition, Venice 1993 Fosse Gallery Stow-on-the-Wold 1991 Tatistcheff and Company, Inc, New York 1989 Tatistcheff and Company, Inc, New York 1988 Alex Reid & Lefevre Gallery, London 1985 Germans van Eck Gallery, New York 1984 Tatistcheff and Company, Inc, New York 1983 12 Green Street Gallery New York 1982 Alex Reid & Lefevre Gallery, London 1977 Redfern Gallery, London 1974 Richard Demarco Gallery, Edinburgh 1973 Ikon Gallery, Birmingham 1972 Majorie Parr Gallery, London 1971 Majorie Parr Gallery, London

Juraj Florek

Juraj Florek
Born 1986 in Slovakia Juraj Florek is 100% urban plein-air painter, his idealism motivates him to reinterpret plein-air painting and adapt it on current post-industrial landscape. He is not shy away from the difficult environment, the selection of locations of dysfunctional “Stalker environments” of industrial architecture, or the seemingly unobtrusive corners of the present-day city, he is a painter seeking their unadorned truth. At the same time his painting represents the honest „celebration of everyday life", which explores the author's social environment and his joy of life in the city.

ARTIST STATEMENT
In general, the city itself is a material for research for me. I am a 100% urban plein-air painter and my idealism motivates me to reinterpret plein-air painting and to adapt it to the current post-industrial landscape. The subject matter is about environments, things and places we can see every day, which acquire a new and fresh angle of view as they are transferred through the medium of oil painting. I do not shy away from difficult environments and often select dysfunctional, ‘Stalker locations’ with industrial architecture, seemingly unobtrusive corners of present-day cities, or examples of current overwhelmingly poor architecture. All these provide inspiration for the painter who is seeking their unadorned truth. At the same time, painting represents an honest celebration of everyday life, explores the author's social environment and is an expression of his enjoyment of life in the city. I like applying the method of plein-air painting to new urban environments. I am also gradually developing the painting of industrial objects – whether functioning, abandoned or converted to a new function – as my favorite sub-genre of Cityscape painting, since they are an integral part of the modern urban landscape.
In painting, I prefer the freshness of an immediate painting record to the perfectionism of veristic painting. The resulting images are intended to invite the viewer to share in an adventure, which open-air painting in an urban environment certainly is. They are also meant to convey the nature of the explorer’s mind, which I transfer to my painting, especially through the search for motives in urbanized countries. Although the main aim is to introduce the viewer to ‘out of comfort zone’ painting action, the choice of topics is usually sophisticated and deals either with some overlooked interesting part of the city, a banality, or thematises the contemporary visual trash of our cities, which are paradoxically all very picturesque. Thus, paintings developed in this way become a living documentation of our times. Plein-air painting is on the periphery in the context of contemporary painting. Among the reasons for this are its inherent difficulties, such as testing the author’s limits while painting outdoors and not being afraid to go against the stream, that is, the mainstream of current major trends in the field of painting. Cityscape plein-air painting seems to be a landscape painting genre that is not outmoded and offers an extensive field for exploring painting themes and technical approaches nowadays. Plein-air painting, however, is reduced to an educational tool in Sunday schools of painting and preparatory courses for art novices. My long-term intention is to raise awareness of the Cityscape painting genre. In the current excess of technically reproducible visual images, authentic, fresh plein-air painting, which does not provide only valuable content, but also fine form, appears to be a good possible direction in which painting can progress. Juraj Florek

Artist:
Juraj Florek

Born 1986 in Slovakia Juraj Florek is 100% urban plein-air painter, his idealism motivates him to reinterpret plein-air painting and adapt it on current post-industrial landscape. He is not shy away from the difficult environment, the selection of locations of dysfunctional “Stalker environments” of industrial architecture, or the seemingly unobtrusive corners of the present-day city, he is a painter seeking their unadorned truth. At the same time his painting represents the honest „celebration of everyday life", which explores the author's social environment and his joy of life in the city.In general, the city itself is a material for research for me. I am a 100% urban plein-air painter and my idealism motivates me to reinterpret plein-air painting and to adapt it to the current post-industrial landscape. The subject matter is about environments, things and places we can see every day, which acquire a new and fresh angle of view as they are transferred through the medium of oil painting. Artist Statement In general, the city itself is a material for research for me. I am a 100% urban plein-air painter and my idealism motivates me to reinterpret plein-air painting and to adapt it to the current post-industrial landscape. The subject matter is about environments, things and places we can see every day, which acquire a new and fresh angle of view as they are transferred through the medium of oil painting. I do not shy away from difficult environments and often select dysfunctional, ‘Stalker locations’ with industrial architecture, seemingly unobtrusive corners of present-day cities, or examples of current overwhelmingly poor architecture. All these provide inspiration for the painter who is seeking their unadorned truth. At the same time, painting represents an honest celebration of everyday life, explores the author's social environment and is an expression of his enjoyment of life in the city. I like applying the method of plein-air painting to new urban environments. I am also gradually developing the painting of industrial objects – whether functioning, abandoned or converted to a new function – as my favorite sub-genre of Cityscape painting, since they are an integral part of the modern urban landscape. In painting, I prefer the freshness of an immediate painting record to the perfectionism of veristic painting. The resulting images are intended to invite the viewer to share in an adventure, which open-air painting in an urban environment certainly is. They are also meant to convey the nature of the explorer’s mind, which I transfer to my painting, especially through the search for motives in urbanized countries. Although the main aim is to introduce the viewer to ‘out of comfort zone’ painting action, the choice of topics is usually sophisticated and deals either with some overlooked interesting part of the city, a banality, or thematises the contemporary visual trash of our cities, which are paradoxically all very picturesque. Thus, paintings developed in this way become a living documentation of our times. Plein-air painting is on the periphery in the context of contemporary painting. Among the reasons for this are its inherent difficulties, such as testing the author’s limits while painting outdoors and not being afraid to go against the stream, that is, the mainstream of current major trends in the field of painting. Cityscape plein-air painting seems to be a landscape painting genre that is not outmoded and offers an extensive field for exploring painting themes and technical approaches nowadays. Plein-air painting, however, is reduced to an educational tool in Sunday schools of painting and preparatory courses for art novices. My long-term intention is to raise awareness of the Cityscape painting genre. In the current excess of technically reproducible visual images, authentic, fresh plein-air painting, which does not provide only valuable content, but also fine form, appears to be a good possible direction in which painting can progress. Juraj Florek

Individual exhibitions

2022 - QUICK PALETTE, CA Contemporary Gallery, Vienna (AT) 2022 - TITLE OF EXHIBITION, GaP – Galerie a Prostor, Znojmo (CZ) 2022 – AIRE LIBRE, Turiec Gallery, Martin (SVK) 2021 - SAN SANO POLIS, Kahán Art Space, Budapest (HU) 2021 – NICE SHADOWS, ČIN ČIN Gallery, Bratislava (SVK) 2021 – NIGHT SHIFT /with J. Toman/, Rimavská Sobota City Gallery, Rimavska Sobota (SVK) 2019 - BATMAN CITY, Galeria APARTE, Iasi (RO) 2019 - KRONSTADT URBAN, NCCA - National centre for contemporary arts, St. Petersburg (RU) 2019 - ORAVSKÝ VÝPRASK /with J. Toman/, Orava Gallery, Dolný Kubín (SVK) 2019 - PETROZAVODSK PLEIN-AIR, Media Center Vykhod, Petrozavodsk (RU) 2019 - MERINA /with J. Toman/ Nová Vlna, Trenčín (SVK) 2019 - OILY ELBOW /with J. Toman/ Industrial Gallery, Ostrava (CZ) 2018 - VIXA URBAN PLEIN-AIR, Vyksa Steel Works History Museum, Vyksa (RU) 2018 - COAL AND EGGS, CSW KRONIKA – Center for Contemporary Art, Bytom (PL) 2017 - CONCRETE AND WEED, DOT. Contemporary Art Gallery, Bratislava (SVK) 2017 - COLOURS OF OSTRAVA PLEIN-AIR /with J. Toman/ Vnitroblock, Prague (CZ) 2017 - SIGNALS OF PRAGUE! /with J. Toman/, Studio PRÁM Gallery, Prague (CZ) 2017 - SIGNALS OF PUCHOV! /with J. Toman/, County House, Púchov (SVK) 2016 - COLOURS OF OSTRAVA PLEIN-AIR / with J. Toman/, Cineport, Ostrava (CZ) 2016 - PILSEN PLEIN-AIR, French Institute, Bratislava (SVK) 2016 - MACHNÁČ BRAŇO A INÉ OBRÁZKY... /with J. Toman/, Nová Vlna, Trenčín (SVK) 2015 - PILSEN PLEIN-AIR, DEPO2015, Pilsen (CZ) 2015 - KAFILÉRIA, MUŠKÁTY, PETER BEHRENS

Group exhibitions

2018 - JOIN THE DOTS / UNITING DISTANCES (Imago mundi), Salone Degli Incante, Trieste (IT) 2018 - TURBOPLENER 1500, Platform 1-12, Topoľčany (SVK) 2017 - URBAN POSITIVE, Latarka Gallery, Budapest (HU) 2017 - ART IN PARK, Nová Vlna, Trenčín (SVK) 2017 - BLUDNÉ PRÚDY II., Manor-house gallery, Sereď (SVK) 2017 - STEEL IS UNLIMITED, Industrial gallery, Ostrava (CZ) 2017 - LILLA DART FEST, L'illa Diagonal, Barcelona (ES) 2017 - JUST RESIDENCE 2017, CMAE - Centro Municipal de Arte y Exposiciones, Avilés (ES) 2017 - JUSTMAD8 AVILÉS, COAM - Colegio Oficial Arquitectos de Madrid, Madrid (ES) 2016 - SLOVENSKÁ. NEW GENERATION, Gallerie d'Italia – Piazza Scala, Milano (IT) 2016 - LIVING PAINTING, Spiš Gallery, Spišská Nová Ves (SVK) 2016 - 10 YEARS OF PAINTING, East Slovak Gallery, Košice (SVK) 2015 - PAINTING BIENNALE V. ? City Gallery, Rimavská Sobota (SVK) 2015 - 10 YEARS OF PAINTING, Bratislava Castle Gallery, Bratislava (SVK) 2015 - 10 YEARS OF PAINTING, Central Slovakian Gallery, Banská Bystrica (SVK) 2015 - DOM, German Cultural House, Bratislava-Rača (SVK) 2015 - SONDA 2015 MAĽBA, Bratislava Castle Gallery, Bratislava (SVK) 2014 - VUB-PAINTING OF THE YEAR, Nedbalka Gallery, Bratislava (SVK) 2014 - NEIGHBORHOOD PLAYGROUNDS, Gallery BB 15, Linz (AT) 2013 - PANEL STORY, Turiec Gallery, Martin (SVK) 2013 - PANEL STORY, Bratislava City Gallery - Palffy Palace , Bratislava (SVK) 2013 - HUCISKO, Galeria Uniwersytecka, Cieszyn (PL) 2010 - KLAMNÝ DOJEM, Vltavin Gallery , Prague (CZ)

Awards and Grants

2014 - Award for Painting for Young Artist 2014 /1. place/ VUB Foundation, Bratislava (SVK) 2018 – Vysegrad Fund, Visual and Sound Arts Residency Grant, Bratislava (SVK) 2019 - The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant 2019 – 2020, Montreal (CA) 2022 - The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant 2022 – 2023, 2nd grant, Montreal (CA)

Toshihiko Okuya

Toshihiko Okuya
Born in Gifu, Japan in 1955. Toshihiko Okuya is a Japanese master of digital painting. In his work, the strangeness of human existence is expressed in an allegorical and plastic vision. It is sometimes violent, demonic and emotional. And it tells various stories. You may find yourself there.

Artist:
Toshihiko Okuya

TOSHIHIKO OKUYA

Toshihiko Okuya is a Japanese master of digital painting. In his work, the strangeness of human existence is expressed in an allegorical and plastic vision. It is sometimes violent, demonic and emotional. And it tells various stories. You may find yourself there. 1955 Born in Japan, Gifu Prefecture 1981 - Started illustration work with magazines etc 1982 - Illustration work such as children's books and picture books. Announcing maze and illustration puzzle with magazines, books 1983 - School for Children Education, Lecturer 1996 - Started work on graphic design, web design 2001 - Although he was producing oil paintings in parallel, he scanned the work and started making digital works on a personal computer.

EXHIBITS (SELECTION)

1989 "Illustration in Japan 1988" Exhibition (Seibu Art Forum) 2001 Mikuni Town Trick Art Competition Award Winning Work Exhibition (Mikuni RyuShoKan) 2008 44th Kanagawa Prefectural Art Exhibition (Kanagawa Prefectural Art Museum) 2010 Epson Color Image Contest, Winning Work Exhibition (epSITE-shinjyuku)

PRIZES

1978 Creative Picture Book Recruiter Award, Excellence Award Winner (Creative Picture Book) 2001 Fukui Prefecture Mikuni Town 4th Trick Art Competition Special Prize Winner (Puzzle Art) 2008 44th Kanagawa Prefectural Art Exhibition, Selected (Oil Painting) 2009 Epson Color Imaging Contest Selected (Digital Art, Inkjet Print Works)

WEB

WikiArt: https://www.wikiart.org/en/toshihiko-okuya Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/okuya.toshihiko/ Tumblr: https://toshihiko-okuya.tumblr.com/

Mirza Cizmic 
Stolen Memories - PART II

Mirza Cizmic Stolen Memories - PART II
Mirza Cizmic (born 1985 in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina) is a painter, predominantly using oil paint on primed paper (he is also occasionally a sculptor, performer and video artist), based in Helsinki, Finland. His artistic practice is related to past experiences. The way he paints is a way of interpreting the world, not through the eyes of a painter, but through his personal experiences. The language that he uses is based on his instincts which are divided into two parts. One is objective and formal while the other is subjective which belongs to Cizmic as an individual. It is a process that takes Cizmic from confusion to understanding. „As an artist, I must be aware of the illusive borders between art and life, art and society, as well as art and activism. Formalisation of my position in contemporary society is connected with constant questioning of myself and my role as an artist. My aim is to break the conventional taboos and depoliticise the situation and bring attention to the humanity of people.“ Mirza Cizmic

Artist:
Mirza Cizmic

Mirza Cizmic (born 1985 in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina) is a painter, predominantly using oil paint on primed paper (he is also occasionally a sculptor, performer and video artist), based in Helsinki, Finland. His artistic practice is related to past experiences. The way he paints is a way of interpreting the world, not through the eyes of a painter, but through his personal experiences. The language that he uses is based on his instincts which are divided into two parts. One is objective and formal while the other is subjective which belongs to Cizmic as an individual. It is a process that takes Cizmic from confusion to understanding.

„As an artist, I must be aware of the illusive borders between art and life, art and society, as well as art and activism. Formalisation of my position in contemporary society is connected with constant questioning of myself and my role as an artist. My aim is to break the conventional taboos and depoliticise the situation and bring attention to the humanity of people.“ Mirza Cizmic

Veronika Lobareva

Veronika Lobareva
Veronika Lobareva was born in 1969 in the city of Angarsk, Irkutsk region. She studied at the Irkutsk Art College at the department of easel painting. Since 1996 - a free artist. Her main areas of creativity are impressionism and realism. Member of the Union of Artists of Russia and the National Union of Pastels of Russia. Lives and works in Irkutsk. Permanent participant of Russian and foreign exhibitions.

Artist:
Veronika Lobareva

Veronika Lobareva. (1969) She studied at the Irkutsk Art College. Since 1996 - freelance artist. Since 2010 - Member of the Union of Artists of Russia. Since 2021 - Member of the National Union of Pastels of Russia. Lives and works in Russia (Irkutsk - St. Petersburg - Kaliningrad) Her main areas of creativity are impressionism and realism. She mainly paints in oils in the genre of urban landscape and still life. Permanent participant of Russian and foreign exhibitions. Her works are in private collections in Russia, Germany, America, France, China, etc.

Exhibitions

1996 - Personal exhibition, "SibExpoCentre" (Irkutsk) 1997 - Youth exhibition "Third Eye" (Irkutsk) Regional Art Museum (Irkutsk) 1999 - Exhibition of the gallery "Palette" (Irkutsk) 2000 - Exhibition of the gallery "Palette" (Irkutsk) 2000 - Exhibition of the gallery "Palette" (Irkutsk) 2001 - Exhibition of the gallery "Palette" (Irkutsk) 2002 - Exhibition of the gallery "Palette" (Irkutsk) 2003 - Youth exhibition "Results on the way" (Irkutsk) Regional Art Museum (Irkutsk) 2004 - Personal exhibition in the gallery "Palette" (Irkutsk) 2004 - Traveling exhibition, France with the assistance of the gallery "SibArt" 2004 - Exhibition of Russian artists (Carcassonne, France) 2005 - Exhibition of Russian artists (Carcassonne, France) 2005 - Personal exhibition "petite France" (Irkutsk) - gallery "SibArt" 2005 - Traveling exhibition, France with the assistance of the gallery "SibArt" 2007 - Personal exhibition in the gallery "Planetarium" (Irkutsk) 2007 - Personal exhibition "Invitation to travel" House-Museum of Rogal (Irkutsk) 2007 - Exhibition of Irkutsk artists (Manchuria, China) 2008 - "Salon-TSDH-2008" (Moscow) 2008 - Exhibition of Irkutsk artists within the V Baikal Economic Forum (Irkutsk) 2008 - Exhibition "Artesania", Maly Manege, (Moscow) 2008 - Exhibition of Russian artists (Beijing, China) 2008 - Exhibition of Russian artists (Changchun, China) 2008 - Exhibition of Irkutsk artists, (Angarsk, Irkutsk region) 2009 - Exhibition of Russian artists (Beijing, China) 2010 - Exhibition of Russian artists (Beijing, China) 2010 - Personal exhibition (gallery "DiaS"), Bank "Opening", (Irkutsk) 2010 - 21 International Art Society (Irkutsk) 2010 - Exhibition of Irkutsk artists ("DiaS" gallery) Legislative Assembly of the Irkutsk Region (Irkutsk) 2010 - Exhibition of Irkutsk artists ("DiaS" gallery) Regional Administration (Irkutsk)

2011 - Exhibition of Irkutsk artists (gallery "DiaS") Regional Administration (Irkutsk) 2012 - Exhibition of Irkutsk artists (gallery "DiaS") Irkutsk community (Moscow) 2013 - Art Beijing 2013 - Beijing ("DiaS" gallery) 2013 - Art China 2013 - Beijing ("DiaS" gallery) 2013 - Art Canton 2013 - Guangzhou ("DiaS" gallery) 2014 – Art Basel 2014 (gallery "DiaS") 2014 - Exhibition of Irkutsk artists (Russian Cultural Center, Beijing) 2014 - Exhibition "Paints of Olkhon" in the gallery "DiaS" (Irkutsk) 2014 - Exhibition "Neformat" (Irkutsk Regional Art Museum) 2009-2022 - participation in general exhibitions of the gallery "DiaS" (Irkutsk) 2018 - Personal exhibition in the gallery "DiaS" (Irkutsk) 2020 - Personal exhibition in the gallery "DiaS" (Irkutsk) 2021 - Exhibition "Intersections" (NSP, Moscow - 1st place) 2021 - Exhibition "City by the Sea" (SH, St. Petersburg) 2022 - Exhibition "On the sunny side" (SH, St. Petersburg) 2022 - Exhibition "The route is rebuilt" (NSP, Moscow) 2022 - Summer Exhibition (NSP, Moscow - Grand Prix)

Philippe Bluzot - Appearances

Philippe Bluzot - Appearances
His paintings are unsettling due to its reality, they flirt around with photographic illusion, without actually being hyper-realist. Especially since the painter offers a mirror of our life or a life that one is determined to conceal (death, life in the street...). Ordinary or even banal scenes are gilded in a sensitive manner. The artist says "It's about re-constructing a sensitive space, where the hand's role, usage of pigments, composition, values, quest for materials are all important questions, just like investigating appearances of the world in which we are immersed. I rub against this reality and try to reveal or trigger a presence due to visual power, in order to titillate the look".

Artist:
Philippe Bluzot

Philippe Bluzot was born in 1959 in Montluçon (Allier). The artist draws inspiration from Vermeer, Chardin, Balthus or even Rothko to depict everyday life. In 1981, Philippe Bluzot made a contribution to the « Poudre d’or » association with Jérôme Mesnager, one of the first street painters. They share this passion to highlight forgotten beings. His paintings are unsettling due to its reality, they flirt around with photographic illusion, without actually being hyper-realist. Especially since the painter offers a mirror of our life or a life that one is determined to conceal (death, life in the street...). Ordinary or even banal scenes are gilded in a sensitive manner. The artist says "It's about re-constructing a sensitive space, where the hand's role, usage of pigments, composition, values, quest for materials are all important questions, just like investigating appearances of the world in which we are immersed. I rub against this reality and try to reveal or trigger a presence due to visual power, in order to titillate the look".

Warwick Fuller

Warwick Fuller
“You can read ad infinitum of the landscape painter trying to “paint his feelings”, “capture the light”, “render the mood of a scene”. There is nothing particularly new or unique in this ideology, developed in part through a natural progression of a very strong landscape tradition in Australia. It is sad to see these expressions misused, abused and over used to the point of becoming almost meaningless with insincerity. Those statements are though, I believe, some of the more important aims and ideals at the core of the genuine landscape painter’s psyche. I, like others, do search for a means of expressing these qualities! I know for me these are genuine and worthy goals. In this, there is a dilemma I feel will test me. It has been a long held opinion of mine that too often the work of the traditional landscape painter has been seen in an over-familiar sort of way. That is, known objects in the picture being seen superficially and assessed according to a preconceived understanding of those objects. How do I express my vision of the subject unambiguously. It’s not a technical thing as for example, in composition. It’s far more elusive than that. I am doubting more often whether the direction I am taking can adequately reveal, for example, the thrill of gazing at the last rays of sunlight in the tree tops. I can paint something of what it looks like but I am trying to paint how I feel! I want my pictures to sing the songs I sang when I painted them. My hope is that if I can paint with the joy of that moment, something of my emotional responses to the moment will shine through.” Warwick Fuller

Artist:
Warwick Fuller

Plein air painter Career spanning over 35 years Fellow of the Royal Art Society of NSW Paintings hung in private, corporate and institutional collections in Australia and overseas Represented in prominent galleries in Sydney, Blue Mountains and London Numerous awards and over 60 one-man exhibitions Occasional art judge, adviser and teacher Lives in Little Hartley, west of the Blue Mountains, NSW.

“You can read ad infinitum of the landscape painter trying to “paint his feelings”, “capture the light”, “render the mood of a scene”. There is nothing particularly new or unique in this ideology, developed in part through a natural progression of a very strong landscape tradition in Australia. It is sad to see these expressions misused, abused and over used to the point of becoming almost meaningless with insincerity. Those statements are though, I believe, some of the more important aims and ideals at the core of the genuine landscape painter’s psyche. I, like others, do search for a means of expressing these qualities! I know for me these are genuine and worthy goals. In this, there is a dilemma I feel will test me. It has been a long held opinion of mine that too often the work of the traditional landscape painter has been seen in an over-familiar sort of way. That is, known objects in the picture being seen superficially and assessed according to a preconceived understanding of those objects. How do I express my vision of the subject unambiguously. It’s not a technical thing as for example, in composition. It’s far more elusive than that. I am doubting more often whether the direction I am taking can adequately reveal, for example, the thrill of gazing at the last rays of sunlight in the tree tops. I can paint something of what it looks like but I am trying to paint how I feel! I want my pictures to sing the songs I sang when I painted them. My hope is that if I can paint with the joy of that moment, something of my emotional responses to the moment will shine through.” Warwick Fuller

Helga Stentzel - Household Surrealism

Helga Stentzel - Household Surrealism
Helga Stentzel is a Russian-born artist based in London, UK. She works across a wide range of media including illustration, photography, video and stop motion animation. Helga received "food art creator of the year" award in 2020 and has collaborated with BBC, Honda and O2, among others. A St. Martins alumna, Helga worked in the advertising industry and ran a children’s clothing business before becoming a full-time artist. “To me, household surrealism is about finding magic in the mundane, seeing beauty in imperfections, and connecting to our reality in a new way. I love noticing playful similarities - be it a sweater on a clothing line looking like a horse or a slice of bread resembling a dog’s head. It’s only the starting point though. From this moment onward the stories and visuals start buzzing in my head: What will this horse look like? What’s her name and character? Does she like racing with other horses? - the list goes on and on! I hope that my art will help people to connect with their inner child and rediscover the joy of savouring little visual delights in and outside their homes.”

Artist:
Helga Stentzel

Helga Stentzel is a Russian-born artist based in London, UK. She works across a wide range of media including illustration, photography, video and stop motion animation. Helga received "food art creator of the year" award in 2020 and has collaborated with BBC, Honda and O2, among others. A St. Martins alumna, Helga worked in the advertising industry and ran a children’s clothing business before becoming a full-time artist. “To me, household surrealism is about finding magic in the mundane, seeing beauty in imperfections, and connecting to our reality in a new way. I love noticing playful similarities - be it a sweater on a clothing line looking like a horse or a slice of bread resembling a dog’s head. It’s only the starting point though. From this moment onward the stories and visuals start buzzing in my head: What will this horse look like? What’s her name and character? Does she like racing with other horses? - the list goes on and on! I hope that my art will help people to connect with their inner child and rediscover the joy of savouring little visual delights in and outside their homes.”

Helga’s work has received media attention across the globe – from Korea to Columbia; including in the press, on TV and online. Her Instagram page is often featured by the largest accounts (including by the Instagram itself)

Selected media mentions

Conversación con Helga Stentzel, la artista que creó la vaca con ropa colgada / El Columbiano, March 2021 ‘Household surrealism’ by visual artist Helga Stentzel / South China Morning Post, March 2021 Artist Transforms Everyday Household Items into a Host of Playful Characters / My Modern Met, March 2021 [이 한 장의 시각예술] 세탁, 소 / The Chosun Ilbo, March 2021 De l’art avec des objets du quotidien par Helga Stentzel / 2Tout2Rien, France, March 2021 Il bucato al pascolo di Helga Stentzel / Objects, March 2021 Clothesline Farm Animals Graze the Countryside in Playful Illusions by Helga Stentzel / Colossal, February 2021 Helga Stentzel hangs clothes to create surreal farm animal illusions / DesignBoom, February 2021 This Artist Turns Everyday Items into Hilarious Optical Illusions / DIY Photography Magazine, February 2021 凭奇葩“菜狗”表情包火出圈,设计师“糟蹋”无数食物,却让人有被治愈到! / qq.com, January 2021 L’artiste Helga Stentzel détourne le quotidien avec humour / Creapills, January 2021 Дизайнер из Лондона оживляет еду и предметы быта / Metro Moscow, August 2020 Food art creator of the year award / SnackableContent Awards, July 2020 I Use Food to Tell Fun Visual Stories / Bored Panda, January 2019 Helga Stenzel: la artista que construye figuras y escenas con objetos cotidianos / SDP Noticias, March 2018

Sasha Hartslief

Sasha Hartslief
Hartslief's experimentation with chiaroscuro techniques derives inspiration from the works by 17th century Baroque masters such as Rembrandt who, through the buildup of impasto paint, evoked light and shadow in his portraits as a psychological device, similar to the way in which stage-lighting functions in the theatre. Often seeming to be lit from below, the expressive shading in Hartslief's portraits tends to converge around the facial hollows, giving the paintings a spatial as well as emotional depth. The eyes of the women in her portraits, in particular, seem inwardly focused.

Artist:
Sasha Hartslief

Sasha Hartslief was born in 1974 in Gauteng. At the age of seventeen, she came to Cape Town to study English and Philosophy at UCT. Passionate about drawing from an early age, she is largely self-taught, closely observing other artists and avidly reading up on technique. Hartslief had always been passionate about drawing, but the desire to become an artist only crystallized into a decision in 1995, when she enrolled at Cape College under the tutelage of Elizabeth Gunter. Her subjects are often viewed from a philosophical, deeply personal perspective, resulting in striking works that are emotionally charged, pensive in mood and considered in composition. Her subtle investigations into the human condition via the underbelly of Cape Town life somehow strike a chord with us. "I defer to the classical Masters for inspiration," says Sasha Hartslief, who admits to placing images painted by the 19th century American Impressionist, John Singer Sargent, next to her easel while she paints. Her muses include the 19th century neo-classicist, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, whose draughtsmanship and linear dexterity provide formal inspiration for her works. But Hartslief's brushstrokes are more diffuse than the precise, stylized techniques of the neo-classicists. Like the 19th century French Impressionists, she uses brushstrokes to evoke the transience of light, colour and movement. And like her Renaissance and Impressionist forebears, she employs everyday visual devices to explore the way in which atmospheric light and tonal modulations inform a surface, and to evoke atmospheres fraught with symbolic subtexts. But the transience of the captured moment is counterbalanced by the disciplined rigour of Hartslief's technique and painterly process. She admits to being "obsessively skills-driven and consumed" by her work. Each image becomes a formal study in light, contour and line. Hartslief's experimentation with chiaroscuro techniques derives inspiration from the works by 17th century Baroque masters such as Rembrandt who, through the buildup of impasto paint, evoked light and shadow in his portraits as a psychological device, similar to the way in which stage-lighting functions in the theatre. Often seeming to be lit from below, the expressive shading in Hartslief's portraits tends to converge around the facial hollows, giving the paintings a spatial as well as emotional depth. The eyes of the women in her portraits, in particular, seem inwardly focused. Since 1999, Hartslief has exhibited regularly at the Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, including several solo exhibitions. She continues to attract a broad collector base from around the world and is clearly one of South Africa’s most exciting young talents.

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2018 Interiors, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa Aura, Everard Read, London, UK 2016 Sasha Hartslief: New Works, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa 2013 Hartslief New Works, Everard Read, Johannesburg, South Africa 2012 Sasha Hartslief, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa Solo Exhibition, Rosendahl, Thöne & Westphal, Berlin, Germany 2011 Recent Works, Everard Read, Cape Town 2009 Sasha Hartslief : New Works, Everard Read, Cape Town 2007 Solo Exhibition, Everard Read, Cape Town

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2017 People & Portaiture, Everard Read CIRCA Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa 2016 Nocturne, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa 2015 Summer in the City, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa Homage , Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa WINTER, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa EMPIRE, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa 2014 Summer Season Part I, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa Winter, Everard Read Gallery, Cape Town, South Africa 2013 100, Everard Read, Cape Town, South Africa

Lorena Kloosterboer

Lorena Kloosterboer
Lorena Kloosterboer is a Dutch-Argentine artist (the Netherlands, 1962) painting contemporary realist still lifes. She seeks to capture the fascinating interactions between colors, light, shadows, textures and reflections, and unite them in visual poetry. During Kloosterboer’s thirty+ year career her artwork has received many prestigious awards, and has been exhibited in well over 150 gallery and museum exhibitions in Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Kloosterboer has written a book about painting in acrylics which has been published worldwide in several languages. She also writes essays about art and artists, catalog introductions, and has undertaken several curatorial projects. All her articles can be found on her website under Art Blog. Lorena Kloosterboer currently lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium.

Artist:
Lorena Kloosterboer

Lorena Kloosterboer is a Dutch-Argentine artist (the Netherlands, 1962) painting contemporary realist still lifes. She seeks to capture the fascinating interactions between colors, light, shadows, textures and reflections, and unite them in visual poetry. During Kloosterboer’s thirty+ year career her artwork has received many prestigious awards, and has been exhibited in well over 150 gallery and museum exhibitions in Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Kloosterboer has written a book about painting in acrylics which has been published worldwide in several languages. She also writes essays about art and artists, catalog introductions, and has undertaken several curatorial projects. All her articles can be found on her website under Art Blog. Lorena Kloosterboer currently lives and works in Antwerp, Belgium.

Anne-Françoise Ben-Or

Anne-Françoise Ben-Or
My intention is that my painting Will be a source of inspiration for people. It is a process of observation Through which we discover Anew and see beyond What we already know. I wish that my painting Will create a direct connection to The essence of reality on a State of being and sensing. Anne Ben-Or

Artist:
Anne-Françoise Ben-Or

Born in Belgium (1965) Studies 1997-2000 Painting and sculpture - Israel Museum, Jerusalem 2001-2004 "Jerusalem Studio School", Israel Hershberg Additional 1997-2002: "The Israel Stage Orchestra" Stage designer

Solo Exhibitions

2020 „Prey To Prayer" Rothschild Fine Art Gallery, Tel Aviv 2018 „State of Mind" Rothschild Fine Art Gallery, Tel Aviv, Curator: Varda Steinlauf 2017 „Secret games" Rothschild Fine Art Gallery, Tel Aviv 2016 „Anne Ben Or Paintings" Artists' House, Jerusalem, Curator: Ron Bartos „New members" Artists' House, Jerusalem, Curator: Oscar Abush 2015 „Defiance" Rothschild Fine Art Gallery Tel Aviv, Curator: Irena Gordon, accompanied by catalog. 2012 „Intimate Room" Zemack Gallery, Tel Aviv, Curator: Ktzia Alon. 2011 „Tender" The Obsession of Art, Holland 2010 „Transparent Flowers" Giv'at Ha'im Ihud Gallery, Curator: Hanush Morag 2008 „Becoming" Bernard Gallery Tel-Aviv, Curator: Maya Moor, accompanied by catalog 2007 Wohl Centre, Bar- Ilan University, Curator: Guy Olami 2006 „Christine Decuyper" Gallery, Brussels 2005 „Echo" Bernard Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Curator: Maya Moor

Group Exhibitions

2020 „Corona Time" Art Gallery Gan Shmuel, Curator:Adi Yekutieli 2019 „Fresh Paint 2019" 2018 „I to eye" The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Curator: Shir Meller-Yamaguchi. 2017 „BP portrait award 2017" National Portrait Gallery, London „Summer arrivels" The Obsession of Art Gallery, Holland. „Summer Exhibition" Zemack Gallery, Curator : Anat Bar-Noi. 2016 „Art 16" London, by Rothschild Gallery „Arti" Tiroche Auction House, by Rothschild Gallery „Art on Craft" Tel-Aviv. Curator: Esti Drori, Doron Polak. „Papers of value", Curator: Liza Gershuni, Liza Gershuni gallery 2015 „Women Of the Book" The first station, Jerusalem, Curator: Shoshana Gugenheim , Dr Ronit Steinberg, Judith Margolis 2015 „Salon Hacubia" Hacubia Jerusalem, Curator: Ela Cohen, Dan Orimian 2014 „They paint flowers" Art salon Jaffa , Curator: Amit kabesa 2013 „Fresh paint 6" Art Festival, Tel-Aviv, Zemach Gallery „Joy of life" The obsession of art gallery, Holland. 2012 „2012" Zemack gallery, Tel-Aviv, Curator : Ktzia Alon „La Prabola leri oggi domani" The museum of Israely art Ramat-Gan, Curator : Carmine Siniscalo „Summer exhibition" Zemack Gallery, Tel-Aviv „Fresh paint 5" Art festival, Tel-Aviv, Zemack gallery. 2011 „Two Hopes away", Museum Lehi, Tel-Aviv, Curator: Revital Silverman Grun „A Season in Heaven" Florentin Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Curator: Irena Gordon & Gilat Nadivi „Ee Mahut" Gerstein gallery Tel-Aviv. Curator Nurit TaL-Tenne. 2010 Salon d'art contemporain business art 2010 a' l'espace du Pierre Cardin

2009: "Childhood Stories”,. WhiteBox gallery, Munich.Germany Curator Yael Katz Ben Shalom "Manofim project" Jerusalem "Close Watch" Curator Irena Gordon & Boaz Noy "Tableau Vivant" Artist House Tel Aviv Curator Nir Haramat "Stories" Ein hod. Curator Naomi Hoss "Whispers of nature" The Obsession of Art Gallery, Holland "Self Examination" Hi-touch Gallery, Israel. Curator Dafna Naor "Primavera" Art Fair, Rotterdam, Holland 2008: "New passions" The Obsession of Art Gallery, Holland. 2007: "The Obsession of Art Gallery", Holland "Art Laren" Fair, Holland "Art fair" Maastricht, Holland "Primavera" Art fair, Rotterdam, Holland "Open Air" Art fair, Holland 2005: "Saint Augustine", Germany Sponsored by the "Kunstler" Gallery 2004: "Work in progress" Art space Gallery Jerusalem. "Abstraction", French cultural center, Romain Gary, Jerusalem 2003: "Mabat Meshulash" ,Jerusalem Theater 2001: "Omanut Yozert" Cultural center, Jerusalem

Vladimir Daibov - Once Upon a Time in Russia

Vladimir Daibov - Once Upon a Time in Russia
Vladimir Daibov was born in the Urals region. His creativity evolved in the artistic environment of the late 1970s Leningrad, absorbing the influences of the Russian avant-garde, the German expressionism, and the Leningrad underground culture. While studying at the Serov Art School with fellow artists and future rock stars Georgy Guryanov and Viktor Tsoi, Daibov witnessed the inception of the Leningrad Rock Club and countercultural movement. For him, however, the time of great change was not a period of all-out theatricality, but a chance to concentrate and find his own distinctive style. Like a Buddhist, he escaped the turning wheel of big city life, jumped off the merry-go-round of vanity, stepped off the train in the quiet town of Kursk to get a true feeling of self and the unhurried surroundings. For some, the time in provincial towns seems to have come to a halt, but for Daibov it has distilled and purged itself of any anxiety, emerging as a pure figurative formula. His unpeopled landscapes are filled with the dense substance of contemplation, expressing not the transience, but the permanence of being. Deep significance, plasticity, and generalization are generic to his works. The artist favours thick and pastose strokes, sharply defined shapes, contrasting colour schemes. At the same time, Vladimir Daibov's paintings are not simply visual facts and lucky finds of striking colour combinations manifesting a tried and tested craftsmanship. Rather, they can be seen as metaphysical landscapes, at times equally capable of instilling in the viewers a kind of existential yearning and astonishing them with the unexpected beauty of the everyday.

Artist:
Vladimir Daibov

Once Upon a Time in Russia

Vladimir Daibov was born in the Urals region. His creativity evolved in the artistic environment of the late 1970s Leningrad, absorbing the influences of the Russian avant-garde, the German expressionism, and the Leningrad underground culture. While studying at the Serov Art School with fellow artists and future rock stars Georgy Guryanov and Viktor Tsoi, Daibov witnessed the inception of the Leningrad Rock Club and countercultural movement. For him, however, the time of great change was not a period of all-out theatricality, but a chance to concentrate and find his own distinctive style. Like a Buddhist, he escaped the turning wheel of big city life, jumped off the merry-go-round of vanity, stepped off the train in the quiet town of Kursk to get a true feeling of self and the unhurried surroundings. For some, the time in provincial towns seems to have come to a halt, but for Daibov it has distilled and purged itself of any anxiety, emerging as a pure figurative formula. His unpeopled landscapes are filled with the dense substance of contemplation, expressing not the transience, but the permanence of being. Deep significance, plasticity, and generalization are generic to his works. The artist favours thick and pastose strokes, sharply defined shapes, contrasting colour schemes. At the same time, Vladimir Daibov's paintings are not simply visual facts and lucky finds of striking colour combinations manifesting a tried and tested craftsmanship. Rather, they can be seen as metaphysical landscapes, at times equally capable of instilling in the viewers a kind of existential yearning and astonishing them with the unexpected beauty of the everyday.

Vincent Giarrano

Vincent Giarrano
Close your eyes just a second too long and the figures in Vincent Giarrano’s street scenes and interiors could easily walk away, disappearing into an unseen world lingering on the edge of the canvas. His paints hold them still, but their lives are ready to move forward. “My paintings are sort of fleeting, They don’t linger in one place for long, and only the paint keeps them there” the Connecticut-based painter says. “It’s a slice of life. They are people you might see for a split second while walking down the street. Your eye is drawn to them, and in a second they’re gone.” Through painterly depictions of urban street life, Giarrano captures moments in time – snapshots of everyday experiences. For Giarrano, beauty is found in the sincere and uncontrived and in “small, quiet moments (that) can speak volumes.”

Artist:
Vincent Giarrano

MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS

• The Butler Institute of American Art, National Midyear Show, June 26 – August 28, 2016 • The Butler Institute of American Art, National Midyear Show, July 19 – September 7, 2015 • Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Contemporary Realism Biennial 2014, Sep. 20, 2014 – Nov. 30, 2014 • The National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, Outwin Boochever Competition, March 2013 – Feb. 2014 • The National Portrait Gallery, London, UK, BP Portrait Award 2013, June 20 – Sept. 15, 2014 • Aberdeen Art Gallery, BP Portrait Award 2013, Nov. 2, 2013 – Feb. 1, 2014 • Wolverhampton Art Gallery, BP Portrait Award 2013, March 1, 2014 – June 14, 2014

SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS

• Gallery Henoch, NYC, New York City Women, June 15 – July 8 2017 • Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT, City Life, August 5 – September 16 2016 • Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT, New Paintings, November 6 – December 5 2015 • Haynes Galleries, Nashville, TN, Life in the City, April 24 – May 5 2015 • Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT, New York City, August 15 – September 14 2014 • Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT, New Paintings, Nov. 1 – Dec. 1, 2013 • Haynes Galleries, Nashville, TN, Truth and Beauty, April 12 – May 18 2013 • Behnke Doherty Gallery, Washington, CT, Passages, May 17 – June 23 2013 • Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT, New Paintings, August 16 – September 30 2012 • Waterhouse Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA, One-man Show, March 25 – April 6, 2012 • Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT, NYC Street Scenes, May 13 – June 19, 2011 • Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT, New York Scenes, May 7 – June 13, 2010 • Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT, New York Soho Paintings, Dec 11 – Jan 31, 2009

SELECT GROUP EXHIBITIONS

• Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT, Spring into Art, March 10 – April 1, 2017 • Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT, Still Life Invitational, April 7 – May 13, 2017 • Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT, Spring into Art, March 11 – April 2, 2016 • Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT, Annual Holiday Show, Dec. 10 2015 – Jan. 31, 2016 • Gallery 1261, Denver, CO, The Renaissance of Realism, Nov. 13 – Dec. 5 2015 • Gallery 1261, Denver, CO, The City, Oct. 5 – Oct. 26 2013 • Bennington Center for the Arts, Bennington, VT, Artists for the New Century, June 9 – July 15 2012 • Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT, Along the Shore, July 19 – August 12, 2012 • Behnke-Doherty Gallery, Washington, CT, Bare Essentials, August 11 – September 18, 2011 • Tree’s Place, Orleans, Ma, Summer Salon, July 30, 2011 • Enid Lawson Gallery, London, United Kingdom, January 2011 • Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT, Holiday Exhibition, Dec 9, 2010 • Gardner Colby Gallery, Naples, Florida, December 2010 • Waterhouse Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA, The Great American Figurative Show, November 20, 2010 • Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT, NYC Viewpoints and CT Scenes, Dec 11 – Jan 31, 2010 • Behnke Doherty Gallery, Washington, CT, American Luminosity, Aug 6 – Sep 19, 2010 • The Forbes Galleries in NYC, A Contemporary View of Women Reading, February 10, 2010 • Waterhouse Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA, Figurative Exhibition, November 22, 2008 • Grenning Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY, Introducing, October 25, 2008 • Grenning Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY, Local Landscape Show, September, 2008 • Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT, Along the Shore, Jul 11 – Aug 10, 2008 • Susan Powell Fine Art, Madison, CT, Three Takes on Realism, Jul 11 – Aug 10, 2008 • Salmagundi Club, Non-members Exhibit, NY, 2007 • Greenhouse Gallery, San Antonio, TX, Salon International 2007 • Greenhouse Gallery, San Antonio, TX, Salon International 2006 • Connecticut Academy of Fine Arts, Annual Exhibition, Mystic, CT, 2006

AWARDS, HONORS AND COMPETITIONS

• The Artist’s Magazine Annual Competition, 2015, honorable mention in portrait/figure • America China Oil Painting Artists League Competition, Finalist 2011 • The Artist’s Magazine 27th Annual Competition, 2010 Second place in Wildlife, Spring Robin Honorable mention in Landscape, Japanese Girls • Washington Art Association, Members Show 2009, Honorable Mention • The Artist’s Magazine 25th Annual Competition, 2008, finalist in Landscape & Still Life • Greenwich Arts Council, Greenwich, CT, Faces of Winter 2008, Daniel Greene-Judge • The Artist’s Magazine Competition, 2007 • Salon International, Greenhouse Gallery, San Antonio, TX, 2007 • Salon International, Greenhouse Gallery, San Antonio, TX, 2006 • Salon International, Greenhouse Gallery, San Antonio, TX, 2005

Susan Abbott

Susan Abbott
Susan Abbott was born in Takoma Park, Maryland, and grew up in this Victorian suburb of Washington, DC. Her parents met as labor organizers in the 1930’s, and they continued to be active in social and environmental causes throughout their lives. Because her father was an artist and graphic designer, there were many art books and supplies at home and Abbott was drawing and painting from an early age. Her mother was a skilled seamstress and taught her to sew, knit and embroider. These hand crafts and time outdoors exploring the creeks and woods in her neighborhood were favorite childhood activities that have informed her work as an artist. Abbott began her formal art studies at fourteen, studying life drawing in the summers under the famed professor Robert D’Arista at American University. She dropped out of high school to begin full time studies at the Maryland Institute, College of Art, which she selected for its rigorous painting program. At MICA, Abbott focused on figure painting and plein air landscape with Israel Hershberg. She graduated Summa Cum Laude and two years later received a MFA degree from the Institute’s Hoffberger School of Painting, working with renowned abstract painter Grace Hartigan as her advisor. She went on to study printmaking in the graduate program at the University of Iowa under the master intaglio artist Mauricio Lasansky. Susan Abbott has been working as a professional artist since that time, exhibiting in galleries and museums around the country. Her still life and landscapes have been featured at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, Museum of Technology, Hood College, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. Her painting was included in the show “Objects of Personal Significance”, which toured museums around the United States. She has been a recipient of a Maryland Art Council “Individual Artist Award” and a Vermont Arts Council “Creation Grant”. In 2009 she was one of ten a

Statement
Growing up in Washington, DC, I had an early love of drawing encouraged by my artist father and for textile crafts learned from my mother, as well as many happy hours exploring neighborhood woods and streams. These childhood activities gave me a connection to hand craft and nature that have stayed with me and informed my work as a painter. In my eagerness to begin my art education I dropped out of high school to attend the Maryland Institute, College of Art, where I received a BFA and MFA. I’ve been working as a professional artist since that time, exhibiting in galleries and museums around the country and teaching art workshops around the world. I moved to Vermont twenty-five years ago for the most impractical of reasons, love at first sight. I’m still attracted to all the ordinary things I see around me here–houses, barns, trucks, fields, mountains—and how they are made magical by ever-changing light and seasons. When I paint in my studio from the references I gather on-site, invented colors and shapes take over and combine with my memory of the subject to create something completely new. My hope is that the paintings that result from this alchemy of the real and abstract communicate to the viewer something of my deep love for the familiar yet mysterious landscape of Vermont. Susan Abbott

Artist:
Susan Abbott

Susan Abbott was born in Takoma Park, Maryland, and grew up in this Victorian suburb of Washington, DC. Her parents met as labor organizers in the 1930’s, and they continued to be active in social and environmental causes throughout their lives. Because her father was an artist and graphic designer, there were many art books and supplies at home and Abbott was drawing and painting from an early age. Her mother was a skilled seamstress and taught her to sew, knit and embroider. These hand crafts and time outdoors exploring the creeks and woods in her neighborhood were favorite childhood activities that have informed her work as an artist. Abbott began her formal art studies at fourteen, studying life drawing in the summers under the famed professor Robert D’Arista at American University. She dropped out of high school to begin full time studies at the Maryland Institute, College of Art, which she selected for its rigorous painting program. At MICA, Abbott focused on figure painting and plein air landscape with Israel Hershberg. She graduated Summa Cum Laude and two years later received a MFA degree from the Institute’s Hoffberger School of Painting, working with renowned abstract painter Grace Hartigan as her advisor. She went on to study printmaking in the graduate program at the University of Iowa under the master intaglio artist Mauricio Lasansky. Susan Abbott has been working as a professional artist since that time, exhibiting in galleries and museums around the country. Her still life and landscapes have been featured at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, Museum of Technology, Hood College, and the Baltimore Museum of Art. Her painting was included in the show “Objects of Personal Significance”, which toured museums around the United States. She has been a recipient of a Maryland Art Council “Individual Artist Award” and a Vermont Arts Council “Creation Grant”. In 2009 she was one of ten artists selected from an international competition to receive funding to produce a series of paintings about the future of Vermont for the “Art of Action” project. She is an active partner with non-profits in projects that connect art and conservation. Susan Abbott’s paintings are in many private and corporate collections, including Mead Data Central, the Gund Company, the Federal Home Mortgage Administration, Peat Marwick, and Chittenden Bank. Her commission for Oprah Winfrey was featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Statement

Growing up in Washington, DC, I had an early love of drawing encouraged by my artist father and for textile crafts learned from my mother, as well as many happy hours exploring neighborhood woods and streams. These childhood activities gave me a connection to hand craft and nature that have stayed with me and informed my work as a painter. In my eagerness to begin my art education I dropped out of high school to attend the Maryland Institute, College of Art, where I received a BFA and MFA. I’ve been working as a professional artist since that time, exhibiting in galleries and museums around the country and teaching art workshops around the world. I moved to Vermont twenty-five years ago for the most impractical of reasons, love at first sight. I’m still attracted to all the ordinary things I see around me here–houses, barns, trucks, fields, mountains—and how they are made magical by ever-changing light and seasons. When I paint in my studio from the references I gather on-site, invented colors and shapes take over and combine with my memory of the subject to create something completely new. My hope is that the paintings that result from this alchemy of the real and abstract communicate to the viewer something of my deep love for the familiar yet mysterious landscape of Vermont. Susan Abbott

Bahram Hajou

Bahram Hajou
Bahram Hajou’s paintings are subtle works of nature and humanity, and, inherent among the gentle strokes and original coloring, are tales of beauty and love, fear and solitude, forgiveness and understanding, anxiety and furtiveness, freedom and dependence. His power and strength are reflected in the energy of his works, much of which gives the impression of freedom of expression and readiness for dialogue.

Theme
Bahram Hajou’s art explores themes of social and personal consciousness, connection and disconnection. His art does not apply itself to the rules of space and time, as his subjects are suspended in space. This lack of a definitive space and time allows Hajou’s art to become timeless, as it transcends boundaries set by conventions. Instead, Hajou’s art renders itself to the viewer and thus his art becomes personally confrontational as his subjects directly face the viewer and demand a conversation. Hajou’s art tells the tale of a certain alienation... one that is felt through the canvas. The viewer is faced with a gaze coming from the canvas as the figures begin a dialogue with the audience. Some works of art display lovers, in some cases, they are in a loving embrace, whereas in others their relationship is marked by the distance between them. As viewers, we are left to think of our own relationship with our loved ones. We are left to think of our own personal alienation and detachment, both on the micro and macro scale. We are left with our role in society and the way we interact with those around us.


Artist:
Bahram Hajou

Bahram Hajou is a Syrian-born German artist who studied in the Fine Arts Academy, Dusseldorf and later graduated from the Art Academy Munster in Germany in 1984. Hajou’s work theme is the human in his loneliness translated into the language of symbols and in a continuity of motifs: Face, body postures, blank room, inaccessible towers, dilapidated homes, and landscape. Against a background characterized by subtle hues punctuated by sudden splashes of color, the human figure stares out or turns away, the body language expressing a range of emotions, love, fear, solitude, anxiety, understanding, freedom and dependence.

Exhibitions

2017 Kulturcentrum in Manama – Bahrain 2017 Art Karlsruhe (D) 2017 Karim Gallery, Amman (JORDAN) 2016 Foyer des Stadttheters Münster/Germany (D) 2016 Galerie Karsi Sanat´ta, Istanbul (TR) 2016 Galerie Ludwig Trossaert Antwerp (B) 2016 Sollefteå konst förening, (S) 2016 Überkopf Kunstbegegnen, Münster (D) 2016 Palagio Contemporaneo 2015 Galerie GNG, Paris, France 2015 Kunsthaus Langenberg e.V. Alldie Kunst (Norbrt Bauer), Langenberg/Düsseldorf (D) 2015 Office Kleine Galerie (Art against violence) Wien/Viena (A) 2015 Art Élysées (Petit Palace, Paris) (F) 2015 Art Fair, Istanbul contemporary, Istanbul (TR) 2014 Galerie Ludwig Trossaert (Antwerp - Belgium) 2014 Art House Wien, Austria 2014 Henry Matisse Price, Château Musée Grimaldi, France 2013 Galerie Ludwig Trossaert (Antwerp - Belgium) 2013 Galerie GNG Gilles Naudine, Paris 2013 White Box Gallery, New York 2012 Museum Cotemporary Art (Bratislava) Danubiana 2010 Art House Gallery Damascus (Syria) 2010 Aida Cherfan Fine Art Gallery in Beirut 2010 Galerie Kula (Museum Split/Kroatien) 2009 Artfestival Amman, Jordan (Symposion) 2009 Artfestival Patra, Greece (Symposion) 2009 Karim Gallery, Amman (Jordan) 2008 Hewar Art Gallery - Total Arts Gallery in the courtyard - Dubai 2008 Museum for modern Art, Latakia (Syria) 2008 Kunstkompakt 5, Gladbeck (Germany) 2008 Galerie Zeugma, Cologne (Germany) 2008 Kunsthandel Antonia v. Fraunberg, Düsseldorf (Germany) 2008 1. Price Meditterane Artbiennale in Trogir, Croatia (Symposion) 2008 Art House Gallery Damascus (Syria) 2007 Galerie Zeugma, Cologne (Germany) 2007 Galerie Green Art, Dubai (U.A.E.) 2007 Galerie Michael Nolte, Muenster (Germany) 2007 art club kunstverein, Burgwedel/Isernhagen (Germany) 2006 Kunsthalle Faust, Hannover (Germany) 2006 Galerie Holbein, Hannover (Germany) 2006 Galerie Carolyn Heinz, Hamburg (Germany) 2006 Galerie Al Hiwar, Riadh (Saudi Arabien) 2006 Kunstkompakt 4, Gladbeck (Germany) 2005 Galerie Kreuziger, Worbswede (Germany) 2005 Galerie Zeugma, Cologne,

Catalogs · expertises

• 2018 - Bahram - Vis-a-Vis mit Texten von Stephan Trescher, Hania Zawaneh, H. E. Alfred Simms-Protz • 2018 - Bahram Hajou - The Haunting Imagery Of The Painter, Binoche Fine Art, New York • 2012 - Bahram mit Texten von Rudi Fred Linke, RUDIFREDLINKEGALERIE, Münster • 2010 - Bahram - Ustanova u Kulturi, Galerie Kula (Museum Split/Kroatien) • 2009 - Bahram Retrospektive - ADIB-Verlag Amman Jordanien, ISBN: 978-9957-514-03-7 • 2006 - Dialogs - Hewar Art Gallery mit Texten von Dr. Dieter M. Keiner • 2002 - Bahram Menschenbilder - von Oberfinanzdirektion Münster mit Texten von Prof. Dr. Christoph Miething und Dr. Dieter Büter • 2000 - Bahram Dialog - mit Texten von Prof. Dr. Christoph Miething • 1997 - Bahram - mit Texten von Bachar Isa, Prof. Dr. Christoph Miething und Malva • 1990 - Bahram - mit Texten von Dr. Reinhard Hasseider • 1990 - Bahram Quadrat - mit Texten von Dr. Dieter Büter

José Manuel Castro López - Esculturas

José Manuel Castro López - Esculturas
A sculptor based in Coruña, Galicia, Spain seems to be defying the laws of nature with his amazing malleable stone sculptures. His works are made out of natural materials like granite and iron oxide, from which he crafts his rock-like formations with folds, wrinkles and flaps as if they were made of clay or skin. Providing some of the stones’ fleshy appearance, one could say they almost appear to be alive. López achieves a magical effort. He doesn’t see rocks in the same way that other people do. Inspired by the mythology of his native Galician culture, he believes that stones are spirits of the land and, as an artist, it is his role to to conjure them. This is carved out of the solid material. He never uses glue. It is a miracle how José Manuel Castro López brings so much life to a stone. “Mi relación con la piedra no es física, sino mágica. Toda mi capacidad creativa va dirigida a establecer con el material una relación vital. Nos respetamos, nos entendemos, me obedece... somos amigos; no es un material inerte, vive, se manifiesta. (My relationship with the stone is not physical, but magical. My entire creative capability is directed to establish a living relation with the material. We respect each other, we understand each other, it obeys me… we are friends; it is not a lifeless material, it lives, it becomes manifest in itself)”. José Manuel Castro López

Artist:
José Manuel Castro López

A sculptor based in Coruña, Galicia, Spain seems to be defying the laws of nature with his amazing malleable stone sculptures. His works are made out of natural materials like granite and iron oxide, from which he crafts his rock-like formations with folds, wrinkles and flaps as if they were made of clay or skin, as if smiling and grimacing human faces are carved out of the solid material. Providing some of the stones’ fleshy appearance, one could say they almost appear to be alive. López achieves a magical effort. He doesn’t see rocks in the same way that other people do. Inspired by the mythology of his native Galician culture, he believes that stones are spirits of the land and, as an artist, it is his role to to conjure them. This is carved. He never uses glue. “Mi relación con la piedra no es física, sino mágica. Toda mi capacidad creativa va dirigida a establecer con el material una relación vital. Nos respetamos, nos entendemos, me obedece... somos amigos; no es un material inerte, vive, se manifiesta. (My relationship with the stone is not physical, but magical. My entire creative capability is directed to establish a living relation with the material. We respect each other, we understand each other, it obeys me… we are friends; it is not a lifeless material, it lives, it becomes manifest in itself)”. José Manuel Castro López

Unknown Socialist Realism: The Leningrad School of Painting 1920-1990s - Introduction

Unknown Socialist Realism: The Leningrad School of Painting 1920-1990s - Introduction
It is well known that two principal movements in the 20th century’s art – namely, abstract art and the art of socialist realism – emerged, found their classics and took the shape of theoretical systems not only in one and the same country but also in the same center of European culture. Both movements should be attributed to St Petersburg – Petrograd – Leningrad. It is far less known that both movements fed upon the tradition of Russian art and sprang from the same art school. By the middle of the 20th century Leningrad had become perhaps the only European cultural center to have preserved the world-famous school of easel painting based on the continuous development of age-long traditions of the national and European painting. The history of the Leningrad school of painting spans the period from 1930 through to the early 1990s. Having emerged in the time of hottest discussions on the development of art and art education in the USSR, it became the missing link that allowed for the preservation of national realist painting and provided for its further advance in the epoch of socialism. The Leningrad school proper usually refers to the Repin Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in the period between 1932 and the early 1990s, including its traditions, teachers, alumni and their art works. In its broader sense, the Leningrad school may also include a number of higher and secondary education establishments closely connected with the Repin Institute as well as the Leningrad Union of Artists in the period between its foundation in 1932 and the early 1990s. All that being true, the Leningrad school should be primarily understood as a unique alloy of personalities drawn from the richest and finest rock containing the least possible amount of impurities that had been searched for in the depths of the country, processed by the world’s finest smelter and cast in the furnace of the epoch.

Artists
About 1,200 artists may be said to belong to the Leningrad school of painting. Approximately 400 of them formed its distinguishing features in different periods and different genres. In the 1930s through the 1950s the following artists were brought up by the school: E. Antipova, T. Afonina, E. Baykova, N. Baskakov, P. Belousov, O. Bogaevskaya, A. Vasiliev, I. Veselkin, R. Vovkushevsky, N. Galakhov, V. Golubev, E. Gorokhova, I. Dobrekova, G. Yegoshin, A. Eremin, M. Zheleznov, V. Zagonek, M. Zubreeva, R. Zakharian, M. Kaneev, E. Kozlov, M. Kopitseva, B. Korneev, A. Koroviakov, E. Kostenko, B. Lavrenko, A. Laktionov, O. Lomakin, D. Maevsky, E. Moiseenko, V. Monakhova, N. Mukho, A. Mylnikov, M. Natarevich, S. Nevelshtein, A. Nenartovich, Yu. Neprintsev, D. Oboznenko, V. Ovchinnikov, L. Orekhov, V. Oreshnikov, S. Osipov, V. Otiev, N. Pozdneev, A. Pushnin, L. Russov, G. Savinov, A. Semionov, V. Serov, E. Skuin, A. Sokolov, V. Teterin, N. Timkov, V. Tokarev, M. Trufanov, Yu. Tulin, V. Tulenev, B. Ugarov, Yu. Khukhrov, V. Chekalov, B. Shamanov, A. Shmidt, N. Shteinmiller, L. Yazgur and many other famous and half-forgotten artists. Basic elements of the Leningrad school – namely, a higher art education establishment of a new type and a unified professional union of Leningrad artists, were created by the end of 1932. However, it took several more years to gather faculty members and organize art education in a new way. In 1934 Isaak Brodsky, a disciple of Ilya Repin was appointed director of the National Academy of Arts and the Leningrad Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. Brodsky invited most distinguished painters and pedagogues to teach at the Academy. Education of future painters was based on a thorough study of drawing, composition, painting and art history. Requirements for applicants became stricter; preliminary courses and the so called. For more details please see Historical outline: http://www.leningradartist.com/outline.htm

Art Heritage
It was thanks to their efforts that traditions of the Russian school of painting were preserved and developed. For all problems and faults of the formative years, methods of art teaching and general structure of art education adopted in the 1930 proved very successful. These methods remain relevant up to the present; they are universally recognized as the standard of art education and adopted all over the world. At present paintings of masters of the Leningrad School recide in stocks of major art museums and private collections in Russia and abroud. This school brought up eminent artists whose creative eagerness was akin to that of the old great masters. They were distinguished by the true love for the Motherland. Endowed with many talents, they were mysteriously spiritual and scorned universal mercantilism as the ultimate aim of human kind. Inseparable from the history of its century, this art will be admired by new generations not only for its skillfulness and beauty but also for its dreaminess and revolutionary romanticism, liveliness of its images, historical optimism, sincere belief in the creative and reforming ability of art, and clear understanding of involvement and personal responsibility of the artist for the fate of Motherland and the course of history.

Christiane Vleugels

Christiane Vleugels
Christiane Vleugels work can be characterized as realism, but if you look closer you realize there is much more. Not only a lot of love for the subject, but also the feel of an ethereal atmosphere that exudes dramatic beauty and glamour. Each of her paintings unveils a certain aspect of life and inspires to dream. Christiane paints her philosophy of life in every painting she does, and it’s instantly visible. Her zest for life and her unshakable belief that the universe provides are palpable in her paintings, never failing to lift a smile from the viewer. Originally painting in a romantic style to gain the recognition she craved as an awkward teenager, she soon developed a mature mastery of the styles of the old masters through commissioned paintings, “which paid my bills and honed my skills,” Christiane recalls with a smidge of melancholy and a handful of gratitude. These days Christiane paints what’s alive and calling in her, whether it’s a sense of wonder about this world or compassion for her models, especially those that lack an articulate voice, such as women who’ve suffered trauma, her widowed father, or sometimes animals. Christiane paints in oil on board or aluminum panels, preferably of large formats, drawing, according to the mood or theme that may be stirring in her, on her large archive of photographs of models who have posed for her over the years.
"To paint what is in the heart always has been the biggest challenge. Sheer beauty, clears the mind and lets you open up for world’s beyond the dream. Of course it hasn’t always been like that, it took many years of reproducing old Masters and working on commission before I realized that the time has come to create from the heart. When I look back at those tiresome years, during which I often felt under incredible pressure and even, at times, uninspired, I realize they were a necessary part of my artistic journey. I really do believe I owe my various skills to that endless list of commissions. But now the time has come to take new directions in life. With each original work I create today, I realize more and more that the true learning process has only just begun for me!" Christiane Vleugels

Artist:
Christiane Vleugels

At the age of 12, Christiane went to the Academy of Art in Schoten (Belgium). At the age of 17 she went in Antwerpen to the Municipal Institute of Decorative Arts and Crafts where she focused on decor, publicity and nature drwaings. After that, it was time for the Royal Academy in Antwerp. There she studied figure drawing, oil painting and restoration techniques. Christiane Vleugels work can be characterized as realism, but if you look closer you realize there is much more. Not only a lot of love for the subject, but also the feel of an ethereal atmosphere that exudes dramatic beauty and glamour. Each of her paintings unveils a certain aspect of life and inspires to dream. Christiane paints her philosophy of life in every painting she does, and it’s instantly visible. Her zest for life and her unshakable belief that the universe provides are palpable in her paintings, never failing to lift a smile from the viewer. Originally painting in a romantic style to gain the recognition she craved as an awkward teenager, she soon developed a mature mastery of the styles of the old masters through commissioned paintings, “which paid my bills and honed my skills,” Christiane recalls with a smidge of melancholy and a handful of gratitude. These days Christiane paints what’s alive and calling in her, whether it’s a sense of wonder about this world or compassion for her models, especially those that lack an articulate voice, such as women who’ve suffered trauma, her widowed father, or sometimes animals. Christiane paints in oil on board or aluminum panels, preferably of large formats, drawing, according to the mood or theme that may be stirring in her, on her large archive of photographs of models who have posed for her over the years.

"To paint what is in the heart always has been the biggest challenge. Sheer beauty, clears the mind and lets you open up for world’s beyond the dream. Of course it hasn’t always been like that, it took many years of reproducing old Masters and working on commission before I realized that the time has come to create from the heart. When I look back at those tiresome years, during which I often felt under incredible pressure and even, at times, uninspired, I realize they were a necessary part of my artistic journey. I really do believe I owe my various skills to that endless list of commissions. But now the time has come to take new directions in life. With each original work I create today, I realize more and more that the true learning process has only just begun for me!" Christiane Vleugels

Anne-Christine Roda

Anne-Christine Roda
I define a highly original interpretation of the portrait: in my work the painting is entirely subjugated to the portrayal of man’s fragility. My paintings, in terms of the choice of pose for my models and the neutral treatment of their backgrounds are as rooted in tradition, as my subjects are sourced unequivocally from our contemporary era. My choice of subject speaks directly to our everyday lives. My ‘sitters’ – very diverse in age and social status are striking in their individuality. Yet going beyond the individual, their very diversity represents disparate fragments of a mosaic combining to reveal an image of humanity pulsating with life. Through this shared humanity each portrait has the power to evoke in an instant for the viewer, the most personal of memories. Thanks to my training as a picture restorer, I, with each meticulously applied layer of paint gradually reveals my sitters face in all its naked intimacy. The features emerge with precision and realism. The gentle hollow of a fine wrinkle, the texture of a strand of hair or even the moisture of a glistening eye: it’s in this quest for exactitude and fidelity to my subject that the individual is revealed in all its sensitivity. It was the dawn of photography amongst other things that heralded the decline of the painted portrait and yet it is from a photograph that I work, ultimate proof that while digging deep into the traditions of my art form I distance myself from this very tradition in seeking a naked rawness in my representations. Since 2013, I have exhibited in Galleries (France, Geneva, Munich), Art Centres (in France), Art Fairs (Paris, Strasbourg, Monaco) and Museums (National Portrait Gallery in London and Edinburgh, Ulster Museum in Belfast, Meam in Barcelona, Wausau Museum in Wmoca). In 2015, I participated to the BP Portrait Award. My paintings are part of collections in France, Switzerland, Germany, UK, United States, Hong Kong...

Artist:
Anne-Christine RODA

I define a highly original interpretation of the portrait: in my work the painting is entirely subjugated to the portrayal of man’s fragility. My paintings, in terms of the choice of pose for my models and the neutral treatment of their backgrounds are as rooted in tradition, as my subjects are sourced unequivocally from our contemporary era. My choice of subject speaks directly to our everyday lives. My ‘sitters’ – very diverse in age and social status are striking in their individuality. Yet going beyond the individual, their very diversity represents disparate fragments of a mosaic combining to reveal an image of humanity pulsating with life. Through this shared humanity each portrait has the power to evoke in an instant for the viewer, the most personal of memories. Thanks to my training as a picture restorer, I, with each meticulously applied layer of paint gradually reveals my sitters face in all its naked intimacy. The features emerge with precision and realism. The gentle hollow of a fine wrinkle, the texture of a strand of hair or even the moisture of a glistening eye: it’s in this quest for exactitude and fidelity to my subject that the individual is revealed in all its sensitivity. It was the dawn of photography amongst other things that heralded the decline of the painted portrait and yet it is from a photograph that I work, ultimate proof that while digging deep into the traditions of my art form I distance myself from this very tradition in seeking a naked rawness in my representations. Since 2013, I have exhibited in Galleries (France, Geneva, Munich), Art Centres (in France), Art Fairs (Paris, Strasbourg, Monaco) and Museums (National Portrait Gallery in London and Edinburgh, Ulster Museum in Belfast, Meam in Barcelona, Wausau Museum in Wmoca). In 2015, I participated to the BP Portrait Award. My paintings are part of collections in France, Switzerland, Germany, UK, United States, Hong Kong...

Richard Thorn - Richard Thorn SWAc – Artist & Tutor

Richard Thorn - Richard Thorn SWAc – Artist & Tutor
Richard Thorn spent his early years drawing which led naturally into painting in watercolor. After pursuing a career in music (after leaving art college) he returned to painting in my chosen medium. Since that time his watercolours have gone through many changes. Appreciation of colour, tone, and composition have been my principal concerns. Light, texture and (spatial) distance are Thorn's chief interests, and these elements predominate his compositions and subject matter. For him, painting is a continuum – an exploration. But with watercolor, it is the medium that seems to be forever ahead of time.

Artist Statement
"I like to paint the soul of the scene I’m working on, depicting the essence of that which is before me. Watercolour is the master, I am the student."

Artist:
Richard Thorn

Born in Torquay, England 1952, Richard’s art began with drawing. His love of the countryside and the sea drew him to sketch and paint nature in an around his close environment. Since those early days, his paintings have been exhibited around England, Europe, and America. The Artist is principally self-taught apart from his schooling and a spell at art college after leaving school.

Biography

Thorn began painting professionally In the early 1980s. Since then he has produced many fine paintings of the commanding Devon and Cornish landscapes and coastline specializing in watercolour. Having lived for most of his life in and around Torbay he has committed the area's most picturesque coastline to paper in sublime fashion making the sun dance across the water like no other. The South West has a “quality of light” that attracts many British artists and Richard Thorn is no exception. He is drawn to the intensely bright and suffuses light, together with the many variations in the coastal and inland landscape of the area. In addition, he has enjoyed sojourn's in Spain and Venice from which he created equally emotive compositions in hot Mediterranean tones to great effect. Richard has had many exhibitions and one-man shows. His strong distinctive style and his penchant for light has made his work sought after by Galleries and Collectors throughout the country. In 1998 Richard exhibited his "Images of Portugal" at the Anglo-Portuguese Society in Belgrave Square, London. He is currently preparing a book for publication of his drawings and sketches. He has won two awards at the Royal Institute (for painters in watercolour) at the Mall Galleries in London - 2016/17 and his book - Down an English lane - was published in 2016.

Johnson Tsang - Ceramic Art

Johnson Tsang - Ceramic Art
Born in Hong Kong in 1960, artist Johnson Tsang employs realist sculptural techniques accompanied by his incredible surrealist imagination. Tsang pushes the boundaries of the viewer’s imagination. In Tsang’s magical realism, he is able to see each object with a new soul and function and does not rest until he has finally extracted it. After being familiar with the world as it is seen through Tsang’s eyes, we step into a new creative hemisphere, he adds a sort of beauty and an unforgettable meaning to everyday objects, constantly reinvented in his anthropomorphic sculptures. He takes them to a whole new existential level in a surreal, fantastic and magical manner, one that invites us to dream. Tsang’s porcelains are provocative, they challenge us and they have an irreverent stance. His sculptures convey this sensation in which they seem to be able to shape themselves and the metamorphic and anthropomorphic character is yet again displayed with full intensity in which the energy and movement are almost always present. They make us step into their inner and sensorial world, takes us to their passiveness and inner silence. A frequent feeling of pain, oppression or being crushed is also evident. In the series of babies Tsang depicts a playful world that is intensively fun and cartoonish, in which the babies’ big faces underline their traits and emotions. The babies show an evident disbelief towards the world and the beings around them, as if they aren’t able to see themselves abiding by this world’s laws. Creativity never ends, Tsang has a surrealist imagination which never becomes complacent, developing instead new techniques which give us innovative and unexpected approaches at all times.

Artist:
Johnson Tsang

Ceramic Art

Born in Hong Kong in 1960, artist Johnson Tsang employs realist sculptural techniques accompanied by his incredible surrealist imagination. Tsang pushes the boundaries of the viewer’s imagination. In Tsang’s magical realism, he is able to see each object with a new soul and function and does not rest until he has finally extracted it. After being familiar with the world as it is seen through Tsang’s eyes, we step into a new creative hemisphere, he adds a sort of beauty and an unforgettable meaning to everyday objects, constantly reinvented in his anthropomorphic sculptures. He takes them to a whole new existential level in a surreal, fantastic and magical manner, one that invites us to dream. Tsang’s porcelains are provocative, they challenge us and they have an irreverent stance. His sculptures convey this sensation in which they seem to be able to shape themselves and the metamorphic and anthropomorphic character is yet again displayed with full intensity in which the energy and movement are almost always present. They make us step into their inner and sensorial world, takes us to their passiveness and inner silence. A frequent feeling of pain, oppression or being crushed is also evident. In the series of babies Tsang depicts a playful world that is intensively fun and cartoonish, in which the babies’ big faces underline their traits and emotions. The babies show an evident disbelief towards the world and the beings around them, as if they aren’t able to see themselves abiding by this world’s laws. Creativity never ends, Tsang has a surrealist imagination which never becomes complacent, developing instead new techniques which give us innovative and unexpected approaches at all times.

Museum of Art
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