Become a World-Famous Artist

Transcription

ARTisSpectrum
Volume 29
The Chelsea Perspective
Become a
World-Famous
Artist
The Step-by-Step Guide
pg. 21
1
Profiles of Contemporary Art and Artists
ARTisSpectrum | Volume 29 | artisspectrum.com
D E LAWA R E C E N T E R F O R
THE CONTEMPORARY ARTS
30 Exhibitions Annually, 7 Galleries , 26 Artist Studios, FREE Admission Always
ImPERFECT CITY: A real-time
participatory exhibition.
Feb 9 - June 16, 2013
This exhibition is made possible
by a grant from The Andy Warhol
Foundation for the Visual Arts.
Visit the imPERFECT CITY blog to
learn more about this exhibition.
http://imperfectcitydcca.wordpress.com/
Tue, Thu, Fri & Sat: 10 to 5 Wed & Sun: 12 to 5 Mon: Closed
200 South Madison Street Wilmington, DE 19801 302.656.6466 www.thedcca.org
XXV
CELEBRATING
SINCE 1986
ARTISTS
WITH FOUNDING
aziza
Kathleen and WilW.liMIaCRmOMLUSEUM.BIZ
ATIONAL TOURS: WW
PRIVATE GUIDED & EDUC
PM (FREE VIEW FROM ST.)
LLIAM LAZIZA • DAILY 5 - 10
WI
BY
T”
OU
E
SID
“IN
ION
VIDEOART PROJECT
12 – 7 PM • $2 PER PERSON
IZA
KATHLEEN & WILLIAM LAZ
013•2014
2
EXHIBITION DATES
IMPROVISATION
MAKE PERFECT
March 6 – October 28
QUICK DRAW
November 2 – May 15
2
– OMG!
RDAYS
EXHIBITION HOURS: SATU
®
SEUM ON
FOLLOW MICROMU
S
SPECIAL APPOINTMENT
& ART SALES
(718) 797-3116
www.micromuseum.com
SMALL VENUE
BIG ART
The Chelsea International Fine Art Competition Exhibition
August 16 - September 5, 2013
Reception: Thursday August 22, 2013 6-8 pm
Mia Am Fenster
Anne Sedel
Sean Arce
Céline Bardou
Liza Brenner
Rebecca Calhoun
Airco Caravan
Tracey Derrick
Kat Elagina
Brigitte Garcia
Beatriz González
Hank Gray
Michelle Hartney
Gudrun Heamägi
Dong Whan Kang
Jordi Marin-Gest
Russell Mehlman
Alain Millerand
Hélène Mogensen de Monléon
Edward Moret
Yasuaki Okamoto
Alix Pierre
Jonathan Popovich
Jeffrey Richter
Talia Savyone
Debbee Sheppard
Kristina Siegel
Chuck Siler
Mark St. Mary
Neale Stratford
John Szabo
Maria Torrendell
Swarte Vulpescu Olaru
Christina White
©Airco Caravan: Motel Slaying, Oil on Canvas, 13” x 13”
530 West 25th Street, New York, NY
www.Agora-Gallery.com
3
ARTisSpectrum
Publisher
Agora Gallery
Editor-in-Chief
Angela Di Bello
Assistant Editor
Sabrina Gilbertson
Art Director
Julie Wilson
Associate Editor
Joyce Asper
Profiles Editor
Karin Maraney
Staff Writers
Steve Barnes
Chloe Eichler
Brenna O’Toole
Theresa Sinclair
Benjamin Sutton
Leah Triplet
Contributing Writers
Lynne Douglas
Kelsey Golder
Marissa Mule
Jose Antonio Serbia
Benjamin Sutton
Christine Vittorino
Contents
7 Profile Directory
9 About the Cover
22 How to Become a World Renowned Artist Overnight
Benjamin Sutton
27 Spotlight on Berenice Michelow
Angela Di Bello
32 Studio Spaces
Lynne Douglas
40 The Art of Architecture
Christine Vittorino
46 Guide to NY Public Art
Kelsey Golder
60 Traveling Studio
Jose Antonio Serbia
78 The Humanitarians
84 Art Matters - Why we Collect Art
90 Memorable Receptions from Around the World
100 Fashion Forward
Marissa Mule
110 New York City: Evoking the Muse
122 ARTbeat
ARTisSpectrum provides a forum for artists
and
art
professionals.
Articles
express
the opinion and knowledge of the authors
and not necessarily that of the magazine’s
management. Artist profiles are written by staff
writers or the artists unless otherwise noted.
© All copyrights are reserved by the authors.
The copyrights of all published artwork are
retained by the artists. Reproduction of any
published material
is prohibited without the
written permission of the magazine’s publisher.
Suggestions for future articles are welcome.
Any topic submitted in writing by an artist, art
professional or professionals in the service of the
art community will be considered for publication.
Printed by The CPC Group.com
ARTisSpectrum Magazine 530 West 25th Street New York, NY 10001 www.ARTisSpectrum.com 212.226.4151 [email protected]
4
27
78
32
60
46
5
16 March – 9 June 2013
Piccadilly, London
www.royalacademy.org.uk
Friends of the RA go free
George Bellows, Stag at Sharkey’s (detail), 1909.
Oil on canvas, 92 x 122.6 cm. The Cleveland Museum
of Art, Hinman B. Hurlbut Collection.
Photo © The Cleveland Museum of Art
6
Supported by
Profiles
If you like to keep up-to-date with the art world and enjoy spotting talented emerging and established artists, then
artists’ profiles are a great way to do it. These profiles showcase the work, motivations and inspirations of exciting new
faces on the international art scene.
51
108
73
57
95
109
96
15
73
14
74
18
18
75
66
121
64
24
94
117
45
119
103
99
109
19
77
14
96
89
102
97
10
51
102
55
76
AnnaMaria Critelli
Anne-Marie Crosby
April Rimpo
Ben Frochisse
Biddy Hodgkinson
Brady Steward
Brenda Ness-Cooper
Carlos Hidalgo
Caroline Josephs PhD
Cordell Taylor
Dani Cortez
Darlene Adams
David Costello
David Reinfeld
Debbie Klein
Donna Shaffer
Dušan Swalens
Eduardo D. Rubin
Elena Kozhevnikova
Elena Shorokhova-Gayun
Elisabeth Schael
Fabrizio Valle’
Fahim Somani
Felix Semper
Fernando Braune
Flavio Pellegrino
Francesco Ruspoli
Fred Di Vito
Fred Mou
Gabe Tong
Gaby Hahn
George Ligon
Gerd Rautert
Grace Arledge
Graham McBride
Hara Hiroshi
Henri Gueguen
16
104
94
108
67
87
57
69
108
39
54
52
87
98
15
53
65
120
44
97
57
12
65
56
51
67
26
12
105
13
25
105
105
121
120
103
38
Jacques Descoteaux
Jean Louis Pauly
Jean-François Mercier
Jerry Anderson
Jesús Uclés
John Loveday Freeman
John Wolter
Josyane Martinez
Julie Fletcher
Kaneko Johkoh
Koki Morimoto
Kozo Takano
Kristina Garon
Krzis-Lorent FrédériqueK
Laura Bedard
Lawrence R. Armstrong
Leander Fontaine
Lola Lonli
Lucien Stilss
Lynda Pogue
Lynne Hudson
Mairi Budreau
Marianne Eichenbaum
Marie Gailland
Marisol Rosas
Marissa Mule
Mark Salevitz
Mark Tomczak
Marty Maehr
Maurizio Yorck
Max Werner
Micheline De Oliveira
Neema Lal
Olivia Kapoor
Patricia Gilman
Patricia Neden
Peter F. Carr
59
69
65
58
13
62
24
68
77
38
119
68
63
19
102
89
99
88
56
119
66
120
75
37
107
118
20
25
62
52
95
16
53
74
107
64
106
Rachel Hamburger
Raúl Lara Naranjo
Roger Rutten
Roland Behrmann
Rosanne Potter
Samantha Perreaz “SAM”
Sandra McRae
Sandra Mueller-Dick
Scott Breeman
Shifra
Sonal Raje
Stuart L. Gordon
Sunrise
Susan Marx
Sylvia Ditchburn PhD
Sylvio Tabet
TA (“Trygve Amundsen”)
Tamera Lee
Tania Doucet
Tatiana Davidov Romo
Teresa Cabo
Terry Kindley
Tiril
Tom Stewart
Tricia Kaman
Uriu Veselik
Vanida Amiot
VéroniKaH
Violette Cici
W.M. Vinci
Warren R Mack
Wendy Cohen
William Mastrogiulio
Yasuyuki Ito
Yukihiro Murai
Zivi Aviraz
Zoë
7
ARTisSpectrum
Selected Contributors
Benjamin
Sutton
is the art
news editor
at Artinfo. His
art criticism
and reporting
has appeared
in Modern
Painters,
Art+Auction,
The L Magazine, Flavorwire, and
the New York Press. He also enjoys
writing about film, theater, and
urbanism. He grew up in France and
Canada, and is based in Red Hook,
Brooklyn.
Kelsey
Golder
is a Media,
Culture, and
the Arts
major at The
King’s College
in lower
Manhattan.
She is
focusing her
studies on writing and art history
with the hope of more actively
exploring the connection between
the two in whatever career her
future holds. Currently, she interns at
Agora Gallery and the International
Arts Movement in Manhattan.
Through her experience in both
these positions, she is learning to
appreciate beauty in a city so full
of it.
Book now
Until 12 May 2013
TATE.ORG.UK
PIMLICO / WESTMINSTER
TATEGALLERY
@TATE
Kurt Schwitters EN MORN 1947 © DACS 2012 Photo
© Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI, Dist. RMN / Bertrand Prévost
8
Marissa
Mule
is an artist,
writer and
designer,
living and
working in
New York
City. As a fine
arts major at
the Fashion
Institute of Technology, she works on
both school and personal projects
– mainly focusing on abstract
painting – as she feels its process
and freedom opens up a whole new
window into her artwork. Influenced
by line, she uses a pouring technique
to create vibrant, bold and drip-like
patterns, built up with layers of thick
paint.
Jose Antonio
Serbia
is a
passionate,
self-taught
artist whose
works are
influenced
by his
background in
architecture
and his creative impulses. In addition
to his work as an artist he works
for FEMA as a Disaster Assistance
Reservist, and is regularly deployed
to assist at disaster sites all over the
country.
About the Cover
by Angela Di Bello, Editor in Chief
What is the question that is on the mind of many emerging artists; how do I become a world renowned
artist?
In this issue of ARTisSpectrum, the art writer Benjamin Sutton provides invaluable information about
the art world and how this world functions. All artists, whether they create works of art for the simple
joy of creation or are on a path to becoming world renowned will benefit from reading the rules laid
down by the power brokers of the contemporary art market.
With respect to the ARTopoly cover image by Keith Butler, I hope that the parody is not lost on
anyone. As you may agree, at first the notion of characterizing artistic success as a game may seem
trivial. Never the less, all games have strategies, rules, and an element of chance. Well…… so does
achieving success in the art world.
Join us as we explore some of the options that will inform, educate and direct artists as to how to play
the game.
9
Gerd Rautert
G
erman artist Gerd Rautert works with acrylic and ink on canvas, board, and paper to create self-reflective, expressionistic
works that explore both the complexity of the human experience and the underlying sense of unity and wholeness
that underscores every aspect of life. A strong sense of line dominates each piece, as Rautert combines figurative and
abstract elements for a compelling emotive effect. The human face is a central theme, more primitively than figuratively
rendered, and often juxtaposed against strong geometric forms. Colors are muted and harmonic, infusing a sense of
balance and synchronicity within each piece. Words are incorporated freely as compositional elements, symbolic of the
ever-present dialogue that exists both with God and the innermost layers of self.
A great source of inspiration for Rautert’s art is love: the search for love, the loss of love, and ultimately its realization. Yet
for Rautert, the greatest meaning and significance of his paintings involves his search for self, the journey toward exploring
and understanding those inexplicable mysteries that lie within. It is here that he is able to expand his awareness, both of
the self and also of the greater context of the universe. As he explains, “Art is my mirror; the work is a part of me.”
Within this process of searching for greater comprehension of the mysteries of the soul, a search for greater communion
with God emerges as a parallel theme. Rautert’s figurative subjects are depicted within various phases of this search for
both God and self, whether in deep contemplation or in the throes of greatest longing. This creates an inevitable tension in
Rautert’s work, which is naturally balanced with the higher purpose of the quest: to attain the most sacred of knowledge.
Not surprisingly, for Rautert there is a strong spiritual component to his artistic process, where a dialogue with God and
pure intuition come into play on both a conscious and subconscious level. He says, “I feel closer to myself and to God when
I paint. My energy is concentrated, a dialogue with myself created. I react with colors, lines, the movement, the smell, the
feeling. I am closeness and warmth, and I perceive myself while painting as almost home.”
Gerd Rautert currently lives and works in Flonheim, a small town in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany.
www.artoffer.com/gerd-rautert
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Gerd_Rautert.aspx
A great
source of
inspiration
for Rautert’s
art is love:
the search for
love, the loss
of love, and
ultimately its
realization.
Kelchmuster
10
Mixed Media on Canvas
59” x 75”
Evas Geduld und Adams Qualitat
Vorübergehend
Acrylic & Ink on Canvas
Acrylic & Ink on Canvas
20” x 20”
51” x 47”
11
Mark Tomczak
F
or Mark Tomczak, color, texture, and pattern are not static, but
porous layers that shift and blend over the course of a painting.
Though he was originally a realist painter, Tomczak took up abstraction
four years ago and immediately began playing with dimensionality and
the movement of paint in his work. His paintings begin with a base of
fluid color, through which all the subtle and vibrant tones of the rainbow
flow.
Within the thickness of his paint, Tomczak creates textures — scratching
streaks or dripping trickles — that sometimes clash and sometimes
augment one another. To manipulate the acrylic paint, he uses trowels,
window tint applicators, and other unconventional tools. The visibility
of motion is as much a compositional element as hue or light. Tomczak
also allows his patterns a great deal of repetition across the plane of the
painting, as if to suggest the passage of time and the advancement of
the eye. His work demands the attentiveness of study, but invites the
reverie of exploration.
Mark Tomczak was born in Buffalo, New York and today lives in Hawaii.
In his art, he says, “I always try to leave room for the viewer’s imagination
to run free.”
www.marktomczak.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Mark_Tomczak.aspx
Summer Party
Acrylic with Gold on Canvas
30” x 20”
Mairi Budreau
“I
challenge myself in every painting,” says Mairi
Budreau. “The challenge is to interpret what
I find hidden or beaming, beautiful, notable and
genuine or raw in a soul living in a physical body.”
In paintings that she calls “man-scapes,” the artist
uses the male figure as her subject, and her skill
at depicting these figures in a way that is at once
realistic and expressive gives her works warmth
and physicality in equal portions.
Using a palette that consists mostly of yellows and
browns, Budreau captures scenes that look as if
they had been captured by firelight. The artist is an
experienced carver and painter of wildlife images,
El Matador Oil on Canvas 13” x 19.5”
and those skills are brought into play in these
paintings. She has a strong sense of sculptural form,
using light and shadow to depict bodies that have depth and dimension. In addition, she is good at capturing the various
textures of skin, flesh and hair, giving her work a tactile quality. Her compositions mix a reserved, rather objective stance
with an intimacy that draws the viewer toward her subjects. But the physicality of these figures is just part of the story.
“”The work takes on the form of portraiture,” she says, “while I dig for that which is deeper.”
www.budreau.ca
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Mairi_Budreau.aspx
12
Maurizio Yorck
M
aurizio Yorck uses acrylics to capture the shifting
colors and shimmering light of urban landscapes.
His mission is to draw attention to the beauty of cities
and to portray the delicate emotional landscape that
hides behind the veneer of harsh indifference. “Very
often we live in a near-hypnotic state, following a
well-trodden path through the same city streets. What
we miss is the beauty around us that arises from a
particular light in the moment, from a sudden storm,
from a colored umbrella and other shifting factors,” he
explains. “Streets are the frame; whereas lights, color
and people become the main actors in my dreamlike
vision of the city.”
Yorck shakes viewers out of complacency with his
Murotorto District Acrylic on Canvas 28” x 40”
paintings, causing them to reevaluate their everyday
experiences in a new light. Using high contrast and
a limited palette, he creates liquid reflections on cars and street surfaces that come together to form a magical vision of
urban life. While his work shows the influence of the Impressionists, his distinctive style is all his own.
Yorck was born in Naples, Italy, and he currently lives in Rome. His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, and
he has received many awards.
www.maurizioyorck.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Maurizio_Yorck.aspx
Rosanne Potter
A
wide array of media are used to create Rosanne
Potter’s striking paintings — from pencil and
ink to oils and casein paint, on surfaces ranging
from canvas to paper and cardboard. But the thing
that unites all of her images is her consistently
adventurous approach, one that employs
intense colors and a focused sense of movement
and composition. Potter works in the Abstract
Expressionist tradition, citing such artists as Rothko,
Pollock and Frankenthaler as influences. Like those
painters, Potter is more interested in leaving a vital,
vivid impression in the viewer’s mind than in making
images that line up precisely with preconceived
ideas of representation, She stresses that she is
“not trying to be like anyone else, just available to
whatever is spinning inside of me on the day and
Flying Feet Acrylic on Canvas 18” x 24”
hour that I pick up the brush or palette knife.”
Potter adds that her approach is to “lay color on and move paint around until something emerges.” That sense of spontaneity
gives her paintings a freshness and unpredictability. Because of this, the process of “reading” her paintings is an active,
challenging one. It is essential for her that the experience of viewing her paintings remains constantly new, and the energy
and skill she puts into those paintings makes that a certainty.
www.rosannepotter.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Rosanne_Potter.aspx
13
Fred Di Vito
F
red Di Vito infuses his urban and pastoral landscapes
alike with intimacy and a deftly rendered natural light.
Though the views he portrays often stretch miles into the
distance, his compositions are edited with unusual strictness,
leaving a few clear shapes to direct the eye. The canvas is
then filled in with tone: the full range of colors and a bold
sense of light sources and reflections, which do as much to
guide the viewer around the painting as the actual form of a
tree or horizon. Di Vito’s palette is infinitely flexible, whether
finding the gold in a city sidewalk or depicting the purple in
a snowy country rooftop. In these subtle, unexpected shades
lives the emotional expressiveness of the artist’s work.
Di Vito’s city scenes are populated, with people appearing
undistinguished but purposeful, comfortably inhabiting their
surroundings. These players provide an element of dynamism.
By contrast, Di Vito’s country scenes are calm and still. It is the
sun and the power of its rays to favor one thing and shun
another that creates the tension in these rural paintings.
Di Vito grew up in the South Bronx and credits his
unique childhood for fueling his artistry early in life. He is
accomplished in several fields of industrial design.
Pathway Back
Acrylic on Board
24” x 24”
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Fred_Di_Vito.aspx
Cordell Taylor
C
ordell Taylor calls his sculptures “investigations of shape, color
and texture that define form and space.” Working in steel, as
well as in stone and wood, Taylor carries out those investigations
through constructions that mix a finely developed sense of balance
with an impressive ability to get the most out of the possibilities that
his materials offer. Having worked as a professional ironworker and
fabricator, the artist has a thorough understanding of what steel can
do, and how its strength and delicacy can combine to create pieces
that simultaneously emphasize and transcend gravity. In his pieces,
steel can appear to be solid or delicate, earthbound or airborne.
Manipulating shapes and forms is also a central concern for Taylor.
“I have found that using solid and hollow forms together adds
interest and intrigue,” he says. The airy outlines of squares will be
mixed through a series of heavier shapes in combinations that initially
seem precariously arranged. But there is a feeling of natural balance
to Taylor’s sculptures, where, as he says, “each shape grows from or
supports another.” The resulting works are blends of the natural and
the modern, bringing together the natural beauty of the American
West with the clean lines and formal experimentation of modern
architecture.
Geomet Series #154
14
Steel
18” x 15.5” x 5”
www.cordelltaylor.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Cordell_Taylor.aspx
Carlos Hidalgo
M
Cazadores de Serpientes
Oil on Canvas
50” x 40”
ore than a half-century of armed conflict, unrest, and
bloodshed in his country has informed Dominican artist
Carlos Hidalgo’s distinctive style. His compositions are arresting
and haunting, and draw on scenes he witnessed regularly in the
streets during successive coups, repressive regimes, and a civil war.
Jarring though this imagery can be, his paintings remain technically
exquisite and formally masterful, drawing viewers in with incredibly
intricate figures whose forms are deconstructed into geometric
fragments. The resulting aesthetic evokes Picasso’s Cubist works
and de Kooning’s Expressionist nudes, though Hidalgo’s hybrid of
those styles unleashes a dynamic storm of lines and colors that
manages to be beautiful while embodying the pain and suffering
that shaped it.
The artist’s oil paintings typically portray solitary figures or pairs,
their contours sharply defined, their component parts spinning,
swooping and pointing outward at jagged angles. His choice of
palette adds another layer of dynamism to each work, ranging from
kaleidoscopic patterns to darker compositions dominated by murky
blues, dark grays and black. There is a palpable sense of exuberance
and resilience in all his works, though often matched with a kind of
scarring, a sense of frailty that makes each piece absolutely gripping.
www.carloshidalgoart.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Carlos_Hidalgo.aspx
Laura Bedard
L
aura Bedard’s thoughtful works defy simple
categorization – they are neither painting nor
collage, neither abstract nor representational. Bedard
draws inspiration from that which has only been
made visible recently, using technological means:
distant galactic bodies and microorganisms. The
mystery of and apparent visual similarity between
these two realms have led Bedard to methods that
imbue her work with as much interdependence and
unseen movement as a star system or a colony of
bacteria.
The artist first prepares paper with an ink wash, then
builds up translucent acrylic paint and collaged
Membrane #2 Ink & Graphite on Paper 10.5” x 17”
paper to create an “environment” unique to each
piece. Among the ghost-like washes of earth tones,
Bedard scatters both splashes of warmer colors – carefully calibrated to complement and draw out the tonal atmosphere
of the individual work – and textured paper. The resulting work is outstandingly subtle and constantly moving between
dark and light. The actual shapes present are indeterminate, resembling an amoeba as much as a star cluster. More
important is the shifting depth, as these shadow-worlds dance in and out of the reach of human knowledge.
Bedard lives and works in New Bedford, Massachusetts. She describes her work as the creation of “the feeling, space, and
fluidity within our bodies.”
www.laurabedard.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Laura_Bedard.aspx
15
Wendy Cohen
I
n her highly expressionistic paintings, artist Wendy Cohen
seeks above all to capture the joy and passion that can be
found in the world. Working with a variety of mixed media,
Cohen layers her canvases with diverse palettes of rich color
thickly applied with fearless brushstrokes. Compositions are
both fantastical and adventurous, combining recognizable
elements with robust patterns and abstract renderings. What
results is artwork bursting with energy and infused with
freedom and positivity, which she believes is the natural state
of all people.
Inspired both by a rich African culture as well as by modern
artists such as Picasso, Miro, de Kooning, and Jackson Pollock,
Cohen sees herself mostly as a citizen of the world, connected
to all life on the planet. Her paintings have a primitive,
surrealistic quality to them and often contain glimpses of
faces, which she uses as a sculptural tool to “symbolize the
face of the illusion of life.”
To Cohen, being a painter is more of a divine calling than
anything else. Through each of her works, she seeks “to bring
fantasy, excitement, love, laughter, and imagination” to her
audience.
Wendy Cohen currently lives and works in Sydney, Australia.
Garden of Serendipity
40” x 40”
www.wendycohen.com.au
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Wendy_Cohen.aspx
Jacques Descoteaux
“Painting is my emotional response to my environment,”
says Jacques Descoteaux. His paintings, done in oils
on canvas, are compelling views of that environment
— Canada’s stark landscapes and massive skies. “I
am interested in exploring color and space,” he says,
“suggesting both the tension and harmony that exist
in nature.” The vistas in Descoteaux’s images offer him
many opportunities to carry out those explorations.
Whether they are moody and dark, or airy expanses of
sun-lit clouds, his skies play dark and light shades off
of each other to give each painting a strong physical
presence and a quiet sense of movement. But the artist’s
aims go beyond realism. His goal is to capture “the
atmospherics rather than the specifics of a scene.”
Descoteaux first painted in watercolors, and that
medium has left its mark on his oil paintings. Applying
Black and White Series 5 Oil on Canvas
24” x 30”
paint in thin layers, he achieves a delicacy that is perfect
for embodying air and space. When that lightness combines with the rich tones that oil paint offers, a unique combination
is formed, creating a world that is at once familiar and mysterious. “I like to lead the viewer,” the artist says, “but I also need
to let them find their own story through my paintings.”
www.jdcoto.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Jacques_Descoteaux.aspx
16
Are you able to...
design a website for your art,
keep that art website updated,
take pictures of your art,
facebook, tweet, instagram, etc... about your art,
write about your art,
produce videos of you and your art,
publish books about your art,
design brochures & cards to promote your art,
make sure your art looks great everywhere,
...and still create your art?
CrumlicMedia is a full service agency devoted to freeing our artist clients
to pursue their artistic passions while still attending to their professional
advancement.
Free yourself to create! Contact us today.
See our work at crumlicmedia.com - Call us anytime 646-596-6652
What our clients are saying...
“Working with Bill and Keith at
CrumlicMedia, for design of my
website, video and photography
services was a pleasure.
Working with them is more
than a professional treat. Their
energy, creativity and attention
to detail made my website, video and book a work of art in
and of themselves.
I would suggest Bill and Keith of CrumlicMedia to anyone
who requires web design, video and photography services,
in a flash because I can vouch for their professionalism,
dedication and quality.”
— Vibha Nanda, Doha, Qatar
Ceramist and painter
“Bill did a 6 minute video of my opening
at Agora Gallery in NYC. It is posted on
the web and I have received nothing
but great praise for his fine work. Other
video professionals have told me how
outstanding his editing skills are!”
— Jim Cobb, Philadelphia
Artist and painter
“Bill is an excellent professional. He knows how
to make a report remarkable, underlining the
outstanding features of any artist and his/her
artwork. Very talented in producing any kind of work
in the video industry!”
— Andreas Strobel, Madrid, Spain
Artist and sculptor
ARTisSpectrum | Volume 29 | artisspectrum.com 17
Darlene Adams
“I
love the bold and bright colors of nature,” Darlene Adams says, “and
the movement of that comes when I paint.” The bold colors that she
loves and the sweeping movements with which she applies those colors
to her canvases are central to her striking, expressive works. She says that
the palette knife is one of her favorite painting tools, and using it gives the
surface of her images a unique energy. Working in oils, which she loves
for their texture and “rich, deep colors,” she creates moody, enveloping
images that take the power of her style and colors and temper it with a
surprising feeling of peacefulness.
In Adams’ paintings, nature and the urban landscape are filtered through
a consciousness that is sensitive to the smallest details, from the texture of
leaves to the outlines of skyscrapers against a neon-colored city sky. But
equally important is the way in which she incorporates those details into
patterns of her own design. The artist transforms the world she depicts
into scenes that come across as dreamscapes, environments shaped by
her own inner spirit. Adams calls herself an “experiential painter,” one who
paints by feeling the subject matter around her. That intensity of feeling,
vividly communicated, makes her images unique.
www.artwerksbydarlene.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Darlene_Adams.aspx
Look To The Skies
Oil on Canvas
36” x 24”
David Costello
I
n David Costello’s soft pastel on paper works,
the unifying factor is a vividly realized sense of
light. Whether through the subtle shades of a
horizon or a spiritual, otherworldly radiance, the
artist turns light into a physical force that shapes
the landscapes and people it comes into contact
with. But while the power of light dominates,
it is the balance between light and dark colors
that gives his work its sense of motion and
drama. Combined with a strong sense of line
and composition, he uses those juxtapositions of
shades to create energetic arcs of motion, always
Longing Pastel on Paper 26” x 45”
directing the viewer’s eye toward the light, and
the moment of transcendence.
Costello says that he is “contemplative by nature,” and while there is certainly a sense of stillness and peacefulness in his
work, the feeling of striving toward a goal that one sees in his images is what gives them their unique power. While a part
of his inspiration comes from the outer world he depicts, Costello stresses that his work’s most important aspect is the way
in which it reflects what comes from within him. “A successful work of art, in my opinion,” he says, “is one that draws from
the spiritual and in turn touches the spirit within the observer.”
www.davidcostello.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/David_Costello.aspx
18
Susan Marx
“I
have inherited the soul of Monet,” says painter Susan Marx,
and a look at her colorful, light-filled images makes this
Impressionist connection clear. This is an artist who spent two
summers painting in Monet’s garden in Giverny. Marx loves color and she loves paint. When she paints flowers and
foliage they are a mere excuse to paint color. Working en plein
air gives her paintings a powerful immediacy, the vivid, tactile
sense of nature as experienced directly and emotionally. She may
have painted on Monet’s Japanese Bridge but it is clear that she
sees beyond it. Marx takes Impressionism to a new level, using the
paint-filled, emotive brushstrokes of the Abstract Expressionists to
produce a style she calls “Abstract Impressionism.” She captures the
essence in her paintings, the color and the emotion, and leaves the
rest to the viewer, enticing him into the painting.
“My art is a result of my radical amazement at the visual world around
me and my need to turn that visual experience into paint. Nature
may be my starting point, but it is not my end result,” explains Marx. www.susanmarxartist.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Susan_Marx.aspx
White Irises
Acrylic on Canvas
30” x 24”
Flavio Pellegrino
F
lavio Pellegrino paints with rich, vibrant oils
to create moody, whimsical abstract work that
projects strong emotions and effortlessly captures
the viewer’s attention. Fragmented geometric shapes
mingle with organic brushstrokes; occasionally,
loosely rendered subject matter will emerge from the
canvas, but whether the subject is distinguishable
or not, these paintings are always full of interest,
presenting the viewer with a plethora of windows into
new perspectives. “The communion between a viewer
and my work is my heaven… and sensations, colors
and feelings, my universe,” he explains. Each piece is a
fresh look at a concept or subject, an impression of the
Serenity Oil on Canvas 24” x 36”
world that is entirely unique. Yet Pellegrino frequently
draws inspiration from everyday experience. “The
daily life, people, situations, sensations, problems and solutions, dreams and nightmares that you face [on a] daily basis
are a special event themselves,” he claims, inspiringly. His work continuously evolves as he experiences new things, and this
is an artist who always has innovative visions to express.
Pellegrino was born in Argentina, and he currently lives in New York City. His work has been well received, and has been
exhibited in several solo shows.
www.flaviopellegrino.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Flavio_Pellegrino.aspx
19
Vanida Amiot
T
he Abstract Expressionist paintings of French-Indian artist Vanida Amiot celebrate the mystery and majesty of the
process of creation while exploring the very depths of meaning that have come to define our human experience. Born
in India and adopted by a French family around the age of three, Amiot has long been entranced by the longstanding
traditions and artistic beauty displayed by both cultures.
Inspired by a wide range of movements – from Realism and Pop Art, to Fauvism, Cubism, and Surrealism – Amiot
has developed a unique artistic style all her own. Her rich palettes of color pulsate with emotion, creating ambitious
compositions both expansive and ethereal. The acrylic paint (which Amiot calls “the paint of the moment”) is thickly
applied with lush brushstrokes, adding texture and depth to the overall effect.
Each of Amiot’s paintings blends the visible with the invisible, inviting the reader into what she calls the Lair of the Worlds:
a parallel dimension filled with the dreams, colors, and scents that simultaneously compose the human heart and wound
the soul. The layers of meaning in each piece run deep. Over her career, Amiot has been driven by a passion for Greek
mythology, and one can trace the symbolism of the timeless legends of mortals and immortals that is also woven through
her work.
In her artistic process, Amiot doesn’t so much paint what she sees or feels but rather engages directly with the paint itself,
so that “it’s the paint that captures my emotions and describes to me what to do.” Thus, the process becomes completely
intuitive and dynamic, guided moment to moment by the way the paint happens to fall, be absorbed, and is drawn across
the canvas. For Amiot, this is where she is able to truly delve into the Expressionist moment, to uncover the essence of
what it means to be creative and also what it means to be human. It is here, in this diaphanous world where the invisible
is made real, that Amiot begins the endless process of uncovering and understanding the mysteries that surround our
human consciousness. As Amiot explains, “Creation for me is, in fact, not only a revelation of the real or imaginary world,
but it is the condition of humanity.”
www.artvanida.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Vanida_Amiot.aspx
Promethee Ou La
Legende Du Feu
Acrylic on Canvas
18” x 22”
20
Le Sang Des Anges
Acrylic on Canvas
18” x 22”
Vanida Amiot
Histoire D’Humanite
Acrylic on Canvas
18” x 22”
21
How to Become a
World
Renowned
Artist
Overnight!
By Benjamin Sutton
Photography by Keith Butler
he instantaneous triumph promised above, for better or
worse, remains
but a fantasy. Not unlike creating a masterful
artwork, achieving respect, success and fame in today’s art
world requires countless hours of hard work. It also takes
establishing and nurturing relationships with the right people and
groups, and surrounding oneself with like-minded creators and
thinkers. Finally, it takes a not-negligible amount of luck, and at some
point every artist who has made the jump from good to great has
been helped along by factors completely beyond her or his control.
No sure formula for a successful career as an artist exists; indeed, even
the definition of what constitutes a “successful career” is different for
every artist. Nevertheless, a keen understanding of the factors at play
and the agents influencing them are essential to building a rewarding
artistic career.
22
By way of offering an entry into and pathway through a
milieu that can often seem impenetrable from the outside
and labyrinthine from within, we have mapped out the art
world into eleven key sectors. From museums — whose
curators and acquisitions committees determine how the
history of today’s art will be told tomorrow — to art fairs
— where collectors and gallerists determine the demand
for their preferred artists and discover the next stars —
these are the junctures at which creativity, power, influence, and money meet to help push
precious few artists forward.
Galleries
The foremost concern among the majority of contemporary artists looking
to build a successful career is obtaining gallery representation. The barriers
to achieving this goal are many, but so
are the benefits that come with it: A
solo show of new pieces roughly every
two years; gallery staff championing
your work in exchanges with curators,
critics, and collectors; costs of exhibition promotional materials covered
(and in some cases production materials, too); publishing or coordination
of artist books, editions, and monographs; an exhaustive and well-maintained online showcase for you work;
and more. But gaining representation
is no easy feat.
range galleries, whose dealers are more approachable and
some of whom even accept portfolio submissions. This is
often the first of many stepping-stones toward gaining
representation with a major dealer. All these galleries are
for-profit businesses, and take a percentage of the sum for
which they sell an artists’ work; this cut varies dramatically,
but 50 percent is not uncommon. An artist signing with
a gallery will typically have to turn over the details of her
or his collectors, so that the gallery can contact potential
buyers whenever an exhibition is approaching, or suggest other similar
artists from among those they represent. Galleries will often give discounts
to entice major collectors — whose
collections will often end up in major
public or private institutions — and
museum acquisitions groups.
Other types of galleries about which
every artist should to be informed
are secondary market galleries, co-op
galleries, and promotional galleries.
Promotional galleries offer artists a
range of services in exchange for a fee,
but lower the commission percentage for the gallery. They offer gallery
representation for a pre-determined
period and inclusion in exhibitions.
Some promotional galleries, such as
Agora Gallery, offer artists additional
benefits, such as an online profile for
a year or longer which often result in sales. The fees cover
the costs of exhibitions’ promotional materials including
original press releases, catalogues and postcards, listings and ads in print publications, as well as professional
advice regarding artistic direction, pricing, how to frame
and advice on shipping nationally and internationally . A
promotional gallery also promote artists to a vast database of collectors locally, internationally, and through
their websites. For an artist developing his or her career,
representation with a promotional gallery can provide the
crucial boost needed for career building.
Most artists get their
start in small and
mid-range galleries,
whose dealers are
more approachable
Most galleries in the world’s major art hubs — Chelsea
and the Upper East Side in New York, Mayfair in London,
the Marais in Paris, and so on — do not accept portfolio
submissions. Rather, their staff members monitor exhibitions at smaller galleries, non-profit spaces, major biennials, leading art schools’ MFA exhibitions, visit open
studios, and so on, before approaching an artist to discuss
representing her or him. This vetting process can take
months, years, even decades, but an artist picked up by a
major gallerist like Mary Boone, Sean Kelly, or Paula Cooper will stand a much greater chance of seeing their work
acquired by leading collectors and major museums.
Most artists, therefore, get their start in small and mid-
Though similar to promotional galleries in some ways,
co-op galleries are also different in certain crucial respects.
While they typically charge a fee for membership, they
continued on page 70
Eduardo D. Rubin
I
n his photographic images, Argentinian-American
artist Eduardo D. Rubin focuses primarily on the
capturing of solitary moments in time in order to gain
a new perspective on reality. In each image, Rubin
expertly configures the elements of space and light
in fascinating ways, inspiring the viewer to take an
entirely new approach to the way they see the world.
Compositions are edgy and terse, creating interest and
depth, while still displaying all the incredible beauty and
wonder there is to be found in everyday forms.
With a background in social psychology, Rubin is
able to view his subjects through a humanistic lens
in which layers of meaning can be found within the
Solo Digital Print on Paper 18” x 28”
most commonplace of objects. For Rubin, there is an
art to finding the perfect shot, to configuring the ideal
composition where the subject is captured with defenses lowered: unprotected, bare, raw. Indeed, he considers this an act
of voyeurism, of watching without being watched. As he describes his process, “If you are in dark and they are in light…
you are invisible. And this is the secret: being invisible and catching the momentum.”
Eduardo D. Rubin currently lives and works in south Florida in the United States.
www.eduardorubin.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Eduardo_D._Rubin.aspx
Sandra McRae
W
A Blip on the Landscape
Acrylic on Canvas
17” x 40”
ith both acrylic paint and paper
collage, Sandra McRae finds the
fluidity and relationship between seemingly disjointed shapes. McRae builds images
out of blocks of color — imperfect, varied
shapes that manage to be both graphic and
appealingly three-dimensional. Maintaining
a hand-drawn aesthetic and often shading
her colors just enough to add depth, McRae
creates playgrounds of color where angles
truly collide and lines of light and dark streak across the canvas.
Form and color are combined in countless, complex ways so that they take on direction and meaning. The strength of
these works is that the basic visual elements of image-making are not presented as deconstructed, but make expressions
of their own. Some canvases show just a few squares and rectangles of red and black dancing around each other, while
others are made up of a hundred little pieces, spanning the rainbow without ever becoming formulaic. McRae’s ability to
move from paint to collage and still preserve her artistic vocabulary only underscores her idea that shape and color are
fundamentally connected.
Sandra McRae was born in Australia and today lives and works in New York. She began creating art as an adult, and hopes
that her work will “evoke visceral responses from the viewers.”
www.flickr.com/photos/sandrasart
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Sandra_McRae.aspx
24
Max Werner
T
he stunningly realistic paintings of Belgian
artist Max Werner offer a sense of
immediacy and freshness, as well as the power
both to evoke a sense of time and space, and to
invite the viewer into that particular moment in
time. Werner hopes to convey what he felt when
he saw and experienced the landscapes being
depicted and to encourage the viewer to reflect
on what personal meanings might be discovered
there. In each painting, colors are lush and free,
compositions are balanced yet interesting, and
the use of light and shadow lends depth and
Desert Police Station Acrylic on Canvas
25” x 35”
meaning to the overall effect.
For Werner, there is a sense of adventure and
freedom when creating his paintings that enables him to flesh out his realistic approach, to go beyond what is before him
to introduce a sense of story and at times even Surrealism into the tableau. It is the surrealistic aspects that Werner finds
particularly interesting, appreciating as he does the humor and sense of absurdity that is engendered as a result. As he
explains, “It is this one step away from reality that is fascinating, a juxtaposition of things, which sometimes also nearly
occurs in real life, that attracts me.” It is here, in the depths of unexpected reality, that Werner’s paintings find their deepest
meaning.
Max Werner currently lives and works in the northeastern United States.
www.maxwernerart.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Max_Werner.aspx
VéroniKaH
“T
he pleasure of playing with colors and textures
is my main focus and passion,” VéroniKaH
says of her work, and that pleasure is reflected in
the artist’s open, light-filled paintings. She creates
works that unite a broad range of media with an
assured painterly hand and an exceptionally strong
sense of color. In each of her paintings, she works
through the various intensities of a few basic
shades, generating a surprising amount of drama
and variety from a focused palette.
“My technique,” says VéroniKaH, “is a continuous
research of new visual effects never seen before.”
Usually starting out with acrylic paints on canvas,
she builds many-layered images that include such
Triomphe Acrylic & Ink on Canvas 40” x 60”
materials as liquid stained glass, ink, ultra-shine
varnish and lead thread. But it is not simply those extra elements that give her works their texture and depth. Calling the
spatula one of her “basic tools,” she applies her paint in thick, lush waves, giving her canvases a sensuous, tactile quality
and sense of movement that is then expanded by the other materials she uses.
A self-taught artist, VéroniKaH animates her sharply-conceived visions in style and color with freedom and spontaneity.
“Most of the time,” she says, “I let my intuition decide what to do.” This sense of freedom reflects the added dimension the
art receives from its role as therapy in VéroniKaH’s battle against anorexia. In November 2012, she was awarded the First
Place Jury’s Special Prize at the CAPSQ 29th International Visual Art Gala.
www.veronikah.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/VeroniKaH.aspx
25
Mark Salevitz
T
he acrylic on canvas and paper paintings of American artist Mark Salevitz
are at once impressionistic and surreal, taking recognizable subjects and
forms and transforming them into magical realms filled with color, shape,
texture, and a depth of emotive expression. Each piece is expressively
dynamic and full of movement, both capturing the essence of the subject
and leaving plenty to the interpretation of the viewer as he or she encounters
and experiences the work.
There is a strong Southwestern influence on Salevitz’s art, with elements of
both Mexican and Southwest landscape art genres included in his paintings.
Many works are in fact based on places the artist has had the opportunity to
visit and the unique cultures he has experienced, as well as on many of the
pets his family has adopted over the years. What results is a combination of
impression and memory, leading the viewer ever inward to find the many
meanings contained within the bold lines and forms that compose each piece.
Salevitz’s paintings are at once light and airy yet contained, with a strong
emphasis on geometric form. The brilliance of the colors he uses help to
emphasize these forms and they draw the eye across the page. Compositions
are flowing and expansive, transmuting familiar scenes into something
magical and otherworldly. Indeed, in his work Salevitz is able to capture the
essence of his subjects through the medium of stunning color, to bring to life
the intangible elements that lie just below the surface. As he explains, “I try
to capture the spirit of the subject [through the] use of bright, vivid colors.”
Mark Salevitz currently lives and works in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he is also
a pediatric ophthalmologist.
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Mark_Salevitz.aspx
Mark in his Studio
Inside Looking Out
26
Acrylic on Paper
24” x 18”
Gatekeeper
Acrylic on Canvas
30” x 24”
Spotlight on Berenice Michelow
By Angela Di Bello
Q: What is your philosophy of art?
Painting is not something I do, it is a way of life. Each artist is a distinct individual whose work will exhibit his or her own
particular set of assumptions, sensibilities and mannerisms. I found it was necessary to rid myself of the tyranny of the
object as it appears and free myself of the restrictive and blunted disciplines.
Q: What was your earliest professional artistic experience?
I started my career designing stage sets and costumes for the theater, but painting became my real passion. Primarily, I
am a painter. I explored the subject of the visual background of everyday lives in the series Everyday Landscape. They were
abstracted and reconstructed and were my personal response and perception of the contemporary scene. I began fusing
the figure with the environment; I was trying to create a dynamic continuity in space. In these early works I became aware
of “light” - seeing light bouncing through a window onto objects in the corner of a room. This captured my attention and
this abstracted light structure has followed through all my future compositions.
Although my first interest was painting reality of form based on the re-interpretation of natural form, I later turned to
graphics (serigraphs) which was highly successful. This facilitated a new development of hard edge painting which I
abandoned after finding it too limiting.
Berenice in her Studio
27
Q: Your Flight series is so compelling, can you tell
me what it symbolizes for you?
My Flight series followed the Everyday Landscapes.
The bird became a frequent recurring symbol for
freedom - physically, mentally and spiritually. Painting
is a statement about visual reality rather than reality
itself. These were in fact an interpretation of reality.
Q: What came after the Flight series?
Denim jeans, jackets, and wearing apparel were the
subject of my next exhibition. I experimented with the
concept of fabric revealing more about the subject.
This gave me a new visual literacy; the jeans being
the symbol in that decade. They defined a more
relaxed way of life. A great deal can be learned about
people just by looking at their clothing.
Q: I am fascinated by your interest in dogs, what
can you tell me about that?
In 1989, the Berlin Wall came down and this
influenced the subject of my next exhibition, Dogs.
This exhibition was centralized on this theme and
the interaction of their innate characteristics with the
environment and with human and social behavior.
Subsidiary to this theme is an attempt to understand
the vandalism of graffiti. My motivation is the
challenge to integrate the subject matter with my
medium. In my painting of “Monument to Freedom”,
I place my own dog, a German Shepherd, together
with graffiti, using the dog and his shadow to create
an ambiguous relationship between the dog and the
space which it seemingly occupies. The graffiti appears in the background but some of the letters extend over the animal.
The color creates the atmosphere and the mood of this painting.
My motivation
is the challenge
to integrate
the subject
matter with my
medium.
28
“Pathways are about choices and their importance
to the future, one’s personal choices and the
country’s choices. Life is full of choices.”
Pathways I
Oil on Canvas
39.5” x 39.5”
29
Q: How has photography influenced your work?
With the camera I found a new way of seeing. It seems to have helped me eliminate the non-essentials, not to imitate
but to extract and discard the irrelevant. The current events influenced the direction of my work and visions as I became
more politically aware. This work became an essay on the political scene, the apartheid regime and their repressive
race policies. I wanted to stimulate interest, inspire thought and create an awareness. My Protest paintings and social
comments mirrored the political climate. At this stage I realized that I needed recognizable imagery to relate to the viewer.
The challenging question was to help the viewer to look anew at familiar objects, so I placed images out of their normal
context. This element of surprise I hoped would increase their awareness and aid communication.
Q: When did you develop an interest in the plight of children?
Democracy came to South Africa in 1994 with a new black government. Nelson Mandela’s policy of truth and reconciliation
gave birth to a joyous democratic rainbow nation with freedom, a new constitution and a hope of a new future. My
painting at this time reflected this positive development. My concern was for the children of this new democratic South
Africa, who represented the infrastructure of this burgeoning nation. These children who were disadvantaged, uneducated
and living in poverty in a sad environment. My interest in children has continued and has become a frequent subject in my
new work. Street Children and Graffiti was my next exhibition. Through light form and symbol I have used these children
as the future of their national heritage. Graffiti forms part of these paintings and are part of the environment. There are
two issues here. The first is my exploration of graffiti as a form of vandalism and a defacement of the wall surface. On the
other hand, these are a form of enlivening the surface on which they appear. As always I was fascinated with the ambiguity
of space and planes. I have created a visual paradox. This confounds our interpretation of the space within the paintings of
objects to one another in ostensible space. This can been seen and recognized in many of my paintings.
Q: You were born in South Africa, when did you emigrate to the US?
In 2004, we emigrated to the United States of America to join our children who were settled in America. This marked the
beginning of a whole new development in my painting and in my thinking.
Q: How did this reference your work?
I became strongly aware of the overwhelming patriotism throughout the country and I wanted to interpret these impressions
of the country of my adoption. This new phase became a personal essay on my thoughts of life in America. Patriotic
Landscapes reflected this phase. I tried to set the scene with dramatic structure, strong light structure and disparate themes.
Q: It seems that events in the US deeply affect you and influenced your work, tell me about this?
The Pathways series of paintings followed. These paintings relate to the beginning of a new era. Pathways are about
choices and their importance to the future, one’s personal choices and the country’s choices-life is full of choices. There
was the presidential election that year with the choice of a first time president of color. I tried to reflect this climate in my
large canvases with strong colors, figures in special ambiguity and paradoxical relationships.
Q: Your recent work is a departure from your previous themes, why?
Free Spirits (2012) are the concept of the early happy years of carefree youth, placed in ambiguous dissolving space, with
no responsibilities of the pressures of world problems and their vision and expectancy of a resplendent future. Unaware of
their future in the real world they are as free as birds. I have used bright incandescent colors to create the ambiance and
the atmosphere. These paintings depict the halcyon joyful innocent days and the freedom of youth.
Q: Do you have a message for emerging artists?
In the end, art is about art. The essentials are the challenges, the questions and shifts. According to Matisse, the viewers’
capacity to see is almost as important as the artist’s ability to paint. Reflections of our times has been my subject of interest
and my direction. Primarily, I am concerned with the basic elements and the development of the structure and light
within the picture plane. I have constantly marveled at Maurits Escher’s ability to manipulate space and at Francis Bacon’s
excellent use of interior space and his ability to make an image without actually illustrating life. His drama is in his paint
not in the narrative.
30
www.michelow.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Berenice_Michelow.aspx
Michelow’s Free Spirits lll
Oil on Canvas
48” x 60”
31
S t u d i o S pa c e s :
Ly n n e D o u g l a s
Room for an Art Lover – a quiet refuge of inspiration and illumination
I always dreamed of living near the sea… the sound of the
waves on the shore, the relentlessness of the tide, the never- ending drama of the sky and moods, as varied as my
own, an intoxicating mixture.
In 2011, I spent six months searching for an old house overlooking the sea with a big garden and space for a studio —
a place to inspire, a place to create and a place to breathe.
I traveled up and down the coastline of Scotland in my
32
search and finally found it in the little village of Blairmore,
a ferry ride from my hometown of Glasgow. The place is
an old villa built in 1860 when the village of Blairmore was
a holiday destination for rich Victorians coming by paddle
steamer in their crinolines and paisley shawls; the grand old
Waverly still comes in the summer months. Now, on quiet
days, at the little pier near the house, all that can be heard
is the sound of gently slapping waves, oyster catchers and
echoes of times gone by.
The garden behind the house has a steep hill with a winding path and at the top there is a spectacular view up Loch
Long and the Clyde Estuary. I am surrounded here by endless coast, dark pools of deep water, mist and fog. When the
sun shines, the water on the sea turns soft, hazy turquoise
and porpoises skip along in graceful arcs. The colors remind me of the dreamy visions of Monet’s “Water Lily Pond”
and blues of Renoir’s water in “The Skiff” and “Le Pont de
Chatou.” On stormy days, the palette is black and white with
waves crashing on the shore, and the wind blowing fresh
and strong; it takes my breath away.
The house itself is quaint and charming with decorative
cornicing, etched glass windows and a winding staircase.
It hints of Charles Renee Macintosh and the Arts and Crafts
movement, which was blossoming in Glasgow in the latter
half of the 19th century. The main bedroom is breathtaking,
I only had to step into the room to know that I belonged
here with the water and the history. The room has a large
bay window reaching almost to the floor with sloping roof
panels on either side. Waking up in the morning and seeing the rising sun sprinkle a rainbow of colors on the water
spurs me on to just grab my camera and rush to the nearest
viewpoint.
I have always had a passion for Impressionist painters, so
it seems very fitting that this place was built around the
time they were coming into prominence. Perhaps, who
knows, maybe some early work was done here. There is a
spirit here, of people who loved art; the house they created
has individuality that speaks of an artistic heart and soul.
At that time, photographers and painters mingled, and it is
easy to imagine them walking the coastline, color wheels in
hand, debating how to capture the elusive and captivating
Scottish light.
Like me, perhaps they were entranced by this space, now
my space and my passion until the next artist comes to live
here.
www.crionnaphotography.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Lynne_Douglas.aspx
The Studio – a peaceful room with a view of the sea at the bottom of the garden
33
34
On location at a ARTisSpectrum
nearby loch
| Volume 29 | artisspectrum.com 35
The house itself is quaint and
charming with decorative
cornicing, etched glass windows and a winding staircase. It hints of Charles Renee
Macintosh and the Arts and
Crafts movement, which was
blossoming in Glasgow in the
latter half of the 19th century.
Lynne’s studio home overlooking the sea
On location at a nearby loch where there are fabulous reflections in the still water
36
Tom Stewart
Soaring Gull
Reef Textures
Watercolor & Cold Wax on Clayboard
Watercolor on Paper
20” x 28”
12.5” x 15.5”
T
he watercolor paintings of
American artist Tom Stewart
reflect both the artist’s personal
experience of the magnificence of
the ocean and a general reverence
and awe for the natural world.
Combining transparent, opaque,
and sometimes metallic watercolor
pigments, Stewart allows his
paintings to flow in a spontaneous
and intuitive manner, where “the
watercolor medium steers me as
much as I steer it.” As he reacts to
the flow and independence of the
paint, he infuses a vitality and sense
of life into the work.
The texture and sense of movement
so intrinsic to Stewart’s paintings
result from a combination of
passionate brushstrokes and the
Tom in his Studio
incorporation of acrylics, wax
mediums and oil crayons into the
process. Initially, his paintings are more abstract expressionistic, and it is only at the end that he adds the details necessary
to create a representational effect. What results are paintings that are equally emotive and realistic, encouraging viewers
to recall their own visceral experience of the sea.
Inspired by a lifelong passion for the sea, Stewart creates paintings as breathtakingly beautiful as they are sensory as he
honors the perpetual motion yet immutability of the ocean body that has persisted for billions of years. As he explains, “I
have vivid memories of taking in the vast ocean experience: the sustained roar of breaking surf, the feel of shifting sand
beneath my disappearing feet, and the scintillating light amidst churning waters. I paint from such memories, almost in
hopes of soothing a feeling that approaches homesickness.” Indeed, Stewart’s paintings capture this profound emotionality,
reminding the viewer of their own innate connection to the ocean and all the wonders it contains.
Tom Stewart currently lives and works in coastal Maine.
www.tomstewartstudio.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Tom_Stewart.aspx
37
Shifra
I
n her photographs, Shifra says that she is aiming to
capture “a parallel reality that only exists when it is
spotted by the eye, and immortalized by the camera.”
Her mastery of light and composition is able to vividly
communicate that parallel reality. Calling herself
an “urban photographer,” she produces distinctive,
evocative images that provide a multi-faceted view of
city life — capturing its moments of solitude and quiet
as well as its hustle and bustle.
Shifa creates her unique worlds by striking a balance
between the two sides of reality as she sees it. On
one hand, she uses the camera to record the objects,
people and textures of the physical world with a
precise clarity. But on the other, she ingeniously
In my Dreams - The Black Series 13 Photographic Print 12” x 16.5”
employs the camera’s ability to distort what it sees,
fracturing a crowd scene into a kaleidoscopic pattern,
or turning a solitary figure into a dreamy, cloudlike blur. She also digitally manipulates images to turn the recorded images
into moments that exist as she sees them in her mind’s eye. “I would like my moments to add beauty,” she says, “and maybe
change the way my viewers see the world that surrounds them.”
Shifra is an award-winning artist who has had an album of her works published and has exhibited in both group and solo
exhibitions.
www.shifrart.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Shifra.aspx
P
Peter F. Carr
eter F. Carr’s quiet landscapes show, in the artist’s
words, “where mankind and nature meet.” As
rendered by Carr, with the aid of two essential artistic
tools, the transition is seamless. His first technical
feat is that of composition: his houses, stone walls,
and churches fold seamlessly into their environment,
whether it is the hills of the Italian countryside or a
pristine lakeshore. Carr positions his buildings with
a kind of comfortable intimacy, placing them in the
middle distance and making great use of the angles
and internal framing of manmade construction to
create intricate views. Greenery, both potted and wild,
crowds the edges of each piece, reminding the viewer
that nature is never far away.
Misty morning, Varenna, Lake Como Oil on Board 12” x 16”
Carr’s other great tool is his command of light and
the way that it affects atmosphere. In his airy pictures
showing rooftops, trees, and rolling fields, all tinted with the same early-morning sun and glazed with the same dew,
he shows us that above all else, man, flora, and fauna are united by the very air we breathe.
Peter F. Carr is Australian-born and works exclusively in oil on board or canvas. He begins with plein air sketches and
photos, and then moves to the studio to create his paintings using his own slow, thoughtful creative method.
www.peterfcarr.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Peter_F._Carr.aspx
38
Kaneko Johkoh
Nothing And Heart II
Kaneko in her Studio
Observer
Sumi Ink on Paper
Sumi Ink on Paper
26” x 34.5”
25” x 37”
W
hen asked about the most important event in her life as an artist, Kaneko Johkoh says that it was her discovery of
Bokusho, a form of Japanese ink painting that infuses the elegance of traditional calligraphy with a free-form, abstract
spirit. Having previously worked in oil paints, Johkoh was so impressed by this form of expression that she immediately
immersed herself in it, turning out 200 works in a flurry of activity — an effort that left her “unconscious after completing
them.”
For the artist, speed is an essential feature of Bokusho. “I must make up my mind,” she says, “and then draw before my
feeling and motivation expires.” The speed and energy in Johkoh’s work are readily apparent, but there is nothing careless
about her images. She has a refined sense of composition that harnesses her energies and gives them a compelling force.
Brushstrokes swirl across her works with a freedom that communicates a strong artistic personality. However, the arcs which
those brushstrokes follow possess a symmetry and balance that give her paintings a contemplative feeling. “Calmness, often
represented by Zen, is also a major part of my personality,” she notes.
Johkoh animates the forms of calligraphy through the creative, unorthodox use of her materials. Some of her images are
in Sumi (carbon ink) on plain Japanese rice paper, but for others she will pre-paint the paper with colorful patterns before
applying the ink, or place small objects such as origami figures on the images to add an “additional dimension to otherwise
two-dimensional paintings.” The resulting works have a depth and texture that bring calligraphy and ink painting into a new,
open-ended world. “My art is not the result of pursuing a pre-determined theme,” she explains. “I want people interpreting
my paintings in any way they want to.”
www.kanekojohkoh.wordpress.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Kaneko_Johkoh.aspx
39
The
Art
of
Architecture
By Christine Vittorino
What principles have informed your art and architecture?
In the interest of drawing a connection between the approach and execution of these two disciplines, we invited four
prominent Agora Gallery artists, Lawrence R. Armstrong, Anders Lidholm, FrédériqueK and George Oommen, all former
and current architects by trade, to answer this one question.
In my research, I found an immense amount of literature around this very topic, bridging the worlds of art and architecture,
which have historically been classified under one school of plastic arts.
In the New York Times article “Architect as Artist,” Benjamin Genocchio opens with the names of prominent Baroque
and Renaissance artists, as Lorenzo Bernini and Michelangelo, whose professional trades were in painting, sculpture
and architecture alike.1 Such renowned artists gained their reputation as creative geniuses due to their ability to be
multidisciplinary. Looking forward to the Twentieth and Twenty-First centuries, we continue to unite design communities
while recognizing and celebrating the individual artistic processes involved. Through retrospective such as, “Frank Gehry:
On Line” at the Princeton University Art Museum and “Architecture of Invention: A Bertrand Goldberg Retrospective” at the
Art Institute of Chicago, we elevate preliminary designs and sketches to works of art.
However, none other was as direct in linking art and architecture as The Bauhaus — “School of Building” — of the early
to mid-Twentieth century. The Bauhaus model promoted a rounded approach to design education, drawing together
the Academy of Art and the School of Arts and Crafts. Under the direction of Walter Gropius, as well as two succeeding
directors, the Bauhaus acted as a laboratory for modern interior design, typography and architecture, to name a few.
It was best described by historian and critic Sigfried Giedon as “made to unite art and industry, art and daily life, using
architecture as an intermediary.”2 Giedon went on to parallel the architecture of the Bauhaus building at Dessau with
Cubist art of Pablo Picasso, in particular L’Arlesienne, for their similar treatment of and foundation on formal elements.
They furthermore applied the concept of deconstructing and uniting: Bauhaus in its wide spectrum of art concentrations
under one roof and Cubism in its multiplicity of perspectives on one plane.
While the two specializations are indeed separate, the fundamental practicalities and products of art and architecture are
notably comparable, as many of our artists expand on in this article. The direct influences that extend architecture from
being purely functional to art are undeniable.
The following responses from Agora Gallery artists to the question — What principles have informed your art and
architecture?—present a range of contemporary perspectives built on professional experiences and applied knowledge.
40
An ongoing in-depth exploration of the concept of
layers informs both my progression as an architect
and my growth as an artist. To me, layers are not
only spatially physical, but also emotional, spiritual,
sensory, intellectual, and philosophical.
In approaching an architectural commission, I try
to draw layered influence from the immediate
environment surrounding a building site, as well as
the programmatic functions that are intended for the
project. Layers are provided by the client’s philosophy
and collaborative input, and by the contractors, users,
and jurisdictional agencies. Moreover, light, sound
and ambiance naturally provide influential layering in
a structure. Derived axes emanate externally, describe
the facade, and penetrate through the work.
In similar ways, layers inform my artistic studies.
Although I am freer from client or jurisdictional layers, the physical layers in my work tend to take on an architectural and
structural quality. This is manifested in the way that the materials are composed in three dimensions, and geometries are
again perceived to penetrate through the work. Solid/void and figure/ground compositional qualities become very critical.
Atmospheric layers become more important.
Layered Architectural philosophies pervade my artistic work.
Layered Artistic philosophies have begun to free my architectural compositions.
Anders Lidholm
My thesis for my Masters degree in Architecture focused on “Decoration And Ornamentation In Architecture.” In this, I tried
to scientifically see the different functions of decoration and ornamentation in architecture. For example, I look at them as
points of attraction for the human consciousness, as collective stories told, as expressions of emotions and as adornments on
constructions. I discovered that there were a lot of layers in the definition of the subject. I never found a single definition for
decoration and ornamentation, and that is equally true for defining architecture and art in general. The complexity is far too
great. I discovered that, although architecture can be treated as a science and technology, the true essence of architecture is
art. Since then, I have relied on intuition when creating art as well as in the early stages of architectural planning.
My art-making process is one of discovery where I apply brushstrokes, colors and forms, constantly asking myself — Does
this feel right? It is a process of trial and error relying on an inner critical consciousness as well as momentary impulses.
The process is the same when I am designing architecture; however, more considerate of collective, practical and functional
requirements. As an architect, I want to expand the purely functional, pragmatic part of creating buildings into art. The main
41
goal in my creating process is that of reaching a multidimensional end result. I like the principle of controlled chaos: letting
the circumstances evolve into interesting compositions where I, as an executioner, am evaluating the final outcomes.
With my artwork, I seldom have a preconceived idea of what will be produced, but in architecture you usually have the ideas
of the client, the building codes and site specific considerations, and so on, to start with. I try to modify these conditions
to a unique functional, constructive and artistically form. The interpretation relies on my inner feeling. Sometimes I can be
inspired by conceptual ideas, such as with this house (see image). I saw a sculpture with interlaced parts on television, at a
time when I was intensely practicing yoga, which inspired me to sketch this house evolved from the ideas of knots — later
realizing that it also could express the idea of an advanced yoga position. It is all a symbiotic play.
FrédériqueK
To respond to the question concerning principles of architecture and painting, in my own personal case, I would explain it in
the following manner. There are two possible analyses: I - Technical Analysis and II - Instinctive Analysis
I. - Technical Analysis
It is evident to everyone that an architect, when designing a building, must respect certain fundamental rules such as “adapted
structures,” construction of adapted spatial volumes, adaptation of colors to the environment, and so forth. This strictly limits
the ability of the architect to express a different look.
II. Instinctive Analysis
An architect, when painting, is liberated from some of the constraints such as format, client expectations and colors.
42
Nevertheless, the human being is created in such a way that, instinctively, he oscillates between the desire to more freely
express himself and the innate Pavlovian reflex experienced in his work. Consider, for example, my paintings. By instinct, the
central point of my portraits is the look. This is an instinctive concession made during my architectural training. On the other
hand, the body, with its flowing clothes, the material with which I clothe my models, are a means of avoiding the architectural
straightjacket.
Even in this domain, I keep returning to my first instinct. I cannot prevent myself from “building” while reducing the masses of
colors and the clothes that I want to represent. Every self-respecting painter knows that his internal “construction” will always
influence his creation, and the more he tries to escape it, the less he will succeed in doing so.
George Oommen
“Good architecture is when it is used by people.” -Benjamin Thompson,
Architect
“Good art is when it moves you.” -Sundaram Tagore, Sundaram Tagore
Gallery If we were to combine the philosophies of Thompson and Sundaram, that
is where my artwork lies. As a trained architect from The Harvard Graduate
School of Design and painter from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts in
Boston, my professional projects have naturally married the two disciplines.
In my role as Project Manager at Harvard, I was placed in charge of
selecting all consultants, and overseeing the design and construction of
multiple projects. I was fortunate to have worked closely with New York
based artist Janet Nolan on a series of installation pieces, one in particular
being “Nightingale.” Nolan was commissioned to create a sculpture for the
Francois-Xavier Bagnoud Building at the Harvard School of Public Health
in order to better utilize and engage the vertical space of the seven-story
atrium. The final product was lightweight, easily maintainable and visually
ethereal. The site-specific sculpture both enhanced the visitor’s visual
experience, and, as it was integrated with
the architecture, created an active space.
Through my artwork, I conversely try
to bring architectural elements to a
two dimensional plane. As a native of
Kerala, Southwest India, I draw upon
my experience with and knowledge of
traditional Kerala architecture to introduce
movement and perspective to my art. One
critical architectural element in Kerala is
a rolled screen made of bamboo that is
hung at the exterior edge of verandas.
This screen is rolled down during rain and
monsoon season to protect the interior
from rain and to reduce the glare from the summer sun. The slits between the bamboo frame the natural landscape and
create multiple views. I sometimes incorporate this architectural element into my paintings to create an illusion of depth.
When photographing my artwork, the camera has difficulty focusing on both the layered vertical/horizontal lines of the
bamboo partition and the interplay of color, light and shadow that lie in between. Similarly, the viewer is challenged, actively
looking at and engaging with the canvas.
Genocchio, Benjamin. “Architect as Artist.” New York Times. 21 Nov 2008. Web. 17 March 2013 <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/23/nyregion/new-jersey/23artsnj.html?_r=0>.
Giedon, Sigfried. Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition. p. 489. Google Books. 17 March 2013. <http://books.google.com/books?id=ZHZnmKx
kGMwC&pg=PA489&lpg=PA489&dq=Sigfried+Giedion+%B+bauhaus&source=bl&ots=LwDr6OCvA7&sig=63NUcRgDzSZOErY-WLnyevkH0qs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gkU-UcK6H6Wu2QXiv4GYBw&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Sigfried%20Giedion%20%2B%20bauhaus&f=false>
1
2
43
Lucien Stilss
I
talian-Dutch artist Lucien Stilss has created a unique
artistic universe characterized by dreamlike references,
and a distinct mix of eroticism and spirituality. With a
focus on the female body and its relationship with
both the natural and spiritual planes, Stilss merges
decidedly modern, recognizable portraits of celebrities
and other notable personalities with a traditional Italian
Renaissance approach and style. A hallmark of her art is
a careful attention to detail combined with a freedom
of execution that renders the painting more fantastical
than figurative and adds a surrealistic element to the
overall effect. Indeed, to Stilss, “Every painting is a door,
a door that allows us to go into a fantastic world.”
“Every painting is
a door, a door that
allows us to go into a
fantastic world.”
Leonardo Di Caprio With Dog
Oil on Canvas
Working primarily with oil on canvas as well as with
other experimental techniques, Stilss strives in each
piece to capture all the beauty there is to be found in
the human form. To her, the human spirit is contained in
human shapes, particularly the eyes. Colors are muted
and much emphasis is placed on line and form, which
draws attention to the figurative aspects of her portraits.
In this way, Stilss is able to “represent people, looking
for their innate divine beauty which comes from God.”
But what perhaps is the most memorable aspect of
Stilss’ paintings is the way that modern pop culture is
juxtaposed so naturally against a backdrop filled with
recognizable Renaissance themes, palettes, and forms.
Background creatures seem to emerge from a dream
world, with nymphs, angels, and mythological creatures
populating the canvas. The effect is not jarring but
rather poignant, infusing new layers of meaning into
the tableau. Here, the viewer is invited to question
what they know, to begin to find new relevance and
interconnections between modern and antiquated
modalities of expression.
Prince William
www.lucydt.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Lucien_
Stilss.aspx
Lucien Stilss
44
Oil on Canvas
47” x 51”
50” x 59”
Elisabeth Schael
T
he lush, emotive abstract paintings of German artist Elisabeth Schael are as spontaneous as they are profound. Working
with a variety of materials (including acrylic paint, pigments, stone dust, chalk, ink, and sand) and using brushes,
sponges, and the spatula, Schael dedicates herself to developing and pursuing unique creative forms that join elements of
color, line, and composition in new and unexpected ways. Rather than committing to a particular style or technique, Schael
allows her creativity to flow, unleashing a visual world of raw expressionism and deep emotive renderings.
Schael’s approach to her art is highly versatile, meaning she seeks to play with the process to find the technique and
media that best fit the mood or emotive element she is trying to convey in the piece. Each painting is done in phases
(with a single painting taking several weeks to complete), which results in a layering effect that adds depth and interest to
the composition. Brushstrokes are elaborate, and colors add additional emotional elements. Schael explains her process
as such: “I see my works as snapshots. I find clues and
experiment with ideas. By mixing different techniques
and materials, I am able to find my own creative form of
mixed media.”
When confronted with a Schael painting, the viewer is
transported to another world altogether. While glimpses
of recognizable forms can be seen in each piece, the
emotionality of color, line, and brushstroke works to
distort the familiar and open up new experiential spaces.
It is here that the viewer is invited to see and experience
the veils of perspective and emotion that ultimately
color and define the way humans come to experience
the world in which we live.
Elisabeth Schael currently lives and works in her studio
Art-Schael, in Großbundenbach, Germany.
Skyline 1
www.art-schael.de
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Elisabeth_
Schael.aspx
Elisabeth in her Studio
Acrylic on Canvas
Skyline 2
31.5” x 31.5”
31.5” x 31.5”
45
GUIDE TO NY PUBLIC ART
by Kelsey Golder
There are times when a museum setting is just too limiting. Walls, roof, and a floor can leave a viewer feeling constrained.
New York City is a place defined by its freedom. It’s a place where people of both genders feel no shame in walking down
the street sporting neon hair and twenty piercings. It comes as no surprise that just like its fashion, New York City’s public
art is uniquely unrestrained. The city is, arguably, the icon for the public art world. People often forget that, along with its
thousands of temporary exhibits, which get most of the art world’s attention, New York is home to a diverse collection of
permanent public art, from graffiti to Picasso sculptures. For visitors with a limited amount of time, the seemingly unending list of options can be a little overwhelming. Here’s a list of 10 of some of the best public art exhibits around the city in
mixed locations and media.
1) Although crowds of tourists usually surround it, and often try to get a picture with their head between its legs, the Wall
Street Bull is one of New York’s more obviously iconic pieces and worth a visit. The Bull, which stands at 1 Bowling Green
near Broadway, has gradually adopted different meanings over time, from a confident embodiment of the capitalist work
ethic to an oppressive beast charging over the 99 percent. Whatever the connotation, the Bull now stands as the face of
the larger Financial District. It is one of the only artist funded public art projects in the city. Italian artist Arturo Di Modica
dropped his Charging Bull in front of the New York Stock Exchange, with a complete lack of regard for city permit laws. The
sculpture is 11ft tall and 16ft long made of 7100lbs of solid bronze. The bull represents power and strength and is now a
46
symbol of prosperity in the stock market. Di Modica worked on the piece for two years before he left it on the doorstep of
the Stock Exchange as a Christmas present to the city of New York in 1989. The police seized it with the plan of impounding
it, but, after much public protest, it was reinstalled a few blocks down in Bowling Green Park where it remains today. The
surrounding area also allows for great views of Brooklyn across the water and the Statue of Liberty.1 2) Just a few skips away from the Bull, also in the Lower Manhattan area, stands Fritz Koeing’s The Sphere. Just another
sculpture? Take a closer look. Koeing’s work earned its place as a part of the city’s history on a tragic day that changed
New York’s history forever. Originally installed in the plaza between the two towers, The Sphere suffered damage on September 11, 2011 from the falling debris surrounding it. When the rescue crew entered the wreckage that day, one of the
only objects that maintained its basic structure was The Sphere. After the rubble was cleaned up, local volunteers came
in and helped restore the sculpture. It was temporarily moved to Battery Park until decisions on further restoration and
placement could be reached. Several months later Mayor Bloomberg announced the park would be its permanent home.
The dents and cracks were left as reminders of that day and the regenerative abilities of New Yorkers.2
3) The Masstransiscope is a perfect outlet for those visitors of the more exploratory spirit. Within the deep dark tunnels of
Myrtle Avenue Flatbush subway station, a pleasant surprise awaits passengers of Manhattan-bound B and Q trains. The
Masstransiscope is a set of 228 wall paintings that line the walls of the tunnel. As the train whizzes by the brightly colored,
geometrically decorated panels morph together to create an effect similar to that of a flip book. The first Masstransiscope was installed with the opening of the original subway station in 1980 as a Creative Time Project. Inspired by the old
fashioned zoetrope, the view from the train car window takes viewers’ minds back to an old film reel splaying out before
them. The Masstransiscope, sadly, was heavily vandalized, and for a while, was not as beautiful as it had been in other years.
In 2008, Bill Brand brought it back with a restoration project known city-wide, and as part of a film experiment. The display
is a bit of a hike but well worth the journey. As a side note, the area outside of the station is a fun place to explore for the
local coffee shop and small concert-loving crowd.3
4) Ironically, a hidden treasure unknown to even most locals was created by an artist whose name resonates worldwide.
Pablo Picasso’s The Portrait of Sylvette sculpture in Greenwich Village is one of the only two colossal concrete structures
by Picasso. The sculpture resides in the courtyard of NYU’s Silver Towers residence at 110 Bleeker Street. It was created
from a sketch Picasso made of a girl he met in France in 1953. The sculpture has proven itself a keeper to the city, protected
by a 2008 act in which the real Sylvette David was involved. This piece is highly worth a visit, and hardly the last thing to
do in Greenwich Village. Take a tour of Bob Dylan’s studio, see an off-Broadway play, or visit the house of a favorite poet;
this is what New York is about.4
Bright Ideas Design LLC. “The Charging Bull.” The Charging Bull. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Mar. 2013.
Dunlap, David W. “Could the ‘Sphere’ Go Here?” Web log post. City Room. The New York Times, 17 Aug. 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/17/could-the-sphere-go-here/>.
Brand, Bill. “Masstransiscope.” Masstransiscope. N.p., 2009. Web. 1 Mar. 2013.
4
Lee, Jennifer. “A Picasso Muse Wants to Protect Pei Towers.” Web log post. City Room A Picasso Muse Wants to Protect Pei Towers Comments. The New York Times, 24 June 2008. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.
com/2008/06/24/a-picasso-muse-wants-to-protect-pei-towers/>.
1
2
3
47
5) From the flea markets and subway performers to the coffee shops and sparkling stores, Union Square is another perfect
taste of the New York experience. Presently, passers-by can view a chrome sculpture of Andy Warhol. Madison Square Park,
a few blocks north of the square, always has intriguing projects in the works. Just take a short walk through the downtown
region, and it would be hard to miss the large 3D mural on the building facet of One Union Square South. The Metronome was designed to remind passersby of the intangible elements of time. At first glance the circular waves of brick and
smoking hole in the center does not announce that it is depicting a metronome. Gold surrounds the hole in the middle and
extends out into the brick in a splash-like effect. The arm of The Metronome comes diagonally through the piece resembling a stick that has created a ripple effect in a pool of water. To the side of the metronome is a digital counter counting
the 24 hours in the day while at the same time subtracting the day’s remaining time. The Metronome is one of the largest
privately funded art projects in the history of New York, totaling 3 million dollars. Over 200 project ideas were screened
before selecting this work by Kristin Jones and Andrew Ginzel5.
Flegenheimer, Matt. “In Union Square, 15 Numbers Add Up, Once Again, to Time.” Web log post. City Room In Union Square 15 Numbers Add Up Once Again to Time Comments. The New York Times, 13 June 2011. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://
cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/13/in-union-square-15-numbers-add-up-once-again-to-time/>.
5
48
6) For the young at heart, Central Park is home to a collection of bronze Alice and Wonderland characters as well as a
statue of Balto, the famous Alaskan canine hero. On East 74th Street, children often can be found climbing on the larger
than life Alice and friends, from her beloved adventures in Wonderland. Artist Jose De Creeft designed the Alice collection
in 1959. The work was commissioned by George Delacourte, who wanted the Lewis Caroll tale never to be forgotten and
thus provided a new way for children to experience it6.
7) Sculptor Fernando Botero cannot disguise his oversized semi-Mannerist style. His work is known for its voluptuous
curves and over-exaggerated, plump human forms. Adam and Eve, the Botero sculptures located in the Time Warner
Center at 60 Columbus Circle between 59th and Broadway, are no exception. Adam and Eve were created in 1990,
and have large, round curvatures that attenuate their bulbous stomachs and stalky arms. For the more risqué tourist, it’s
common to have a photo taken next to the statues. Apart from unique tourist traditions, viewing Botero is an experience
all on its own. The sculpture’s use of curves and lines pulls the viewer’s eye along the beautifully smoothed bronze in a
mesmerizing way. Columbia native Botero moved to New York in 1960 after spending some time in Spain. He came to refer
to himself as “the most Colombian artist of artists.” There are Botero pieces sprinkled throughout the city at various art
auctions, such as the Smoking Woman, which was sold to a private buyer at Christie’s, on 59th Street. The region around
the Time Warner Center and statues, Columbus Circle, is great for walking on a sunny day7.
8) Looking for a lesser-known art destination in Chelsea? Marco Brambilla’s Civilization is housed in a space not commonly checked for exhibitions — the elevator of The Standard Hotel located at 848 Washington Street. Hop in and
go for a ride up and down the 18 floors to get a little taste of Heaven and Hell. Civilization is a video mural inspired by
Dante’s Inferno and specifically made for The Standard Hotel. The video takes elevator passengers on a trip starting in the
depths of Hell and ending on the top floor at the gates of Heaven. Guests make the journey up the building and through
Purgatory, to the gates of Heaven, where they are let out to sip wine on the rooftop in paradise. Outside of the elevator
and the pits of Hell, the immediate neighborhood is always full of life. This part of Chelsea is also a fertile crescent of great
little restaurants and bars, Sea Thai being one of them8.
9) Natural soil is not a commonly found element in New York, except when it’s an art project. In 1977, Walter De Maria
created The New York Earth Room. It consists of 280,000 pounds of soil spread across 3,600 square feet of floor space.
This is the third earth room the artist assembled, the idea having originated in Germany. It is the only one out of the three
that is still open. The New York Earth Room, 535 W 22nd Street, opened in 1980. It was commissioned by the Dia Art
Foundation, which still maintains it to the present day. The room is meant to be a sculpture of internal earth. Visitors are
not allowed to enter the exhibit, but may observe and remember the importance of protecting the planet. After a visit to
the New York Earth Room, an exploration of SoHo’s great collection of boutiques and local eateries will most assuredly lead
to the discovery of more temporary art exhibits along the way9.
10) Robert Indiana’s LOVE sculpture has come to
be a copied symbol all over the world. The original, however, was designed in New York. It has become an iconic pop art image for weddings and
similar events. During his first campaign for office, President Obama asked Mr. Indiana to create
a HOPE version of the sculpture, maintaining the
same shape and form of LOVE. Indiana first began playing with the idea for LOVE in 1958 while
experimenting with the arrangement of some letters in poetry. Eventually he produced paintings of
the idea which the MoMA commissioned. The ‘LO”
rests on the bottom “VE” portion of the sculpture,
giving it unique meaning and structure. A version
of the LOVE sculpture still stands in New York at
1350 6th Avenue, and is not only a hot spot for
profile-picture hunters, but also exists as a wonderful testament to New York’s public art scene, and
the impact it has made on public art around the
world10.
”Alice in Wonderland.” General CentralParkcom. Greensward Group LLC, 2013. Web.26 Mar. 2013. <http://www.centralpark.com/guide/attractions/alice-in-wonderland.html>.
Newman, Andy. “An Attention-Getter, Irresistibly Interactive.” Web log post. City Room An AttentionGetter Irresistibly Interactive Comments. The New York Times, 21 Oct. 2010. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.
com/2010/10/21/an-attention-getter-irresistibly-interactive/>.
8
“Marco Brambilla: Civilization | Motionographer.” Web log post. Motionographer RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://motionographer.com/theater/marco-brambilla-civilization/>.
9
“Walter De Maria, The New York Earth Room.” Dia Art Foundation. Dia Art Foundation, 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://www.diaart.org/sites/main/earthroom>.
10
Wilde, Megan. “Masterpieces: Robert Indiana’s LOVE.” Mental Floss. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. <http://mentalfloss.com/article/25276/masterpieces-robert-indianas-love>.
6
7
49
Few attractions unite New York’s locals and visitors better than its plethora of permanent public art. With a few intentional
choices and a bit of research, the city’s overwhelming number of exhibit options can be easily navigated. Choose a piece
of interest, research attractions in the surrounding area and any nearby art, then go and have an adventure. There are
hundreds of hidden gems holding varying stories and years of history just waiting to be discovered.
50
AnnaMaria Critelli
A
nnaMaria Critelli’s playful work relies on free-flowing patterns,
unexpected materials, and otherworldly colors to create movement
through light and space. Critelli crafts textures both two- and threedimensionally. She begins with a central motif – swirling lines or a certain
repetition of colors – and modulates tone on top with subtlety and a
willingness to experiment. The next layer, of what she calls “raw materials
and embellishments,” can comprise anything from glass beads to shards
of patterned plastic. Each mix of materials is unique, to best reflect the
work’s emotional truth. When it is representational Critelli’s work is
inspired by the natural world, from the mingled shapes of butterflies in
a flower field to a figure surrounded by stars.
AnnaMaria Critelli was born in Jersey City and has exhibited across the
United States.
www.artbyannamaria04.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/AnnaMaria_Critelli.aspx
Supernova
Oil & Acrylic with Mixed Media on Canvas 24” x 30”
Marisol Rosas
F
luidity and rhythm in Marisol Rosas’ work mark intuitive and stylish
movements which use technology as a means of expression to
bring the artist’s inner vision to life, creating colorful imaginary worlds.
Tension between background and foreground becomes palpable, as
the prints vibrate with animated vitality, darkness and light which invest
these intricate abstractions with an astonishing richness of depth and
tone. Linear movements found in these works move erratically through
the composition, creating a lively composition that gives complexity
and visual interest. Rosas’ works are currently printed on canvas, but
she has also used other printing materials such as copper and handcraft
paper, as part of her search for a different form of expression.
www.marisolrosas.com/venta.htm
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Marisol_Rosas.aspx
Forest
Digital Print on Canvas
35” x 47”
Grace Arledge
G
race Arledge produces work in a wide variety of styles, and her
choice of media ranges from colored pencil to acrylics, and from ink
to watercolor. She paints architecture, people, landscapes, flowers – many
different subjects pique her interest and inspire her to make a statement.
Her goal is to convey her enthusiasm for her subjects to others. “I use
representational art so the subject is ‘in your face,’ she explains. “I want
people to see the world through my eyes… I want to convey joy, humor,
nature, beauty, and a glimpse of the soul, since sometimes these things
are lacking in our modern world.”
Grace Arledge has participated in exhibitions in Chicago and Atlanta,
and she plans to pursue a degree in the fine arts.
www.gracearledgefinearts.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Grace_Arledge.aspx
Garden Grove, Bahamas
Watercolor on Board
16” x 20”
51
W.M. Vinci
W
.M. Vinci creates a richly textured world in his
vibrant abstract paintings. “I would like my
art to bridge the gap between art and science,” he
says, and like a scientist, he experiments with many
materials to achieve his effects. Vinci says that nature
is a major source of inspiration for his images, and
he allows “erosion and entropy” to come into play
as he lets his materials play off of one another. In
addition to acrylic paints, he uses gels, sand, wood,
metal and many other media to create works whose
energy seems to be barely contained by the canvas.
The artist says that his colors “pop as they fly off
the edge of the canvas” and the reasons for that can
Blue Sky Temple Acrylic & Glass on Canvas
30” x 48”
be found in both the reds, yellows and blues of his
color palette and the energy with which he applies those colors. “I seldom use brushes,” he admits. “I pour the paint.” The
resulting images have an air of spontaneity, but are also carefully composed. Vinci takes care to ensure that his paintings
read well from any distance, organizing their flowing rhythms with a finely tuned eye for balance and proportion. “I
delight,” he says, “in layering meaning and innuendo between each liquid pour.”
www.wmvinci.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/W.M._Vinci.aspx
Kozo Takano
S
imple yet deep, abstract yet narrative, graphic
yet appealingly handmade, Kozo Takano’s
acrylic paintings mix wry humor with an expertly
wrangled artistic vocabulary. Takano’s work
goes beyond visual puns or even scenes to get
to something more universal: the feeling of a
captured moment, taken from occasions as grand
and essential as the rise of the moon or the sea
meeting the shore. The palette may be blaring,
artificial tones or merely grays or browns.
Using only a few swaths of color and one or two
giant geometrical shapes crowding the frame,
Takano evokes the grace of the natural world. By
pinning it to the canvas, he asks the viewer how
it relates to us as humans, both on our scale and
Sea Acrylic on Board 14” x 20”
as the environment in which we live. By translating
the natural elements into a purely visual language — rectangles, circles, and triangles that exist only on a two-dimensional
plane — Takano proves to us that we may understand and appreciate our surroundings in our own way, though we cannot
control them.
Takano was born in Kawasaki, Japan and today lives in Yokohama. His inspirations include the work of Picasso and Klee.
www.home.m03.itscom.net/kozotaka/index.html
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Kozo_Takano.aspx
52
T
he “extensive study of layers in an abstract form” is how Lawrence
R. Armstrong describes his work. That interest in layers takes
several different forms in his pieces. In addition to creating convincing
illusions of levels and space in his paintings and prints, the artist also
constructs sculptural pieces that are an intriguing mix of two- and
three-dimensional imagery. Armstrong’s paintings, freely executed in
bright, dense strokes of acrylics on both canvas and aluminum, let
the individual strands of paint weave through and around each other,
giving the viewer a vivid sense of a multi-layered picture plane. In his
three-dimensional works, carefully arranged grids of glass break up
the images across a series of geometrically aligned planes, resulting
in an effect that is at once kaleidoscopic and harmoniously centered
and organized.
Part of Armstrong’s interest in layers and constructed spaces
undoubtedly stems from his training as a designer and architect. “I draw
inspiration from compositions in nature and the built environment,”
he says, and his works grow from his natural ability to pick up on the
subtleties of those compositions. Noting that he wants his art to be
“utilized to enhance modern space,” Armstrong makes pieces that also
challenge and transform our conceptions of that space.
amor 1.1
Glass
24” x 18” x 12”
www.lraart.com
w w w. A g o ra - G a l l e r y. co m / A r t i s t Pa g e / La w r e n ce _ R . _
Armstrong.aspx
William Mastrogiulio
N
ative NYC artist William Mastrogiulio creates
large-format, lively combinations of color
and texture that are drenched with shifting light,
fluid movement, and raw emotion. Occasionally
incorporating outside objects, such as scraps of paper,
his dynamic, high-interest acrylic paintings explore
the visual contradictions between harmony and
dissonance, beauty and ugliness, and create a forum in
which these contrasts can coexist. “From the beginning,
experimentation has always entered into my creative
process, and I will use whatever media I think a piece
needs in order to bring it to fruition,” he explains. “I like
the idea of ‘saturating’ a work with as much color, form,
and movement as possible.” In this way, Mastrogiulio’s
work is perhaps an artistic expression of the intense,
frenzied digital world – we are constantly bombarded
Kissing Rapunzel Acrylic & Paper on Canvas 78” x 96”
with high-color images and movement, and his
paintings distill that experience.
Inspired by the post-war Abstract Expressionists, Mastrogiulio’s philosophy is simple – he wants to make art that he wants
to look at. Yet that modest tenet leads to art that is anything but simple. His non-objective work allows viewers to reflect
on the pure emotional tone of each piece.
William Mastrogiulio currently resides and works in New York City.
www.williammastrogiulio.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/William_Mastrogiulio.aspx
53
Koki Morimoto
K
oki Morimoto’s roiling black-and-white paintings seek the complexities of nature in an exceedingly stark aesthetic.
Morimoto pares down everything in his technique – composition, tone, line, and detail – to make images shrouded in
mystery. A swirling line or two against a blank background is often enough to suggest a shape, and from there it is left to
Morimoto’s expert manipulation of texture to create depth and energy. This is achieved with sinuous, layered brushstrokes
whose visibility is very much part of the point: each work is built out of interlocking streaks of opposite tones rather than
shades of gray. The technique is an expression of Morimoto’s own belief that drawing, like the spontaneous existence of life
in nature, is an act of growth in which “one line brings the
next line… trying to take its shape on the canvas.”
By framing his shapes in close-up and often painting on
a large scale, Morimoto imbues his work with a sense of
monumentality and urgency. Because the forms are so
ambiguously characterized, many works seem to depict
pure action. The subject becomes less important than
the movement, always caught at a crucial moment in
time. Morimoto’s work is abstracted but he does capture
the universal features of natural forms, such as one
might see in Art Nouveau or Romantic art. His shapes
undulate, bend, and adapt; they are fluid, never brittle,
and always resilient. He also has several series with titles
that do entertain specific themes, including his Memory
of a Seed and Beans Sprout paintings.
Morimoto was born in Hiroshima and has exhibited in
several cities in Japan, where he still resides. He views his
work as a connection to the infinity and inevitableness of
nature, in the air and on the ground.
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Koki_
Morimoto.aspx
Memory
of a Seed
12-1 29 Acrylic
on Canvas
54
ARTisSpectrum
| Volume
| artisspectrum.com
39” x 28”
Koki Morimoto
Memory of a Seed 12-2
Acrylic on Canvas
39” x 28”
Hara Hiroshi
J
apanese artist Hara Hiroshi creates
mysterious, surreal, and entirely organic
images using Japanese Sumi ink and handmade Washi (a special kind of Japanese paper).
Raised by a father whose job was to create
the Washi paper with intense care, Hiroshi has
drawn on his heritage and made this trademark
paper a centerpiece of his work. Indeed, his ink
drawings convey a beauty and warmth that is
reflective both of Hiroshi’s cultural lineage and
a deep respect for the natural world.
Part of the genius of Hiroshi’s work is the way
he carefully balances and limits his brushstroke
work so as not to detract from the beauty of the
Washi itself. He begins with various transparent
brushstroke lines applied in a rhythmic motion,
and then expands on those lines with delicate
shading and texture. Through this subtle
approach, the artist is able to pay tribute to
the beauty of the paper, and the medium in
turn enhances his art by welcoming light into
the image and then diffusing it. As Hiroshi
elaborates, “The paper and the ink work
together to create the work I have in mind.”
A hallmark of Hiroshi’s work is the expression
of great beauty captured in the midst of utter
Summer Solstice
simplicity. Inspired by the graceful and subtle Autumn Equinox
Sumi Ink on Paper 71” x 36”
lines and forms of the natural world, Hiroshi Sumi Ink on Paper 71” x 36”
strives to use the simplest technique and the
least amount of color to express feelings of “speculation and meditation.” It is here, in this space, that the viewer is invited
to re-experience familiar themes and tropes in utterly new ways, to find the magic in natural phenomena. In the end,
Hiroshi hopes that his art inspires his viewers to reconsider their relationship with nature and to remember the importance
of living and working in balance with the natural world.
www.monohouse.org
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Hara_Hiroshi.aspx
Hara in his Studio
Hara making
Washi | Volume 29 | artisspectrum.com
ARTisSpectrum
55
Marie Gailland
W
orking across media using deconstructionist
techniques and mythological references,
Marie Gailland creates work both enticingly familiar
and tantalizingly inscrutable. Gailland depicts openended imagery in a swirl of ambiguous atmospherics
in order to create a narrative that rejects a neat
conclusion. In her abstract work, a few simple shapes
connect on the canvas, while around them roars a
color wash, built textures, and a maze of painted
shadows. A field of black and beige is broken up by
a single pinpoint of red, suggesting everything from
a sunset to a detail of a Braque painting.
In her figurative work Gailland is even more intricate.
Her work is infused with an all-encompassing
vigor that captures movements and interactions
Les Pavots Acrylic on Canvas 51” x 75”
seemingly as they happen. Each composition calls
for a different emotion, every one conjured with
sensitivity by the artist. Depictions of horses recall ancient cave paintings. A diverse body of self-portraits shows the
delicacy of Renoir in one piece and the visceral energy of Goya at his darkest in the next.
Gailland was born in Martigny, Switzerland, where she continues to live today. She works in acrylic, pastel,
oil, photography, video, writing and a variety of mixed media.
www.mariegailland.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Marie_Gailland.aspx
Tania Doucet
“M
y work is intended to be a refuge,” Tania
Doucet says of her colorful paintings,
“a world of simplicity and whimsy, where beauty
never fades and where magic is tangible.” Using
acrylics in a rainbow of bright shades on canvas,
Doucet has a talent for creating realistic imagery,
but she is not confined by traditional notions of
realism. The balance she finds between realism
and magic is what gives her paintings their power.
She says that she is aiming for “an exaggeration of
the beauty experienced in our physical world,” and
that exaggeration takes on many forms in her work.
Houses swoon on their foundations, skies glow with
an otherworldly aura and boats sail on a sea of grass.
But Doucet’s sure sense of composition and ability
to render a variety of textures convincingly make her
magical world one that the viewer can believe in.
The Old Switcheroo Acrylic on Canvas 24” x 30”
The intense colors in her works are strongly tied to
a humorous, childlike undercurrent. There is never a sense of unease about the distortions in her images. Rather, they
express the artist’s freedom and her ability to create engaging scenes in which anything can happen. “Even though the
works are somewhat surreal,” Doucet says, “I am told repeatedly that it still ‘feels like home.’”
www.gggallery.ca
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Tania_Doucet.aspx
56
John Wolter
J
ohn Wolter’s works take shaped pieces of metals and turn them into
bodies whose motions defy gravity. Forming his works by hand, he
revels in the physical aspect of making art, “using hammers, grinders,
torches and welding to bring to life expressive curved forms from
the pieces of cold, hard steel.” That physicality finds expression in the
exuberant movements of his figures — dancers and gymnasts whose
grace is reflected in the delicacy Wolter elicits from his materials.
The artist, a native New Zealander, says that music is also an inspiration
to him, and one of his goals is to capture its essence in physical form.
With their dynamic forms and balanced compositions, his works embody
the energy and control of music, and communicate that feeling vividly
to the viewer.
www.wolterartstudio.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/John_Wolter.aspx
Ride That Moa
Blackened Steel
15” x 13” x 5”
Lynne Hudson
V
ibrant color harmonizes into richly poetic paintings in Australian
artist Lynne Hudson’s works. Her palette sophisticatedly diverse,
Hudson is a masterful colorist, allowing the tones and hues of her
paintings to come alive through her brilliant aesthetic sense. The human
figure is a common motif for this artist, who imbues ancient themes
with a contemporary verve. Her figuration encapsulates her exceptional
ability to incorporate classic symbols with contemporary abstraction,
and the forms demonstrate her dexterity as an artist. The classic beauty
of Renaissance painting is as palpable as the soul of an AbstractExpressionist in these works. Using quick, brushy strokes, Hudson sparks
spirit within timeless, traditional subjects.
Hudson has been a professional painter for decades, and regularly
exhibits her works to wide critical acclaim. She lives in her native Australia.
The Delphic Sybil
Acrylic on Canvas
www.lynnehudson.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Lynne_Hudson.aspx
47” x 39”
Ben Frochisse
B
elgian artist Ben Frochisse paints in a captivating and precise style
that he has dubbed “figurative Symbolism,” and which evokes
pre-eminent Surrealists like his countryman Magritte, Dalí, and de
Chirico. His spectacular images, which are often set within uncanny
desert vistas punctuated by mysterious architectural fragments, are
populated by fascinatingly seductive yet inscrutable details whose
symbolic meaning remains unknown. These dramatic compositions,
dominated by yellows, browns, and blues, juxtapose icons of life and
death, growth and decay, antiquity and modernity, each rendered
in an incredibly fine, hyper-realistic style. With so many elements
at play, often portrayed suspended above the desert sands as if in
flight, Frochisse’s paintings have a dreamlike quality that makes them
endlessly fascinating to pore over and ponder.
www.benfrochisse.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Ben_Frochisse.aspx
The Awakening
Oil on Canvas
24” x 20”
57
Roland Behrmann
Abgestellt - Im Schatten der Geschichte
Photograph Silver Gelatin Print 10” x 15”
Roland in his Studio
Schutzraum Und Falle
I
Photograph Silver Gelatin Print
10” x 15”
n a world in which most photographers make many copies of each image, Roland Behrmann and his work are unusual.
Limiting nearly all of his photographs to an “edition” of one single image, Behrmann gives each of his works a weight and
singularity that make a powerful play for the viewer’s attention. That power has its roots in the photographer’s sure, steady
eye and his ability to tease a whole rainbow of shades and tones from black-and-white film. The greys have the kind of
softness often found in historical photographs, while the blacks are exceptionally deep.
Behrmann incorporates his rich vocabulary into elegant compositions that balance a complex, many-faceted built world
with the quiet aura of abandoned spaces. “I don’t show spectacular or provocative objects in my photographs,” he says. “The
displayed objects should be seen as symbols standing for events, conflicts and forms of existence.” This approach results in
photographs with an elusive, mysterious sense of drama that goes far beyond the scenes being depicted. The photographer
has a strong ability to elicit the echoes of past wars and violence in his contemporary scenes, letting his stance as a restrained,
objective observer reveal the stories and historical resonances that lie within his subjects.
And even though most of the scenes he photographs are, at most, scantly populated, humanity is central to Behrmann’s
project. “My theme is man,” he says. “Even if you can’t see man in my pictures, he’s still there. His presence is shown by
absence.” And whether he is showing us tombstones in an old graveyard or a modern building in which people pass by
oblivious to the camera, what he excels at is capturing the traces that we leave behind us.
Having grown up in the German Democratic Republic, Roland Behrmann now lives and works in Mannheim.
www.behrmann-fotografie.de
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Roland_Behrmann.aspx
58
Rachel Hamburger
R
achel Hamburger’s delicately wrought oil
paintings hinge on the balance between specificity
and universality. Hamburger’s specialty is in probing
perspective and playing planes off of one another. Her
studies of monolithic buildings hovering over covered
arcades and flimsy laundry lines flying against multihued facades highlight the fundamental geometry
of urban life. A door, slightly ajar, creates a sudden,
splayed line, a curtain billows unexpectedly, and the
canvas becomes a pattern energized by its contrasts.
To intensify the sensation that everything in view is
connected within a single fabric, scenes and objects
are framed tightly and the color palette is subtle and
scrupulous in sticking to a central naturalistic light
source.
Rachel in her Studio
“my work is a musical
journey filled with vibrant
colors and movement which
voices and expresses my
thoughts and feelings”
Within such meticulous detailing and editing of
information lies the other side of Hamburger’s
atmosphere: the specificity. Through layers of
observation, she creates cityscapes that put the
viewer in a particular moment of time in an almostrecognizable place, even while drawing attention
to the formal aspects of the work. With this skill of
precision, Hamburger moves freely between times
of day, crowds and emptiness, and large and small
spaces. She is equally adept at exploring the spatial
texture of rural settings, in paintings of wooded paths
and the dense canopies of life that make up a forest.
These close-up glimpses of nature act as an intimate
take on the landscape tradition.
Laundry
Oil & Charcoal on Canvas
47” x 47”
Hamburger, a self-taught artist who has also worked
with photography, was born in Tel Aviv and currently
lives in Pardesiya, Israel, where she serves as the
CEO of Portofino Coffee in addition to creating art.
She describes painting as both a serene refuge from
the busy day-to-day and “a musical journey filled
with vibrant colors and movement which voices and
expresses my thoughts and feelings.”
Laundry on a Wall
Oil on Canvas
24” x 47”
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Rachel_
Hamburger.aspx
59
Traveling Studio
by Jose Antonio Serbia
I work for FEMA and spend the vast majority of my time
on deployments all over the US and I am seldom home.
The work involves long hours - six or seven days a week for
months at a time, during which I live in hotels.
I also paint at every opportunity, and this usually involves
re-arranging furniture and using whatever is available to
hold paint, brushes and canvasses. I’ve learned to paint
fast and a little sneaky since the hotel staff frowns on paint
splatters and pin holes in the walls. Finding art supplies
can be a challenge so the canvasses may be from a drop
cloth purchased at a hardware store and paints and gesso
may have to be homemade or mixed from bargain store
brands. I’ve even resorted to cutting my own hairs on
occasion for a makeshift brush (pathetic, but useful). I work
60
with any medium I have on hand because the only thing
that matters when I get the urge to be creative is that it
gets expressed somewhere (a habit which labeled me as
a juvenile delinquent back in Brooklyn). I’m much more
careful these days with how I express myself, although, I
will admit, it’s still hard to resist going into abandoned and
dangerous places. These often provide the best muse.
There is never a shortage of interesting places or people
and as soon as practicable, I begin exploring. In Alabama, I
met an extraordinary artist who had a backwoods museum
of curiosities and art that was weird and amazing, and
I painted a portrait of his friend “Mr. Henry”, a venerable
old black gentleman with an extraordinary face who lived
in an old weather-beaten shack on this property. In South
Dakota, I gathered notes and rendered drawings while
riding in a farmer’s combine, while he harvested his field at
sunrise. He was also the Mayor. And perhaps the greatest
of these traveling studio events occurred recently in New
York when I discovered what I believe to be some of JeanMichele Basquiat’s graffiti in old forgotten places (SAMO).
I utilize mediums that include everything from chalk,
markers, oils and acrylics. And I paint in a broad spectrum
of disjointed schemes that include landscapes, animal and
human portraits and abstracts that have underlying, often
hidden messages, symbols and rhetoric that speaks of
intense and sublime ideas. There is no particular theme in
my work, though there is an agenda of expressions of the
human condition. I am deeply offended by the inequities
I observe in this world, saddened by its tragedies, and
charmed by the complexities of human sentiment.
I’m originally from Brooklyn. I grew up in a soupy mix of
cultures, races, food and music. I spent three hours a day
riding the subway and buses from the time I was in the
fifth grade. I got assaulted by gangs, ran from perverts and
muggers, rode the cyclone in Coney Island and stood in
awe on the Brooklyn Bridge as I gazed at the Manhattan
skyline. It all inspires me, the colors, shapes, and the people
from all the places I travel.
I do have a studio which is located in the middle of the
Ocala National Forest in Florida. It’s a combination stickbuilt building and 1947 RV. Some creative type built it a
long time ago. Unfortunately, I don’t get to spend much
time there.
So most of the time, my studio is in my mind, and it’s
everywhere I go.
I got assaulted by gangs, ran from perverts and
muggers, rode the cyclone in Coney Island and stood in
awe on the Brooklyn Bridge as I gazed at the Manhattan
skyline.
61
Violette Cici
“M
y process,” says Violette Cici, “begins with choosing an
image — one that I love, one that inspires me.” The images
that she loves take on many forms, from historical photographs
to computer graphics to images framed in such a way that they
become abstractions. The artist then performs her personal magic
upon those images, using a creatively applied color palette. “I am
very sensitive to colors,” she notes, “and I feel the colors in my art
allow me to vibrate to another level.” In her work, she achieves
a complex balance between color and composition. A historical
image will be transformed by a psychedelic color scheme, while
other images take on a ghostly appearance by being rendered in
black and white.
Cici’s giclée prints have such varied inspirations as emoticons
and old movies, but they all share a feeling of openness and
spontaneity. “The transformation,” she says, “has to be quick, like
when you take a photo.” The resulting images mix freedom with
a sense of symmetry and proportion, creating a world that brims
with the artist’s energy, but leaves the viewer space to find his
or her own meaning. “To stay open to others’ realities, to always
leave a question mark,” she says, “is part of my message.”
LSD Emoticons Divided
Giclee Print on Paper
15” x 15”
www.theurbangallaxy.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Violette_Cici.aspx
T
Rose Noire
Acrylic & Paper on Canvas
47” x 39.5”
Samantha Perreaz “SAM”
he unique acrylic and paper collages of Samantha Perreaz
(“SAM”) delve into the mystery and sensuousness of the natural
world. SAM pares her work down to a few essential, bold strokes
that function across several levels. Each piece has a dramatic threedimensional structure, varying from collaged relief on canvas to
pure sculpture made from paper and wire. She maintains a reduced
palette, often using no more than one or two tones and exploring
the effect of opposing colors on emotional and compositional
movement.
It is in subject that this pared-down aesthetic is at its most deceptive.
SAM places one carefully chosen image at the center of her frame
and invites us to pay attention; to see all the symbolic possibilities
within and consider the relevance of the shape to the real world.
One work shows the murky silhouette of a woman crawling out of
a broken heart; another is simply a collection of beautiful paper
poppies, perfectly constructed to be both poetic and strangely
uniform. SAM takes organic forms and abstracts them even further,
to combine nature’s eloquence with man’s curiosity.
SAM was born in France, of Swiss origin, and today lives in Geneva,
where she has recently begun to exhibit her work.
www.swiss-art-modern.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Samantha_Perreaz.
aspx
62
Sunrise
T
he colorful, bold abstract works of Chinese artist
Sunrise seem to jump off the page and literally
pulsate with life. The colors, lines, and rhythms
contained within each painting sing with the
richness of pure Expressionism while simultaneously
maintaining a strong sense of composition, balance,
and form. Rather than taking on geometric forms, the
way the swirls of colors fall onto the canvas is more
sensual – “a spontaneous expression of the heart.”
From this compelling display of colors, images emerge
and recede, and perspective becomes transitory yet
limitless. What results are enchanting paintings that
are more dream than reality, inviting the viewer on a
fascinating journey into the world of the subconscious
mind and eternal heart.
Sunrise
While Sunrise’s art has a decidedly modernist bent and
is influenced by 20th century Chinese ink paintings, it
also has deeper roots. The work is in part inspired by the
principles of Taoism, with its main themes of intuition,
simplicity, spontaneity, balance and the way of nature.
Indeed, the flowing power of Tao reverberates through
her work and the intrinsic balance of the Yin and the
Yang pervades the depth of each layer of color and
form.
“you can perceive the images of
milky ways, galaxies, black holes
in the universe, flowers, frost,
and the four seasons on Earth. In
a word, it is about life!”
Warrior
Oil on Canvas
56” x 72”
Sunrise’s greatest hope for her work is to transport
the viewer into another dimension, a space in
which all the diversity life has to offer can be fully
felt and appreciated, and one is able to indulge the
imagination in new ways. As she explains, in her work
“you can perceive the images of milky ways, galaxies,
black holes in the universe, flowers, frost, and the four
seasons on Earth. In a word, it is about life!”
Sunrise was born in Beijing, where she owned a gallery,
participated in prestigious exhibitions and received a
number of awards. She currently lives and works in
Clifton, New Jersey, where she is very active in the art
world, expressing her compassionate nature through
running and teaching at an art school and studio as
well as creating her own work.
www.sunriseart.net
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Sunrise.
aspx
Sun At the Speed of Light
Oil on Canvas
51” x 73”
63
Dušan Swalens
T
he natural world conjured up in Dušan Swalens’
ethereal “macrophotography” has a powerful quality
of mystery that both intrigues and excites. Using the
traditional form of the botanical study, Swalens plays
with aperture, extreme close-up, and diffused light to
suggest an entire universe within the petals of a single
flower. Rich color and dynamic movement enhance
each photograph’s narrative, while questioning the line
between representational and abstract imagery.
Swalens draws out one tiny part of the whole to focus
on – a lone bud, or perhaps just a pistil and stamen –and
blurs the rest in a cloud of soothing pastels, suggesting
infinite space to be traversed. Another technique has
the artist contrasting a brightly-lit leaf against a black
background, so that the plant appears both more alive
Bio 0202
and tangible by contrast, yet also to be glowing. When
Inkjet Print on Hahnemühle FineArt Photo Rag Ultra Smooth
20” x 28”
cropped and lit so dramatically, the common flower
becomes something completely unfamiliar. Its presence expands, its personality outgrows itself, and what is usually taken
for a symbol of fragility and fleetingness transforms into something strong.
Swalens was born in the Czech Republic and has lived for several years in Brussels, Belgium. He considers his work a
conversation-starter on “human relations and man’s attitude toward nature and the universe.”
www.swalens.eu
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Dusan_Swalens.aspx
A
Zivi Aviraz
s she creates her expressively tactile and vivid
explorations in paint, Zivi Aviraz brings a joyous
sense of freedom and confidence to her works through
the strength of her marks and her bold hues. The
artist’s passion is apparent in the care and dedication
shown in her paintings, as she devotes herself fully to
each piece, developing every stroke and motion with
practiced skill and patient attention.
A sweeping vertical motion runs throughout much
of Aviraz’s art, binding her rough and textural
brushstrokes together as they surge upwards across
her surfaces. Amidst the broad, choppy marks, one
discovers bright bursts contrasting like jewels against
The Band Mixed Media on Canvas 30” x 48”
the pigments. Now and then figural forms emerge
from within the abstraction of this lively dance of color,
hinting at narratives and emotional connections. Aviraz creates her works in a blend of acrylic paints, collage, and mixed media on canvas, occasionally presenting her
paintings grouped as triptychs. Born and raised in Israel, Aviraz came to the United States as an emissary to the Jewish
Community Center and eventually settled permanently in Pittsburgh. Now an award-winning artist, she is an active member
of the Pittsburgh Society of Artists and of the Associated Artists of Pittsburgh exhibiting in group and solo shows both
regionally and online.
www.ziviart.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Zivi_Aviraz.aspx
64
Marianne Eichenbaum
M
arianne Eichenbaum uses warm colors and smooth brushstrokes
to create non-representational oil paintings that evoke a strong
sense of mood. Her work has a distinctive presence; these abstract
paintings exhibit a languid, flowing movement and shapes that are
inspired by the natural world. “We live in a very colorful world, where
nature itself provides us with so much inspiration to paint,” she notes.
“For me it is not only to put color on the canvas, but also [to] produce
a recognizable meaning behind the painting.” Eichenbaum’s work
presents a series of emotional landscapes that invite viewers to pause
and contemplate the deeper meaning behind each piece.
Marianne Eichenbaum was born in Germany, and she moved to the
United States as a young adult. She currently resides in California.
www.mariestudios.com
w w w. A g o r a - G a l l e r y. co m / A r t i s t p a g e / M a r i a n n e _
Eichenbaum.aspx
R
Curve
Acrylic on Linen
39.5” x 79”
Enchanted Forrest
Acrylic & Charcoal on Canvas
16” x 20”
Roger Rutten
oger Rutten’s paintings are unique among abstracts: works that rely
on expressive line and assertive mark-making to offer joy without
aggression. Working in a variety of media including a mixture of acrylic
and airbrushing, Rutten paints with the elemental energy of wind
blowing. Lines and colors are bold, often swirling into curving, organic
shapes. Compositions are not spare, but precise — each painting focuses
on one idea, be it formal or atmospheric, and focuses on it with clarity.
Above all Rutten is flexible in his technique, exploring large, unwieldy
marks on one canvas and delicate drips on the next.
Rutten was born in the Netherlands, where he maintains a studio today.
His goal in his work is to “send positive energy to anybody that looks
at it.”
www.rogerrutten.nl
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Roger_Rutten.aspx
Leander Fontaine
Q
uick, unpredictable, yet exquisitely composed, Leander
Fontaine’s ink drawings are gems of perfectly concentrated
dynamism. With brush and pen, Fontaine paints animals — some real,
some mythical — in motion, black blurs against empty backgrounds.
His animals contain absolutely no detail, yet their form and pose are
unmistakable and perfect in their imperfections: a ruffle of fur out
of place, or a tentacle cock-eyed just so. Fontaine scrawls, splatters,
and smears his ink to create shapes, suggesting a variety of motions
through the use of such different techniques. His creatures, like the
brushstrokes that comprise them, practically jump off the page.
Fontaine was born near the Germany-France border and today lives
in Pennsylvania. He has been working as an illustrator and cartoonist
for over thirty years.
www.leanderfontaine.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Leander_Fontaine.aspx
Unicorn, Annoyed
Ink on Rice Paper
20” x 11”
65
Debbie Klein
D
ebbie Klein’s dazzling prints combine the best of graphic design,
landscape photography, and vivid post-Pop Art imagery to make
a body of work bursting with energy. Klein’s works can be simple – two
or three strokes of color, arranged in a beguiling geometric pattern –
or elegantly intricate, with layers of crisp photos woven in with nonrepresentational flourishes. Urban facades might be cropped to become
graphic symbols in and of themselves, lined up and tinted to highlight a
single tone or light effect. Elsewhere, bare treetops may be used as a black
and white pattern upon which Klein can spread sprawling, translucent red
circles: one of nature’s textures meeting a manmade texture. The artist
encourages us to realize that visual rhythms are everywhere in modern
life, from the sequence of windows on an overlooked building to the
vivid graffiti on a wall. Klein’s unique method of mixing, augmenting, and
re-purposing her original photography is itself a way of finding patterns
in an utterly contemporary medium.
Klein was born in Oklahoma and currently lives in Dallas, Texas. She
considers her work to be an exploration of the many different kinds of
space.
www.debbiekleinart.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Debbie_Klein.aspx
Vertical City 1
Digital Print on Aluminum Substrate
T
60” x 40”
Teresa Cabo
eresa Cabo’s paintings exude a passion for both the
environment and people of her native Uruguay. In her
portraits of her country’s people, she says that the goal
is to “reflect with figurative shapes the diverse cultural
manifestations of my country.” And while these paintings
vividly bring her subjects and their culture to life, that
is far from their only source of appeal. Cabo’s distinctive
brushstrokes create dreamily textured images that lend
the people an iconic status, while remaining thoroughly
realistic. Placing her subjects against slightly mysterious
backgrounds, the artist makes the most of her ability to
subtly manipulate contrasts between light and dark. The
resulting works have depth and lushness, a tactile sense
that gives them a physical power.
Cabo also makes mixed media works that celebrate
Transformación Permanente Mixed Media on Canvas 16” x 20”
nature. She incorporates recycled materials into those
images to materialize her concern “for the care of the environment.” These works exhibit the same dynamic range
and powerful balance of colors as her portraits. The two threads of her work form a unified whole, making a strong
statement. For Cabo, the opportunity to express her ideas is one of the things she loves most about painting. There
is a quote of Albert Einstein’s that she finds inspiring: ““Art is the expression of the deepest thoughts, in the simplest
way.”” Cabo, in turn, has developed this idea. “I believe,” she says, “that art can be an instrument of change.”
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Teresa_Cabo.aspx
66
Marissa Mule
“I
allow myself to work freely and expressively,”
says Marissa Mule, “in the heart of the moment,
without any references.” That sense of openness
extends across all the aspects of the artist’s work —
from her ingenious use of a wide variety of materials,
to her bright color palette, to her distinctive painting
style and sense of composition. Working with acrylics
and house paint as well as Japanese paper, duct tape
and such found materials as wine corks and bottle
caps, she creates works with a strong surface energy
and texture. Mule’s painting style is highly physical and
dynamic. Often using a pouring technique to apply
her paints, she creates vibrant “drip-like” patterns that
add to the feeling of spontaneity in her work.
But that spontaneity is expressed in precise, geometric
Shattered Acrylic & Mixed Media on Canvas 36” x 48”
terms. Early in her career, Mule discovered her ability
to use line and movement to unique effect. “I found,”
she notes, “that through color, texture and composition, I could depict free-flowing lines by using different skills and
techniques to create patterns, line quality and geometric shapes.” In that combination of emotion and order, she achieves
a highly personal style. “In my paintings,” she says, “each line, drip and collage expresses emotion. My paintings are an
escape into freedom.”
www.marissamuleart.wix.com/marissamuleart
Jesús Uclés
A
s he creates images of wonder and delight filled with a surrealistic
symbolism, Jesús Uclés draws inspiration from the art of Picasso,
Miro, and other Modernist artists while discovering a path which is
purely his own. Self-taught as an artist, Uclés brings a freshness and
purity of expression to his paintings, unencumbered by the boundaries
of rules and traditions. The artist’s style is playfully bright and appealing, drawing viewers
deep into the marvelous mysteries of his imagination. Building
a brilliant dream world inhabited by curious birds, animals, and
humanlike forms, these paintings come alive in an improvisational
dance of color and freedom.
Uclés builds his art in acrylic paints, latex, ink, and watercolor on paper,
occasionally adding elements of mixed media to give extra meaning
and texture to his vibrant surfaces. Creating his works without any
preconceived ideas, he allows his lyrical narratives to develop
organically in an energetic outpouring of vitality and life.
Born in Valencia, Spain and currently living in Barcelona, Jesús Uclés
studied Civil Engineering and now works managing the department
of Road Maintenance High Capacity. He has received much attention
for his art in recent years, with numerous group and solo shows and
wide exposure through posters and publications.
www.jesusucles.es
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Jesus_Ucles.aspx
Perfil de Crisis Acrylic & Mixed Media on Paper 27” x 20”
67
Stuart L. Gordon
F
or Stuart L. Gordon, capturing extraordinary
light is the basis of photography. Because of that,
his images have their beginnings in finding just the
right light. “Most often,” he says, “that means the
light of sunset and sunrise, as well as before and
after storms.” It is only after discovering that light
that he searches for subject material, locating the
places and people that can be best illuminated by
it. Shooting primarily in natural light, he focuses
on communicating the essence of the landscapes
he photographs. With a finely balanced sense of
composition and a strong ability to use color and
light for dramatic impact, Gordon successfully
captures those landscapes as well as transforming
Mist Rising Photographic Print on Fine Art Paper 16” x 24”
them into pieces of his personal vision.
A self-taught photographer, Gordon is well versed
in all aspects of the medium — from the filters he uses to bring high-contrast images into the range of his camera to the
techniques involved in combining several images together into a multiple exposure. But though he is adept at employing
post-processing software such as Photoshop, he only uses it to heighten the qualities found in the raw footage he shoots.
“My goal,” he says, “is to share with the viewer my deepest emotional response to the scene.”
www.chasingthelight.zenfolio.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Stuart_L._Gordon.aspx
Sandra Mueller-Dick
T
he rock formations along the Maine coast provide
a starting point for Sandra Mueller-Dick’s new
paintings. But the artist moves far past that beginning
by transforming those rugged landscapes into striking
abstract images. Using oils and acrylics on wood and
paper, she creates rhythmic patterns, taking the energy
found in nature and re-making it into something
personal and emotional. Those emotions are never
firmly set, however. There is an open-endedness to
them, a freedom that allows the viewer to become
an active participant in creating the meaning of each
image. “My goal,” she says, “is always both to portray
and evoke emotion, encouraging viewers to interpret
what they see for themselves and experience their
own emotional response.”
Life Line Mixed Media on Paper 24” x 32”
Mueller-Dick achieves that goal by making images
that speak directly to our innermost realizations,
addressing those thoughts and feelings that mold our world. She employs a bold color palette, setting up strong contrasts
that generate powerful vibrations. She then matches the power of her colors with the strength of her compositions,
engaging the senses in a way that is constantly surprising. Having been a gallery instructor at Boston’s Museum of Fine
Arts for many years, she has developed a strong talent for communicating, one which finds a fitting outlet in these images.
www.mueller-dick.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Sandra_Mueller__Dick.aspx
68
Josyane Martinez
I
nspired by ancient events, historical figures, and the impact of other
eras on our own, Josyane Martinez paints the past in a defiantly
contemporary way. Martinez paints in oil with a gentle realist technique,
framing her subjects at middle distance and editing out extraneous
background detail. Her work is not about tricky artistic flourishes, but
rather action, pure and simple — what is happening in the painting,
who is doing it, and what it means for the viewer looking at the canvas
today. Martinez’s works are pure expressions of cause and effect.
Though she has depicted everything from Al Capone’s gang, to the Kaaba
in Mecca, to the pyramids of Egypt, one of Martinez’s most enduring
subjects is Nostradamus, in whom she became interested while growing
up in the town where he once lived. With deftness and a deceptive
simplicity of composition, Martinez shows the self-proclaimed prophet
beside a painterly split-screen that literally compresses time, an act in
which the audience itself engages each time the work is viewed. One of
her paintings featuring Nostradamus was accepted by the Museum of
Nostradamus.
Martinez was born in Algeria, of French and Spanish origin, and currently
lives in Senegal. She describes her style as an “eloquent surrealism,” with
a nod to trompe-l’oeil.
Hommage à Dali
Oil on Canvas
51” x 35.5”
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Josyane_Martinez.aspx
Raúl Lara Naranjo
R
aúl Lara Naranjo started out working in oils, developing
his style through reading, studying and “painting many
hours in front of countless canvases.” The result of those
explorations is a body of work that combines a strong eye
for balance and composition with a unique approach to
texture and color. Citing influences that run from Caravaggio
to the contemporary Spanish abstract painter Miquel
Barceló, he creates images that bring those influences into
his own distinctive world. His paintings combine elements
of classical painting and abstraction, bringing that mixture
to life with the innovative use of a variety of media.
The artist’s works begin as image transfers applied to the
canvas. He then creates what he calls “crumpled paper
reliefs” of those transfers, painting over them with oils,
acrylics, pastels and various inks. The interaction between
the underlying images he uses and the textures he places
over them result in multi-layered works that have a vivid
sense of conflict and energy. But that energy is tempered
with a subtle color palette that brings the delicate shades
Protesta Acrylic & Mixed Media on Canvas 59” x 59”
of frescoes to mind. That special mix of the current and
the classic lets the freshness of his observations of modern life come through while also placing them in a refined, yet
compelling, setting.
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Raul_Lara_Naranjo.aspx
69
continued from page 21
also require that artists who join put in hours at the gallery, which ensures a more local selection of participants.
Co-op galleries are generally non-profits, and rely on
grants and fundraising.
Secondary market galleries, lastly, deal exclusively in works
that have already been bought at least once, and whose
current owner wants to sell,
possibly to turn a profit on
an investment. Secondary
market galleries very rarely
deal with works by living
artists — instead they
specialize in various
periods and movements from art
history — and
when they do
it’s only with
artists in the
uppermost
reaches
of the art market like Jeff Koons,
Damien Hirst, or
Gerhard Richter.
Museums
interest. Rather famously, MoMA turned down a donation
from Andy Warhol in 1956, letting the pre-fame Pop artist
down gently by telling him that the decision was motivated chiefly by a lack of storage and gallery space. MoMA
now has 168 works by Warhol in its permanent collection.
In other words, even the world’s most respected museums
are not infallible, and may eventually show interest in artists they originally turned down.
Museum curators rarely select living artists without gallery representation for group and solo exhibitions.
Though factors like favoritism, museums’
relationships with collectors
who buy certain artists from
certain
galleries, and
so on, can
influence
the process,
curators tend
towards represented artists because, in a sense,
they have already
earned the approval
of their dealers and
collectors, and they
are producing a steady
output of work that will
be capable of sustaining a major
exhibition. There are of course
counter-examples of artists who
work entirely outside the commercial system with tremendous support from institutions and non-profits,
but they are exceptions
to the rule.
For an artist
developing their career,
a stint with a promotional gallery
can provide the crucial boost
needed to reach the next
level
The ultimate measure
of any great artist
remains the number
of her or his works
that can be found
hanging on the walls
of the world’s major museums. While
institutions like the Tate,
Museum of Modern Art
(MoMA), Centre Pompidou
or Metropolitan Museum of Art
may have millions of objects in
their collections, joining those hallowed ranks is no easy feat. Several sets of gatekeepers bring
new artworks into institutions’
collections: the museum’s
curators; its trustees, who
are most likely collectors
and members of multiple
museums to which they
will probably donate (or
promise to donate upon their deaths)
portions of their collections; and its acquisitions
committees, which can be divided by region and medium,
and are typically made up of curators, administrators, and
other art professionals.
Some museums will also accept artworks gifted directly
by artists, although this practice typically concerns wellknown artists in whom the institution has already shown
70 ARTisSpectrum | Volume 29 | artisspectrum.com
Collectors
The entire art market,
reduced to its most basic elements, consists of a set of middle
men and middle women, seeking to connect artists and their
creations with collectors. Galleries,
fairs, auction houses, and art advisors all serve this function. Once a
collector shows interest in an artist,
though, the ensuing relationship can
sustain the aesthetic interests of both,
while providing the latter’s livelihood,
for years or even decades. In addition to this type of
career-long patronage, having pieces acquired by important collectors is one of the most common ways in which
artists’ work enters museum collections.
Most major collectors are trustees or board members of
into this tight-knit circle can ensure an artist patronage
and support for the rest of her or his life.
Art Schools
Though the category of outsider artists — which includes
the self-taught and those with limited formal training —
continues to gain traction in the art world, the lion’s share
of artists making their way in the world’s major art capitals
have not only Bachelors of Fine Arts, but also a Masters of
Fine Arts (MFA). Like the sometimes-long process of gaining gallery representation, the investments of time, money,
and energy required to obtain an MFA serve a gatekeeping function that helps to separate the passionate and
dedicated artists from the less skilled or devoted.
one or several major museums, and will gift works to their
permanent collections, leave large sections of their personal holdings to the institutions in their wills or, in a few
cases, establish their own private museums where their
collections are destined to live on intact. The artist-collector relationship, therefore, is much more of a collaboration than a pure transaction, and many great artists have
survived thanks to the support of one or a few devoted
and discerning collectors.
Such programs are certainly not for everyone, nor are
their price tags insignificant (they often exceed $30,000),
but they also offer some enormous benefits. Chief among
these are the formal skills acquired, the analytical skills
instilled, the art historical knowledge absorbed, and access
Art Fairs
Over the last decade art fairs have emerged as the most
important venues for the buying and selling of contemporary art, with many dealers noting that they do more business in the few days they spend at each of a dozen major
fairs around the world than the rest of the year working
out of their brick-and-mortar spaces. Fairs, at least the
ones worth showing one’s work in, cater exclusively to
galleries, so any artist hoping to show in a fair will need
to secure representation with a participating gallery first.
(Occasionally a gallery will test an artist not on its roster
by including their work in an art fair booth, although such
space is typically reserved for artists who have signed with
the gallery.)
A strong showing and major sales at one of the world’s
top fairs can help boost an artist’s career or secure a museum show, as trustees, acquisitions committee members,
curators, and directors of the world’s leading museums are
typically in attendance — institutions’ purchases make up
a small but not insignificant portion of the business done
at most fairs. The world’s leading fairs, like New York’s
Armory Show, Art Basel and Art Basel Miami Beach, Frieze
London and Frieze New York, and the FIAC in Paris, are
first and foremost venues for the world’s leading collectors
to see the newest work by their favorite artists. Breaking
to faculty members, many of whom — especially at the
leading art schools like Cal Arts, Yale, the Rhode Island
School of Design, or Goldsmiths — are major contemporary artists themselves. Less tangible, but just as important, are the connections such programs offer students
in the art world beyond campus through alumni, vast
support networks, or simply thanks to a well-reputed MFA
program’s capacity for opening doors to galleries, fellowships, residency programs, and other opportunities that
would ordinarily be harder to pass through.
Auction Houses
Until relatively recently art auctioneers had very little to do
with living artists, and dealt exclusively in the better tested
markets for antiquities, Old Masters and Renaissance
paintings, and Modern art. But as the world’s two dominant houses, Christie’s and Sotheby’s, have increasingly
moved into direct competition with galleries, they have
begun trading in works by contemporary artists, achieving multi-million dollar records with pieces by the likes of
Cindy Sherman, Gerhard Richter, and Anish Kapoor. Still,
such sales draw from the secondary market — ie. works
that have already passed out of the artists’ hands and into
those of at least one dealer or collector — and are essentially out of the control of their creators. To date the only
exception to this rule is Damien Hirst, who in 2008 cut out
his dealers and organized a solo auction of all-new work at
Sotheby’s, netting himself nearly $200 million in one night.
This happened just as the art market bubble burst,
and nothing similar has been attempted since.
Curators
In addition to parsing the rosters of artists represented by
leading galleries, curators — whether independent or affiliated with museums or non-profit spaces — tend to rely
on the same spaces and venues that dealers use to discover artists. These range from exhibitions at smaller galleries and non-commercial spaces, to residency programs,
respected art schools’ MFA showcases, recurring bellwether exhibitions like the Whitney Biennial, Documenta,
Manifesta, and so on, and art fairs. Since most curators are
not concerned with the salability of the work they show,
they are typically more open to showing, promoting, and
championing artists whose works are unconventional,
unwieldy, or go against current trends.
Art Advisers
Though they rarely interact directly with artists, art advisers add a fourth notch to the artist-gallery-collector equation, acting as mediators between buyers and dealers.
Not all collectors hire art advisers: in 2006 the New York
Times reported that between 10 and 30 percent of contemporary art sales at major galleries were brokered by
advisers, and that it was a growing trend. However, they
Non-Profits
Being by and large — though not entirely — outside the
art market puts non-profit and artist-run galleries in an
advantageous if precarious position: They are not dependent on the tastes of an often-overly cautious art market,
but they are also at the mercy of the broader economy
as their budgets are covered chiefly by grants and donations. Freed of the necessity to turn a profit, they are able
to show artists who are not market-tested, or whose work
doesn’t conform to the flavor of the day, and such spaces’
curators tend to encourage artists to undertake projects
from which profit-driven galleries might shy away. The
rest of the art world also closely monitors them, so that
despite being cordoned off from the art market, a strong
showing at a non-profit space can often help an artist
wield enough influence to effect immediate demand for
and long-term interest in an artist’s work with novice and
seasoned collectors alike.
Cities
Though it may seem obvious, it bears reiterating: There
are reasons why artists flock to — and pay the expensive
rents for apartments and studios in — major art world
capitals like New York, London, Berlin, Los Angeles, and
so on. All the individuals, groups, businesses, and institutions enumerated above are concentrated in such places.
Though there are certainly outlying nodes of power and
the internet has slightly eroded the importance of optimal urban location within the art world, artists based in
these cities have a distinct advantage over those based
elsewhere simply by virtue of having more direct access to
countless gallerists, curators, critics, and other artists.
The Payoff
secure commercial gallery representation, connect with
collectors, or gain the attention of museum curators.
Critics
The role of a critic in an artist’s career is two-fold: In the
immediate, positive or negative press in response to a
work or an exhibition can influence the likelihood of future
shows, and sway the interest of curators, museums, and
galleries; in the long-term it can help secure an artist’s
place in art history, or — at worst — doom her or him to
obscurity. However, the relationship between an artist’s
critical and commercial receptions remains less predictable. Successful artists will often remain popular even if an
exhibition or work of theirs is poorly received, and collectors’ tastes often trump critical evaluations, at least as far
as the market is concerned.
All of this is to say that the art world contains many
groups and types of players, each with their own agendas,
tastes, and interests. It is an environment governed by
informal relationships, pliable rules, inscrutable patterns,
and erratic trends. Difficult as it may seem to navigate,
and though no two artists ever follow the same trajectory
toward success, knowing the types of people, institutions,
businesses, and factors that play a part in this manyarmed and multinational enterprise remains an essential step towards
making it work for
you.
Caroline Josephs PhD
D
r. Caroline Josephs creates universes within
her work by mixing sacred symbolism, ancient
tradition, and jolting contemporary iconography.
Josephs’ artistic work grew out of her doctoral
studies in oral storytelling – especially of the
Indigenous Australian people of Australia (as well
as Zen, Judaic, and Inuit storytelling traditions), all
of which have touched her life in various ways.
Seized with the idea that a shared history is passed
on via images and narrative, Josephs seeks to
shed light on the modern experience with her
highly energized, emblem-laden paintings. She
unites disparate elements with improbable ease The Artist Leaps into New York Acrylic on Canvas 46” x 76”
almost as if by the magic of the sacred – under
one narrative. In managing to tell a story in an instant with only images, Josephs realizes in solid form the crucial visual
component of storytelling and enters the tradition herself. Her latest work focuses on her own cultural collision with New
York City, focusing on deeply-felt city images as she approaches her artist-in-residency in Manhattan in May 2013. Some
of the images are world-renowned icons, including the Statue of Liberty, and others are part of the everyday, including a
recurring image of the map of the island of Manhattan.
Josephs was born in Sydney, and continues to draw her art from the ancient sense of Country – of Australian Aborigines –
meeting her own ancestral migrant sensibility.
www.carolinejosephs.com.au
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Caroline_Josephs_PhD.aspx
April Rimpo
A
pril Rimpo paints with watercolors and fluid
acrylics to create elegant, lyrical compositions
full of color and vigor. Using the capricious nature
of watercolor to her advantage, her work has a
freshness and vibrancy that is arresting, reminiscent
of the Impressionists in the quality of light and the
looseness with which she renders her subjects.
“Color and texture are critical design elements I
use to catch the viewer’s eye,” she explains. “I use
non-traditional textural approaches to enhance
interest. In my current work my goal is to portray
a moment-in-time that allows the viewer to define
their own story.”
Street Car Watercolor on Paper 14” x 22”
This openness to her medium does not mean that
the artist fails to plan, however. Rimpo has a vision for her work, and she has a specific affect in mind – she wants to achieve
the same richness of color that she experienced when she used oils, and she succeeds in this challenging goal. Her work
pulses with lush color, and the natural transparency and unpredictability of water media lends interest to her work.
April Rimpo was born in Massachusetts, and she currently lives in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area. Her work has been
featured in numerous exhibitions, and she has also been the recipient of many awards.
www.april.rimpo.org
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/April_Rimpo.aspx
73
Dani Cortez
B
razilian artist Dani Cortez finds inspiration in the colors, shades
and brilliance of the natural world, which she harnesses and
layers into her splendid abstract paintings. Through the build-up of
acrylic and oil paints, applied using a variety of techniques including
monoprints with lace, she achieves an effect akin to trapping light
beneath a translucent surface. Her works glow with both vibrant and
muted tones that seem to emit an inner light that breaks through
between areas of thick pigment. She cites the influences of Gerhard
Richter and Mark Rothko, and the parallels between her compositions
and the latter’s Color Field works or the former’s striped and vivid
squeegee paintings are quite apparent. Cortez adds formal touches
like grids, quasi-Pointillist dots and cloud-like forms, which add texture
and definition to each piece.
Her manner of accumulating layers and stripping or scraping them
away creates unexpected patterns and shapes that give her works the
rich character of a gothic ruin, with structures falling away to reveal
gloomy interiors and sun-splashed exteriors. This effect transfixes the
viewer and makes for images that are sparkling and animated from
a distance and, upon closer inspection, full of exquisite details and
unexpected flourishes.
www.danicortez.com.br
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Dani_Cortez.aspx
Untitled 2
51” x 39”
Yasuyuki Ito
F
or most visual artists, severe eyesight problems
would be an insurmountable obstacle in the path
toward realizing their artistic vision. But Yasuyuki
Ito’s interior world is so strong and colorful that it has
allowed him to create paintings in which bright shades,
strong lines and dynamic compositions combine to
form an appealing, unique universe. Starting with what
he calls “the original beauty of the color,” he creates
images that bring mosaics or stained-glass windows to
mind. He simply but subtly mixes his paints in a way that
gives every separate shade a vividly three-dimensional
appearance. Each dot or band seems to glow with a
light that comes from within.
When these individual blocks of color are put together,
compositions of surprising depth and complexity
Dancing Butterfly Oil on Canvas 36” x 46”
emerge. The dynamic relationship between all of the
layers and levels of space give the canvases a sense of
constant motion, a flow that juxtaposes nicely with the solidity of each separate unit. That combination succeeds in
bringing the interior world that is so important to the artist vividly to life. As opposed to depicting an outside world in
which “material wealth” is the only source of values, he strives to make “art which connects with richness of the heart.”
www.skyship55.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Yasuyuki_Ito.aspx
74
Tiril
A
crylic painter Tiril combines the raw
power of Abstract Expressionism with
an unexpected compositional restraint, to
produce works that seem to be made of pure,
concentrated energy. Tiril is versatile in palette,
technique, and organization, but her work relies
on the emotional power of one element at a
time. A painting is often made from only two
or three colors — two of which may simply be
black and white — and each motion of the brush
is allowed to speak for itself. One forceful stroke
may tangle across the canvas, or the same drip
technique layer in upon itself to produce a field
of texture that suggests both dynamism and
Power Acrylic on Canvas 40” x 60”
contemplation. The pieces are large-scale, yet
each acts as a close-up on a few key shapes
rather than including too much and losing focus. Movement is integral to the work: movement made visible, movement as
narrative, emotion, and form. The artist calls this use of color, shape, and line “language in its purest form.”
Tiril was born in London and has in recent years lived and worked in Alabama. She has exhibited around the United States
and Europe.
www.artbytiril.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Tiril.aspx
David Reinfeld
O
ver the course of his career, American fine art photographer
and artist David Reinfeld has continued to ask the question:
“What makes a picture come alive?” In his quest to photograph
a wide range of genres, from graffiti-filled urban landscapes to
stunning natural terrains, Reinfeld strives to look deeper, beyond
the surface of his subject. This is how he is able to find and reveal
those intricate yet sometimes hidden connections between the
emotional world that composes human experience and the physical
forms that surround us.
Using pigment ink and digital technology, Reinfeld builds on the
original image, infusing it with colors, textures, and unexpected
forms. This adds an unexpected depth of meaning for the viewer
as it invites us into a visual world that is entirely new. As the artist
explains, “I have to remind myself not to remain at the surface, [to
create images] that are full of life and charm, frozen in time, kept
alive by human connection.”
David Reinfeld currently lives and works in northern New Jersey.
He received his MFA at the Rhode Island School of Design. He
has taught photography to inner city children, and is currently
completing a book about the creative moment and image making
as a fine art aesthetic.
www.davidreinfeld.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/David_Reinfeld.aspx
American Southwest Series #3, 2011
Pigment Ink Digital Print 22” x 16”
75
Henri Gueguen
“F
or many years,” Henri Gueguen says, “I have wanted to honor famous women of the twentieth century.” His images
honor women in two distinct, yet complementary ways. He honors individual women in a series of striking portraits
that cover a broad range of personalities — from Anne Frank to Rosa Parks to such iconic film stars as Marilyn Monroe
(whom Gueguen paints as a nurse) and Rita Hayworth. While those portraits are notable for their ability to capture the
personalities of the women and their strong graphic compositions, what is perhaps most unique about them is the
unconventional selection of media that the artist uses as a backdrop.
His images of Ivanka Trump and Julia Roberts are done in lacquer on a geometrically precise field of Bic pens. “The concept
of the Bic pens,” the artist says, “is to create many linear, vertical and hexagonal readings.” A portrait of Princess Diana is
painted on a background of neon tubes. In all of these works, the artist challenges us, complicating the depiction of his
famous subjects, and making the process of reading his images
one in which the viewer must take an active role. Gueguen says
that his goal is to perpetuate the memories of these women,
and his images give them a new dimension and sense of life.
Gueguen also honors women by honoring the clothes they
wear, painting elegant scenes of the fashion world. In these
works, the painter’s sense of line, color and proportion are
reminiscent of a designer’s sketchbook, but they are also
something much more. He incorporates groups of stylishly
clothed models (exemplifications of his ideal of “the tall, slim
lady”) into seductive abstract patterns that take fashion as
their inspiration but move into another realm entirely — one
in which beauty is celebrated in its many forms.
www.henrigueguen.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Henri-Gueguen.
aspx
Henri Gueguen
Anne Frank
76
Lacquer on Bic Pen
40” x 40”
Maria Callas
Wood & Glass
36” x 27”
Scott Breeman
T
he “natural beauty of God’s creation” is the root from
which Scott Breeman’s paintings grow. Whether he
is depicting a field of stars, an underwater environment
or a stormy sky, Breeman lets nature’s power come to the
surface. With a dynamic color sense and a remarkable
ability to capture the effects of light, he gives his
paintings movement and depth. The artist has a special
affinity for yellow, which he says represents light and life
in his work. The light-filled images he creates bridge the
domains of abstraction and representation in a way that
reflects his highly personal approach. “I want to express
moments in a way that children would express them,” he
explains, “vivid and understandable, but free from rules
and realism.”
Breeman’s painting technique is just as individual as
Milkyway 2 Acrylic on Canvas 30” x 41”
his thematic approach. Working in acrylics, he gives his
images the kind of liquid feel that is most commonly associated with watercolors, adding another layer of detail by pouring
what he calls “soft flowing lines of color” onto his paintings just before they dry. The resulting works have an appealing
spontaneity as well as a calm, centered quality that encapsulates the artist’s harmonious view of the world.
www.artofscott.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Scott_Breeman.aspx
Francesco Ruspoli
F
rancesco Ruspoli’s paintings reveal a dynamic,
abstract vision of the human figure. Drawing
inspiration from the Surrealist movement as well as
artists such as Francis Bacon and Frank Auerbach,
his work is a fresh interpretation of the human
condition.
The main subjects of Ruspoli’s paintings appear
most frequently in groups of three, a number which
both hints at spirituality and gives him the flexibility
to suggest a wide range of social dynamics and
emotions. His subjects exist in abstract worlds, in a
whirl of brushstrokes and color that are suggestive
of settings, yet remain ambiguous, leaving it
ultimately up to the viewer’s interpretation. “My art
explores the dynamic frontier between abstraction
Harmony And Friendship Oil on Canvas 30” x 40”
and figuration,” Ruspoli explains. “This fertile area
keeps alive the infinite possibilities of being human.”
He carefully renders his subjects with rich, powerful colors to capture varying moods, and surrounds them with a bold,
black outline. These outlines sharply define the figures’ shapes, separating them from the rest of the piece – yet their
eyes are empty, revealing the world behind them and within them. These blank stares challenge viewers to reexamine
themselves and the world around them.
Francesco Ruspoli’s work has received many awards and accolades from all over the world.
www.francesco-ruspoli.com/home.html
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Francesco_Ruspoli.aspx
77
The Humanitarians
Meet three special artists whose contribution to a humanitarian cause has brought welcome relief and assistance to
people in need.
Gaby Hahn
My interest in Africa is longstanding; my husband and I traveled extensively throughout Africa and bought our first small
farm in South Africa in the early seventies; in 1997 we acquired Mugie ranch (www.Mugieranch.com), a 50,000 acre ranch
in Kenya on the high plateau of Laikipia, ca 180 miles north of Nairobi, where we also live for part of the year.
What started as a farming venture combined with coexisting wildlife, Mugie ranch has become a major center for predator
studies in preservation of the delicate ecosystem: half of the farm is now completely dedicated to a wild animal sanctuary,
protecting endangered animals like lions, leopards, elephants, buffaloes, the rare Grevy zebra, and many more.
Mugie plays an integral part in the local economy, employing many and providing medical care to the surrounding tribes.
The ranch is proud to house the Mugie Primary School, a primary school with grades K – 8, which my husband and I built
and funded to benefit the local community. It has grown from 50 to well over 150 children, and from the worst to the best
in the district. We have not only made a home for 20 physically handicapped orphaned girls, but have sent the graduating
class to boarding schools at the secondary level and/or to trade schools. All of the proceeds for the sales of my paintings
support Mugie Primary School.
I am fascinated by the African landscape, by the animals and the various tribes. I sketch and write during my visits and
my paintings develop from these sketches. I attempt to bring to life Africa’s light, atmosphere, its tribal customs, the hard
work of its people, their deep connection with nature, their dignity and evident joy of life.
78
A recent trip to Lake Turkana in the north of Kenya put me in contact
with the amazing lake and tribal people living there in extreme
conditions: in a barren landscape, in boiling heat dependent on
fishing in the lake. Among them were the Turkanas, Rendilis and el
Molos, whose portraits I painted.
I also painted portraits of the tribal people of the Omo River in
south Ethiopia, after first seeing photos by the well known German
photographer Hans Sylvester, then traveling to the Omo River with
my family and observing the people personally.
The very existence of the people living around the Omo River and
Lake Turkana into which it flows is threatened by the constructions
of several dams. The huge Give III hydro power dam will dramatically
alter the Omo River’s flood cycle, affecting ecosystems and the
livelihoods of more than 500,000 people, resulting in a human
catastrophe in the region – all for the production of electricity. No
proper environmental studies preceded the funding of the dam.
The river banks will collapse and the water level of Lake Turkana
will drop by up to 30 feet. The water will become so saline that all
the fish will die. The very rare riparian forests and its shy animals
and flora will disappear forever.
Thus my art has acquired a political nature. Through my art and
philanthropic efforts, I wish to make the world aware of this huge
impending disaster, which will result in the loss of the very life
line and thus the culture of so many tribal peoples. I am always
striving to introduce an unfamiliar public to the fascinating, rich
and ancient culture of Africa, to a strange and colorful world. which
appeals to all the senses. Sadly this world is under attack.
Gaby Hahn: Elephant III
Acrylic on Canvas
48” x 36”
79
Mike Elliot
“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw
off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore, dream, discover.” -Mark Twain
In our journey through life, there are many experiences that help shape our emotions. For some of us, these experiences
find their way to canvas through the medium of paint. One recent such experience for me occurred in late September of
last year, when, to paraphrase Mark Twain, I, along with a group of others sailed away from safe harbor on a five week
journey to Nepal with the objective to reach Mt. Everest Base Camp. When the subject of this trip first arose, my initial
thoughts were one of adventure; however as time went on, there was something calling within me to see what I could do
in lending a helping hand for others, specifically the Sherpa people. In my reading of the area, these people appeared to
do so much in ensuring that others’ dreams were fulfilled, but, in return, seemed to receive such little recognition. This
led to my seeking out the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation, and the incredible work that they have done for the region.
The Foundation identified a number of areas where assistance could be lent to the needs of the Zeke O’Connor School,
which, consisting of 150 students, opened in 2011 in the very remote and underprivileged village of Phaplu, Nepal. The
Foundation recognized a number of needs for this school, one of which was a computer lab and assistance with the
ongoing operational costs. Budgeted costs for the computer lab were $20,000. Having never led such a fund raising
initiative, raising $20,000 for the lab seemed a daunting task, but then, so was the entire journey! With the funding
target established, our team proceeded to raise $25,000 for the school from a number of remarkable supporters. Having
surpassed the original target, the additional money will help fund the operating expenses of the school, which in April
2013 will be adding 30 new students in Grade 8, giving top priority to girl students from poor and disadvantaged groups
in the area. The school will also be upgraded to facilitate a Grade 10 class.
The team at Annapurna
80
Mount Everest
Kids on their way home from school
One the most profound memories of
this journey was the walk along the
Bagmati River, which runs through
Kathmandu with the Pashupatinath
Temple beside it. The Hindus and
Buddhists consider the Bagmati
as a holy river where the spirits of
the people are purified. Along the
walk, I was taken by the many vivid
colors of which orange will forever
be remembered.
Mike Elliot: Taken by the Bagmati
Acrylic on Canvas
60” x 60”
81
As for the trip, our original plan was to begin a trek over 12 days with the objective to reach Mt. Everest Base Camp.
Unfortunately, this was not possible, as on the morning of our arrival in Kathmandu, we found that 19 people had tragically
died on a flight to Lukla, the place used as a starting point. This tragedy, in addition to poor weather conditions, meant we
had to make some tough decisions regarding alternative options. As a team, we decided to redirect our objective to reach
the Annapurna Base Camp instead, which we did over a period of 12 days. On our return, 3 of the 10 people, including
myself, elected to remain in Kathmandu, and to fly into Lukla via helicopter, where we made a 9 day trek to Mt. Everest
Base Camp.
Between the two treks, a distance of over 250 kilometers was hiked, and while this experience was incredible, it was far
surpassed by the beauty of the people, their kindness and the helping hand they held back to us to ensure that our journey
was one with memories to last a lifetime.
Annapurna Trek
82
Ariane Blais
The Project ScolioTIK is a project that is dedicated to raising funds for idiopathic scoliosis research while educating the
public and raising awareness. I work in collaboration with numerous individuals affected by the condition. Recently, I was
able to draw great inspiration from one of these individuals whose life was saved by a surgical operation. The surgery this
patient underwent aims to straighten the spine by fusing one or two metal stems to the front of each impacted vertebra.
I used the x-rays to create multidimensional images, which became the start of my new series, The Project ScolioTIK 1st
Series.
The Project ScolioTIK 1st Series incorporates a diverse scope of mediums such as plaster, acrylic and epoxy. Some of its
paintings contain pieces of metal shrapnel that highlight the war-like intensity of the struggle of individuals with scoliosis
who undergo surgery. I mix color and texture by incorporating a variety of materials to illustrate the uniqueness of each
scoliosis patient’s story. The whole series is presented on traditional canvases, but also on wooden mounts.
We have teamed up with The Ste-Justine UHC Foundation and will be launching this series in the spring of 2013 as part of
a special fund raising event for Scoliosis. I am very excited to be holding this visually stimulating event where the works of
art will be available for purchase by auction, and all proceeds will be donated to further Scoliosis research.
83
Art Matters - why we collect art
Something about it touched me in a profound and beautiful way / It reminded me of the many summers I spent with
my family visiting the beach / I felt that it was calling me in a way / We had to have it / It helped me to understand
what sacrifice really means / My decision to purchase the painting had something to do with the death of my mother
/ It enchanted me from the very first time I saw it.
Why are we drawn toward one piece of art and not another? It is as though the artwork, be it a painting, a photograph or a sculpture, is at the moment of connecting with it, recognized as a missing part of you. A part that carries
a profound desire, a void which can only be filled, like Klimt’s embrace in ‘The Lovers’, through the acquisition of an
unforgettable, must have, work of art!
Artworks and Collectors:
Doha Coloured Balls Gold DCBGA11 by Jennifer Pinder
in the collection of C.Clews
Human Nature by Nelida Diaz de D’Amato
Collector / Illinois
Unbound by Claude Charlebois
in the collection of V. Lyn
Woman and a Martini Glass by Todd Krasovetz
in the collection of L. Foo
Why were you attracted to this particular artwork?
Collector / Illinois: I was immediately attracted to ‘Human Nature’ as it reminded me of the joy felt by our three children
when they play together. It was a perfect fit in terms of our children’s ages and the dynamics of their relationships.
V. Lyn: My immediate reaction was how at peace and serene the woman was, and then as I really started paying attention
to the beauty and rapture of the work it transported me to that feeling of an enlightened tranquility.
Did you first see the artwork online?
C.Clews: No
Collector / Illinois: No, it was in the
gallery.
V. Lyn: No
L. Foo: No
How did the style, color, size and
price influence your selection?
C. Clews: The style and color influenced me greatly as it resonated with
a memory of when I was younger, of
old fashioned carnival colors. The
size was a key factor as I like big pieces and had a particular space that I
wanted to fill. What was pleasing
was that the shape being oblong,
it complimented the area.
When I saw the painting I was not
aware how much it would cost, I
84
think it is fair to say I fell in love with the piece and where it would go in advance of knowing the price, always dangerous – but as I buy art for pleasure and investment I think it is important to first love a piece. In commenting on the price
I was actually pleasantly surprised.
Collector / Illinois:The painting appeared to be made for the space above the fireplace in our family room. I liked that
it brought in new color influences.
V. Lyn: Style, color, size and price didn’t really influence my selection.
The colors certainly resonated with me, but as for the price I thought it was going to cost much more, so I was happy
about that.
L. Foo: This is a giclee print hence it is much more affordable than any of the artist’s original works, yet nonetheless, a
noteworthy piece. The colors are simple and elegant, and the warm tones leave a very soothing feeling. It came gorgeously
framed, and now sits nicely in my apartment.
L. Foo: Yes, it had to be where house guests can enjoy the painting as well.
Did you have a particular space in
mind for the artwork before you
purchased it? .
C. Clews: Yes, absolutely. As I mentioned, the space was the wall behind
an antique day bed that I bought
when we were living in Singapore.
My home has an Asian feel to it and I
wanted to use this painting to compliment the area, and to bring a more
contemporary feel to the living
room amongst the Asian furniture
and ornaments. Due to the elongated shape, it framed up my day bed
perfectly.
Collector / Illinois: We definitely
needed a larger work for this space,
but we weren’t searching for something at the time. It all just came together!
V. Lyn: No particular space. It required a special space as I have so
many different types of artwork.
Were you familiar with the artist before you made your selection?
C. Clews: I was not familiar with her work until I saw her art on display in her home and as soon as I saw the piece, I knew
it was right for my home and the way I wanted to frame up the daybed.
Collector / Illinois: No, but I have enjoyed learning about Nelida Diaz de D’Amato, and why and how she creates her
paintings.
V. Lyn: No, I was not..
L. Foo: Not at all. However during the purchase, I had the luxury to speak to the artist about his works and have learned a lot.
Does the artwork still resonate with you and why?
C. Clews: Yes, it does, as it changes throughout the day depending on the light, so I always find it interesting. I like art
that you can look into. My 7 year old daughter made the comment that “it sparks up the room. It is not old so it will be as
beautiful as when we bought it, it is like a shining star during the night, that is why we love it”
Collector / Illinois: I believe Human Nature will always resonate with me. I don’t think I could have commissioned a painting that would have been so spot on. It will forever bring joy to my heart.
V. Lyn: The artwork still resonates with me. I recently just returned from China - Wudang Mountain studying Tai Chi with
the Wudang Priests, a truly majestic and magical place and “Unbound” gives me that same feeling!
L. Foo: Always. It reminds me of how fond I am of New York City
How did you learn of Agora Gallery?
C. Clews: I connected with Agora Gallery though my interest in purchasing this painting. I then took the time to look at a
number of other artists work’s there and found a number of pieces that I really liked and in fact still have one on my wish
list.
85
Collector / Illinois: The concierge
at The New York Palace Hotel. I was
just planning to wander through
some New York galleries, and voila!
V. Lyn: I learned about the gallery
through a very dear friend, Ellen
Mann, a close associate of Claude
Charlebois. L. Foo: I was strolling along the
streets in Chelsea, and came across
the gallery. I spoke to the gallery
director as well as staff from Agora,
who were all very helpful and warm.,
which made the purchase a pleasant
experience.
Do you have any other comments?
C. Clews: I continue to enjoy this
piece of art and it has surprised me
with its changeability. When sitting down to write this response my
daughter was beside me. It was lovely to hear her comments on how the painting made her feel and as I reflected on
another thing she said – “it makes you happy when you are in a bad mood” – I thought she is absolutely right, I love it and
it makes me happy.
V. Lyn: I’m very happy that I purchased this piece of artwork.
86
John Loveday Freeman
“W
ood is a natural healer,” says John Loveday Freeman. “It is magical,
organic & alive; it never dies.” Freeman, a skilled finishing carpenter, brings
those magical qualities of wood to the surface in his elegant works. He finds the
materials for his sculptures among what he calls the ‘elders’ of British Columbia’s
forests. “It’s treasure hunting,” he says. “They are becoming extremely rare.” Once
he has found the relics, his process is centered on letting them tell their own story.
“I try and keep them as I have found them,” explains Freeman.
The transformations that the artist makes to the wood are subtle but powerful,
taking the inherent textures and curves he finds and refining them, bringing classic
shapes and tantalizing hints of imagery into view. After air-drying the wood for
years, then sanding it to soften to the touch, he applies coats of oil, enhancing
the beauty of the multi-colored grains and heightening the sense of structure and
line. He then places the pieces on simple bases of steel or granite, once again
emphasizing the purity and elegance of their forms. The sculptor says that he feels
honored to bring these ‘elders’ back for what he calls their ‘second debut,’ and that
his goal is for viewers to feel their ‘powerful, soulful’ presence.
www. johnsmarvels.com/gallery.html
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/John_Loveday_Freeman.aspx
Sage
Wood & Steel
60” x 36” x 30”
Kristina Garon
“C
reating art just comes to me naturally,” says Kristina Garon
of her dynamic paintings. “When I start the creative process, I
open myself to all possibilities.” That openness is expressed in works
that cross the boundary between abstraction and representation. In
the world she creates, precise renderings of human faces and figures
are placed within swirling, energetic patterns. “Each figure tells a
story,” explains the artist, and the uniqueness of her work lies in
the way those stories coexist with her daring experiments in color
and texture. Using acrylics, which she favors for their fluidity, Garon
works quickly. “I can’t wait to see what comes to my canvas,” she
notes.
Garon’s style balances that kind of vibrant energy with an exacting
sense of control. She wants her paintings to be “a combination
of bold, aggressive strokes and gentle, intricate details,” and that
combination gives her images a sense of movement that is powerful
yet controlled. Her color palette is varied as well, juxtaposing “bright
and happy colors” with “more sober blues” to reflect the combination
of joy and sorrow that she strives to communicate. One of her main
goals, she says, is “to let my inner world create my outer world,” a
goal that she achieves to highly distinctive effect.
www kristinagaronart.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Kristina_Garon.aspx
Muse
Acrylic on Canvas
48” x 36”
87
Agora Gallery is a proud sponsor of Cameras for Kids
www.Agora-Gallery.com
Tamera Lee
F
or Tamera Lee, art is more than a visual medium. “My current work,” she says,
“focuses on multiple layers of imagery, color
and movement, all inspired by and attributed
to my interpretation of music.” Using materials that include latex and acrylic paints,
charcoal and pastels, she creates images
that have their roots in the sounds that
she immerses herself in as she works. The
composition of her pieces is based on swirling lines and undulating curves that seem
Changing Vibrations
Mixed Media on Canvas 48” x 96” x 2”
to sway to an unheard beat. And, like music,
her paintings combine those fluid lines with
a strong sense of harmony. The artist says her canvases are conduits for channeling the “emotional current of the music,”
and that feeling of power comes vividly across.
The colors in the paintings, as well as the varied textures, also contribute to their rhythm and flow. Lee says that producing an “interplay of colors that move the eye” is central to her images. Her controlled yet vibrant palette generates that
interplay by juxtaposing shades to create a visual counterpoint to the dynamic shapes and lines. When that interplay of
colors combines with the interaction between textures, a multi-layered world results – one in which the artist succeeds at
her goal of being “a messenger of energy.”
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Tamera_Lee.aspx
88
Sylvio Tabet
S
ylvio Tabet describes his lively photography
as a portrayal of “suspended reality” in which
everything visible — a splash of color, a head turned
just so, a repetition or juxtaposition of images — has
rich meaning. Tabet’s main subjects are the natural
world and the everyday scenes of our modern world.
His shots are carefully composed and studiously
focused, usually looking at a single object at close
range. The photo then goes through an exacting
editing process of deleting background noise,
layering images, and adding and enhancing colors,
until what is left is a beautifully streamlined and yet
heightened version of the real thing.
All of these images are perfectly recognizable. Yet
Heat Archival Inkjet Print on Matte Paper 29.5” x 39.5”
the way in which the artist approaches and deals
with each of his subjects makes the works into something significant, even challenging. Each piece represents a specific
message or idea which Tabet subtly introduces through images which are enticing for their visual effect alone. Tabet’s recent
explorations into the diptych composition allow him to play with doubling and contrasting even more confrontationally,
and with a more intense emotional palette.
Tabet was born in Beirut, Lebanon and today, after much traveling, lives and works in Los Angeles. He is also an accomplished
director.
www.ateliersylviotabet.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Sylvio_Tabet.aspx
Gabe Tong
L
os Angeles-based artist Gabe Tong was born with eyesight
problems that might have resulted in blindness, but instead
his unique vision has allowed him to develop what he calls 3D
Cubism, a startling take on the 20th century movement augmented
with a kaleidoscopic palette and the dynamism of Futurism. In oil
compositions whose subjects span classical imagery like musicians,
portraits and still lifes to more contemporary fodder like motorcycles,
racers and Hollywood cinema, he turns Cubism’s characteristic
flatness on its head, imbuing each painting with texture, curvature
and eye-popping dimensionality. Through effects like shading and
gradients, he sets his arrangements of geometric forms into thrilling
motion.
Indeed, the moniker “3D Cubism” couldn’t be more apt, as Tong’s
paintings not only restore motion to the typically stilled style, but also
inject depth into a traditionally flat aesthetic. Full of folds, joints and
crevices, his works often trick the viewer into initially mistaking them
for bas-relief sculptures. His powerful manipulation of light is partly
responsible for this optical sleight of hand, with the sharp contrast
between bright and dark and muted and bold sections suggesting
shadows and reflections playing off projecting surfaces. Tong brings
Cubism into the 21st century.
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Gabe_Tong.aspx
Playground at Sandyhook
Oil on Canvas
48” x 36”
89
MEMORABLE RECEPTIONS
from around the world
FROM TOP:
1)
Nashik,
India:
Raje
(second
Sonal
from R) with Hungarian
artists and Director of
Art Indulge (R) at the
opening reception of
group show 2) Tenerife,
Spain:
(sixth
Maria
from
Pisaca
L)
and
friends at the opening
of
her
most
recent
exhibition in CIRCULO
DE BELLAS ARTES de
Tenerife
11
2
90
CLOCKWISE FROM
TOP LEFT:
1)
Helsinki,
Natali
Finland:
Karppinen
(L)
with one of her models
at exhibition opening in
Galleria 4kuus 2) Miami,
Florida,
USA:
Artist
Amparo de Flórez with
Gallery Director William
Braemer at her recent
exhibition at Art Fusions
Gallery
3)
Singapore:
Artist Rofi at his exhibition
at the Volvo Art Loft 4)
Buenos Aires, Argentina:
1
2
Danisa Glusevic and her
artwork at the Feria al
Sur del Sur Exhibition,
Centro Cultural Recoleta
5)
Barcelona,
Spain:
Salome de Cambra and
guests at her exhibition
GeoGraphics2
3
5
4
91
CLOCKWISE FROM
TOP LEFT:
1) Monterrey, Mexico
: Belén Jáuregui
at
her
exhibition
at Galería Arte4 2)
1
Fornole,
Amelia,
Umbria,
Italy:
Roberto Del Fabbro
(third
from
R)
with visitors at his
recent
3)
exhibition
Bermuda:
Sternath
1
2
Karl
(StemsiArt)
at his recent exhibition
at Bermuda Society
for the Arts (BSOA)
4)
Schwetzingen,
Germany:
Gerardo
De
at
Gioia
his
recent exhibition in
Castle
bei
Schwetzingen
Heidelberg
5)
Penmarch,
France:
Henri
Gueguen
with his work at his
5
3
exhibition at the Vieux
Phare de Penmarch,
Brittany
4
92
CLOCKWISE
FROM
TOP LEFT:
1) Redding, CA, USA:
Jane Magarigal at the
West Coast Biennial Art
Exhibition, Turtle Bay
Museum 2) Bologna,
Italy:
Gerd
with
curator
1
Rautert
Paola
2
Trevisian at the exhibit
‘Little
Treasures’
Trevisan
by
International
Art 3) Santiago, Chile:
Bernardita
Garib
(L)
at her exhibition, “De
La Calle” at Galería
Art Labbé 4) Sydney,
Australia: Zoe Paterson
at her solo exhibition of
8
3
paintings and poems,
“Eden”
at
Colours
Breathing
5)
Gallery
New York, NY, USA:
Preeminent
baseball
painter Dick Perez (R)
with
collector
Dempsey 6)
Italy:
at
the
of
his
Marco
Brian
Arezzo,
7
Fallani
4
inauguration
sculpture
in
Piazza San Francesco
7)
Greenwood,
SC,
USA: George Lignon
at his recent exhibition
(photo
by
Lance
Austin) 8) Gold Coast,
Queensland, Australia:
Lynne Hudson (M) at her
exhibition with family at
Robina Art Gallery
6
5
93
Elena Kozhevnikova
R
ussian artist Elena Kozhevnikova characterizes her rich and
abstract mixed media paintings as her innermost impulses
and ideas made manifest in paint, pastel and collage. “It’s not me
who creates, but my subconscious,” she explains. “The deepest
corners of my soul open and burst out onto the canvas, making me
experience the feelings and emotions that were caged deep inside.”
The resulting imagery, appropriately, is redolent with visual power
and energy, and the variation from one work to the next stuns the
observant viewer.
Equally adept at working with bold colors or grayscale palettes,
Kozhevnikova weaves intricate compositions based around
repeating patterns of abstract lines and shapes that at times evoke
Cubism and the built-up forms of Abstract Expressionism. In her
most boldly colorful paintings, Kozhevnikova’s visions seem to
literally explode onto the canvas, creating images evocative of
natural subjects stretching dynamically outward. Her comparatively
more muted monochrome paintings have a practically analytical
quality, as though she is attempting to isolate some purified and
essential quality of light or form.
The aspect of her work that unites both her most saturated and
most subdued paintings is the incredible diversity of detailing each
contains. The wealth of textures and brushstrokes rewards distant
and close inspection with countless and surprising variations.
www.elena-kozhevnikova.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Elena_Kozhevnikova.aspx
Broadway
40” x 28”
Jean François Mercier
U
sing his keen eye and vivid imagination, French
photographer Jean François Mercier is able
to transform his low altitude aerial landscape shots
into unique and compelling abstract compositions
that are more painting than photograph. Focusing
on vertical perspectives of the natural environment,
Mercier captures all of the beauty and diversity of the
landscape, so that the elements of colors, lines, and
forms can be seen in the context of the terrain but
also as abstract elements standing on their own. What
results are dreamy, magical images, where much is left
to the viewer’s imagination.
What makes Mercier’s photographs so compelling
is the versatility of the images that can be perceived
within each composition. One can choose to marvel at
Arabesque Photographic Print on Fine Art Paper on Dibond
24” x 32”
the aerial view of the landscape and majesty of all the
richness that nature has to offer, or to become lost in
the abstraction of the image, finding the magic in surreal, uninhibited forms without real-life concerns. Overall, Mercier
seeks to challenge his viewers’ perception of their natural world, to find an unsuspected realism in everyday forms. As he
explains, “I am putting to the test the imagination of humans.”
www.jeanfrancois-mercier.odexpo.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Jean_Francois_Mercier.aspx
94
Warren R Mack
W
arren R Mack’s intricate ink paintings are
multidimensional in both subject and form.
In large, airy compositions, Mack stretches ink to
the height of its transparency and the deepest of
colors. Though he uses a variety of techniques, from
splatter to wet blending to the fine deployment of a
painter’s brush, no mark is made without the utmost
precision. Formally, Mack’s work vibrates with energy
and unexpected choices.
In subject matter, each painting is even more
complex. Mack’s style is abstract but not nonrepresentational. When depicting a car driving at
dusk, the tangible and the intangible are equally
represented. The vehicle is present as a collection of
colors and weight, the ghost of its metal body and
wheels visible. But just as important is the dusk —
Excavation Ink on Paper 12” x 16”
painted as patches of dark blue and black lines, as
opposed to a simple sky — and the movement of
the car — depicted as shining lines of pure white roaring across the canvas. The image is comprehensive, offering a true
experience of the scene.
Mack was born in Toronto, where he continues to live and work. In addition to the fine arts he is an accomplished architect,
and co-founder of an independent architecture firm.
www.warrenrmack.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Warren_R_Mack.aspx
Biddy Hodgkinson
I
n Biddy Hodgkinson’s paintings, the concept of decay takes on
a second life, becoming not a simple sign of decline, but rather
an invigorating, inspiring source of renewal and beauty. Hodgkinson
is fascinated by the “luminosity that exists in decay,” finding
“unexpected and often startlingly beautiful patterns” in the process
of decomposition. She combines acrylic paints with both industrial
and natural materials in her works, punctuating her palette of subtle
rust and earth tones with unexpected hints of reds and greens. The
resulting works, while muted in tone, have a unique sense of depth
and texture, a tactile quality that makes the viewer want to reach out
and touch their surfaces.
Hodgkinson does not simply allude to decay in her works, however.
She allows the process of decay to become an integral part of her
technique. Using harmful agents such as acids to eat away swathes of
color from her paintings, the artist creates works that are compelling
embodiments of the process of change, at times appearing to be
on the route to negating themselves. “My interest is the endless
metamorphic process,” she notes, and her skill at making that process
come alive gives her paintings a strong, seductive appeal.
www.biddyhodgkinson.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Biddy_Hodgkinson.aspx
2nd Lifeline Acrylic & Mixed Media on Canvas 59” x 47”
95
Fred Mou
F
red Mou’s airy acrylic paintings combine flowing, organic subject
matter with exact, mathematical techniques. Mou’s unique
background — he was trained in architecture, and is inspired by the
natural world — has led to a body of work full of juxtapositions and
thoughtful contradictions. His interests are wide, from lifelike portrayals
of people and animals to symbolic representations of wind and water.
But even the most grounded subjects are transformed into beautiful,
textile-like tableaux in Mou’s hands. The palette is gentle and malleable,
with one color often bleeding into the next, and blank space on the
canvas is effectively used as just another compositional element.
Mou compresses depth and embraces the artist’s tool of a universal,
impossible light. He filters his subjects through repetition, abstraction,
and close-up to conjure an atmosphere: the ocean becomes a collection
of stylized jellyfish, or a woman is represented as just a face among a
cloud of fabric ruffles. In these unreal visions, Mou reveals the joy of the
everyday.
Fred Mou was born in Switzerland and has traversed the terrains of
Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and the Middle East for inspiration. He
hopes to express what he calls “my optimism” in his work.
Miss Liberty Wants to Fly
Acrylic on Canvas 55” x 47”
www.fredmou.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Fred_Mou.aspx
Brenda Ness-Cooper
“E
ach time I set out to paint a scene,” Brenda Ness-Cooper
says, “the challenge for me is to capture the beautiful
image that I see in my mind.” The images that Ness-Cooper
captures depict a variety of locales — from the American
Southwest to the Mediterranean coast — but the artist creates
a unified world. “Each painting,” she notes, “tells a clear story
of what was happening at the very moment I captured the
image.” The clarity of her scenes comes from the carefully
planned elements of her technique. One is a precise sense of
line and composition. Then, within the elegant frameworks she
sets up for each painting, the artist renders a variety of textures.
Working in watercolors, she mixes the delicacy and lightness
of that medium with intense colors to bring her images to life.
The quality Ness-Cooper gets from her watercolors is the
result of a meticulous process that combines nicely with the
spontaneous, open air impression of her works. Starting by
creating sketches on paper, she works through the possibilities
of each image before rendering it on Aquabord, a watercolor
art board that she says allows her to “produce paintings with
vibrant color on a paper-like finish” — images that change the
boundaries of what watercolors can do.
Paradise
Watercolor on Board
20” x 16”
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Brenda_Ness__Cooper.aspx
96
George Ligon
“W
Water Lilly 1
Metallic Print on Paper
13” x 18.5”
herever I travel, whether at home or abroad”
says photographer George Ligon, “I try
to look for interesting images.” With a substantial
career in fashion and commercial photography,
Ligon is now applying his well-developed eye for
color and composition to images that distill the
essence of nature’s beauty in locales from Florida
to New Zealand. In these photographs, the colors
and shapes found in nature take on a formal clarity
that lifts them out of the environments in which
they are found and gives them an artistic identity
that is all their own. Printing on such materials as
stretched satin as well as photographic paper adds
a distinctive texture and presence to his images.
Ligon says that he approaches the art of photography as if he were a painter, calling the camera and lens his paintbrush,
and his eyes the canvas. Highly skilled at manipulating light and exposure to pull out the desired details of whatever he is
photographing — whether it is a single leaf or the vista of a tropical sunset — he makes images that balance the camera’s
inherent realism with the artist’s ability to depict a more personal world. His photographs, while possessing an elegant and
appealing simplicity, have a complexity and depth that give them resonance and power.
www.gligon.zenfolio.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/George_Ligon.aspx
Lynda Pogue
“W
hen a viewer stands before my work,” Lynda Pogue says, “I want
something visceral to happen to them.” Her paintings easily elicit that
kind of instinctive emotional response, using vivid colors, dynamic compositions
and an impressive array of textures to put together a vibrantly physical world.
Pogue aims for a style in which she can “make the paint glide and connect,” and
there is a spontaneity in her images that makes their surfaces come alive. She
combines that freedom with a finely developed sense of balance in works that
range from pure abstraction to still lifes and landscapes. She plays bright shades
off against darker hues to give even her most abstract paintings a solid, threedimensional feel.
Texture also assumes an important place in Pogue’s work — from the glowing
threads of paint that form the stems of flowers to the way that fields of color
are animated by her brushstrokes. While she predominantly works in acrylics,
the artist provides even more levels of texture by adding elements of collage to
some pieces, and using encaustic for others. But whatever medium she works in,
Pogue has her eye on creating a direct connection with her viewers. “My fervent
desire,” she says, “is that my work leaves them wanting more.”
www.lyndapogue.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Lynda_Pogue.aspx
Scandal
Acrylic on Canvas
48” x 24”
97
Miroir
Oil on Canvas
36” x 29”
Gossip
T
Oil on Canvas
59” x 59”
he figurative oil on canvas paintings of French artist Krzis-Lorent
FrédériqueK combine a range of artistic influences to create something
utterly new. FrédériqueK’s work has been influenced in part by Greek
sculpture and the particular ways these ancient artists had of looking at
the human body: “achieving perfect balance and serenity through a sincere
appreciation of the human form.” Although her figurative renderings are
set in modern contexts, there is still a careful attention to the basics of the
human form, to the innate symmetry and balance that underscore every
posture, every expression, every movement.
Other influences on FrédériqueK’s work include many elements that
characterized the Italian Renaissance period, including compositional
elements, the frankness of the colors, the brilliance of the paint, and the
thematic rendering of the female in a variety of contexts. She also finds
inspiration in Vermeer’s use of light, as well as in the work of the Post
Impressionists and the texture and depth they were able to infuse into
the canvas. Other instructive forces include the Abstract Expressionists
(particularly Rothko) and the Russian Constructivists (whose principles
dovetail with her own background in architecture).
To encounter a FrédériqueK painting is to be ushered into an entirely new
world in which forms are explored in new ways and every line and hue is
infused with emotive expression and meaning. Faces and bodies that reveal
a profound depth of thought and feeling are set against dreamy, sometimes
abstract backgrounds, adding an entire new level of complexity to the work.
Regardless of context, each female subject betrays a depth of emotion that
reminds us all of the truth of what it is to be human in this world.
Krzis-Lorent FrédériqueK currently lives and works in Loos, France, where she devotes her time to creating art. She draws on
her experience in teaching art and working as an art therapist.
www.frederiquek.fr
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/FrederiqueK.aspx
98
Felix Semper
C
Mascara Thoughts
Oil on Canvas
20” x 16”
uban-born, North Carolina-based artist Felix Semper portrays
strange and surreal spaces inhabited by human characters at
once fantastical and deeply empathetic. Their stylized and altered
features alternately evoke Picasso’s Cubist portraits and Egon
Schiele’s emaciated early Expressionist nudes, though Semper
tends to substitute rounded lines for those forbears’ geometric
contours and features. Many of the resulting images manage to be
simultaneously playful and sober, their loopy, rounded characters,
rendered in oil pastel or charcoal, standing out against ambiguous,
dim or empty backdrops often made up of fragments of other
bodies. There’s a palpable sense of melancholy in many of the works
that stands in stark contrast to the figures’ apparent exuberance
and Semper’s often bold palette.
The powerful symbolism of his paintings suggests many possible
interpretations, from a desire for calm in an increasingly chaotic
environment, to the universally relatable experience of being
an outsider in a new and strange place. “I find myself applying a
particular painting style depending on my mood or a particular
message I want to relate,” Semper explains. Indeed, each piece has
a very immediate emotional charge echoed in the formal play of
textures, tones and forms.
www.felixsemper.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Felix_Semper.aspx
TA (“Trygve Amundsen”)
T
A (“Trygve Amundsen”) calls his work “semiabstract.” Blending natural details into starkly graphic
environments, he creates a world that sits on the border
between abstraction and representation. Having worked
as an art director and graphic designer, TA has a keen eye
for proportion and scale, creating images that direct the
viewer’s eye and possess a clear dramatic focus. A flower
may dissolve into a field of color, or a solitary apple seem
to sit forlornly in a monochromatic landscape. “I love to add
either a dynamic movement or total melancholy into my
work,” he says, “in a manner that makes the spectator think
and live with my art.”
But the artist’s interest in crossing boundaries goes beyond
his mixture of realism and abstraction. Working mostly in
oil paints on canvas, he uses some unconventional tools to
apply those paints, including a shopping bag and a credit
card. The resulting images have a wide variety of textures,
creating a sense of depth and giving his canvases a strong
physical presence. A color palette of reds, blacks and grays
The Red Rose Oil on Canvas 39.5” x 39.5”
lends those images clarity and precision that adds to their
power. “I hate it if my art disappears on the walls,” says TA, and the strength of his images definitely precludes that.
www.trygveart.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Trygve_Amundsen.aspx
99
Fashion Forward
by Marissa Mule
Do you know what fascinated me most about Charlotte on Sex and the City? The fact that she was the director of a
gallery, and knew exactly how to dress for it. Her style wasn’t over the top, however; she played around with different
colors and textures just like a painter does. Her sophistication and love for the arts showed true to her personality and
throughout her outfit choices. If you’re an artist preparing to spend the evening at a Chelsea reception, whether your
own or someone else’s, or gallery hopping from one to another, this is something to bear in mind.
Alexander McQueen was known to have said that his clothing was an “expression of his emotional life without regard to
the person who was wearing it.” The most fashion-active time of year has finally arrived. New York offers an endless survey
of traditional, modern and contemporary
exhibitions in its lively gallery scene,
especially throughout the spring season.
The Thursday night crowd can come and
finally enjoy the fabulous weather, a glass
of wine – and of course, art.
It’s officially that time of year again – the
time of year to put away the pea-coats
and knee-high boots, and pull out the
wedged sandals and sunglasses. As the
gallery scene in Chelsea continues to
prosper, so does the eclectic fashion and
style that come along with it. However, if
you’re not on top of your trend forecasting
this season, I’m here to help.
Coco Chanel decreed, “Wear metallic
shoes – they function like neutrals, but are more interesting than black.” When it comes to the art world, this quote surely
rings true in what to wear and what not to wear to a gallery or museum opening. The art world is a creative environment
that bleeds emotion and expression, so it’s important to reflect your surroundings by looking like a walking piece of art.
New York Fashion Week saw a lot of metallic-finish fabrics used as accents or for entire outfits. Michael Kors is at the
forefront when it comes to incorporating metal accessories to dresses, his focus being on belts. You can pair a belt with a
dress or flowy silk blouse, and what you get in the end is a powerful and funky look.
One plus about the art world scene is
that every trend is different. Explore flea
markets, vintage and thrift shops, as well
as your mother and grandmother’s attic
and jewelry boxes. Have a go-to Little
Black Dress, as it can be both dressed up
and down. But, maybe the simple LBD
is a little too cliché for your style. So,
what do you wear then to an art gallery
or museum opening? Simple. You can
wear a variation on the little black dress
theme. This season, color blocking is a
huge trend on the fashion forefront, and
perfect for an opening.
As the well-known “sack dress” evolved
in the 1960’s, Yves Saint Laurent realized
that the form of the dress was ideal for color blocking. Knowing the flat planes of the 1960’s canvases achieved by
contemporary artist Mondrian, Saint Laurent made history in creating this artist-inspired piece of fashion.
If you’re a fan of artist Keith Haring, take a walk on the graphic side, as modesty is gone for both women and men. The
100
slouchy, cool-girl shorts that were all over the New York runways this season are perfect for every girl who never felt like
she could pull off those cheek-baring cutoffs so beloved on every social media site. They’re ultra chic, gallery and museumfriendly, and flattering; seriously, what’s not to love? For male gallery-goers, choose your favorite color out of the 64-pack
of Crayola crayons and wear it – vibrant neons and loud colors are a huge hit this season and never seem to disappoint.
Wearing bold colors allows you to light up the art scene, creating an inviting aura around yourself to seem approachable.
If you really hate suits, wearing something you feel
comfortable in, which looks both modish and stylish,
is also perfect for the occasion.
However, the most important thing in creating
a statement for yourself in the art world is your
personality and interaction with potential buyers.
Here, you would want to wear something that makes
YOU feel good. It is more then okay to buy a new
outfit for an opening – something that expresses
your unique style and relates to your own artwork
in some way. Allow yourself to appear approachable
by making your wardrobe inspiring and attention
grabbing with its modern aesthetic. Remember,
fashion and art intersect, and play a huge role in our
daily lives. Fashion, like art, is forever changing and
timeless, and celebrates youth and diversity. Dressing
for a gallery and/or museum opening is only limited
by the depth of your imagination. Peace, love, art,
and fashion.
101
Graham McBride
G
raham McBride’s paintings bridge the worlds of representation
and abstraction. “I am particularly interested in the idea of place,”
he says, “and in the different ways it is created and conceived.” His
images successfully capture the essence of the places they depict, but
the artist’s approach moves from the world of depiction and into the
realm of pure form and hue.
McBride has an exceptional eye for color. His palette runs a wide range
— from the subtle tones he finds in oil paints to the vividness he draws
from acrylics. And while his lines and brushstrokes have an appealing
sense of freedom, he successfully incorporates that freedom into
carefully controlled compositions. “I engage with concepts of balance
in its many guises,” he notes. “What we see and what we can imagine.”
www.grahammcbrideart.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Graham_McBride.aspx
Untitled 125
P
Turkana Girl With Fish
Oil on Canvas
18” x 18”
28” x 20”
Gaby Hahn
art intimate portraiture, part living document of the people of
the Omo River and Lake Turkana basin, Gaby Hahn’s paintings
are vibrant, sensitive studies of a little-known region. Hahn paints the
cultures of southern Ethiopia, northern Kenya, and Sudan with an eye
finely tuned to ritual and social structure. Her work is straightforward
in presentation — tightly framed groups of people, use of the classic
bust format, emphasis on shape and line — but her expert use of detail
grounds the work in its unique setting. Hahn is careful to include details
of dress, objects, and most importantly, the beauty of the landscape; the
most prominent player in these pastoralist societies.
Gaby Hahn splits her time between California and Kenya. She works in
both acrylic and oil and all the proceeds from the sale of her artwork
benefit the Mugie school, based on the ranch she and her husband own
in Kenya.
www.gabyhahn.org
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Gaby_Hahn.aspx
Sylvia Ditchburn PhD
A
plein air painter who takes full advantage of the astounding terrain
of her native Australia, Sylvia Ditchburn’s paintings capture the
landscape at its most glowing. Ditchburn is interested in views both
large and small: the shades of red in a range of desert rock formations,
and every wrinkle on a single palm tree trunk, blowing in the wind.
With a vivid palette and quick, decisive brushstrokes, each part of
nature is whipped into life. Ditchburn’s work shows the vitality and
personality that exists in the land without any relation to humans. It is
not ornamental or functional, but moving to its own rhythm.
Ditchburn currently lives in tropical North Queensland and considers
her passion for nature a motivational force in her work. She works in
acrylic and gouache.
www.sylviaditchburn.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Sylvia_Ditchburn_PhD.
aspx
Tropical Pandanus
Giclee Print on Canvas
102
31.5” x 25.2”
Fahim Somani
A
Script 1
Acrylic & Resin on Canvas
40” x 30”
rt’s function as a connective tissue bringing disparate cultures
together is crucial to the artistic practice of Pakistani-born,
Houston-based painter Fahim Somani. His technique finds him mixing
the visual lexicon of traditional Islamic calligraphy with a contemporary
sensibility to create works that are at once reverent and fresh. His
fluency in calligraphic technique allows him to experiment with acrylic
paints and other materials. He creates bold-hued, thickly-layered
compositions that alternately focus attention on his elegant lettering,
or let the text slip in and out of the surrounding abstract forms. This
flexibility in style and palette is also apparent in Somani’s calligraphy
itself, which ranges from ornate and classical to sparse, modern and
geometric.
The artist’s mastery of the traditional Islamic characters helps make
the paintings accessible to well-versed and unfamiliar viewers alike. He
manages to focus our attention on the text while allowing it to function
as a potentially abstract component of each work. This use of characters
as something both legible and pictorial, which evokes Basquiat, lets
Somani explore different typographic styles while also permitting the
calligraphy to occasionally dissolve into a field of abstract lines and
colors. Thus, his paintings address the dual viewership attracted to his
work’s form and its content.
www.fahimsomani.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Fahim_Somani.aspx
Patricia Neden
P
atricia Neden’s evocative oil abstracts explore nature in its wildest,
most vital state. Neden’s primary inspiration is the landscape around
her: the skies, forests, stones, plains, and waters of Canada. She is a
close observer of form, presenting sweeping lands with an awareness
of details such as a single tuft of grass or branch of a tree. Neden’s
framing can be so tight that it becomes a method of abstraction in
itself, as when the silhouette of a flower is cropped out and only the
pattern of undulating pinks across the petals remains.
In her purest abstractions, she evokes the warmth of sunlight or the
scent of a plant through a tangle of paint dabs. The rise and fall of
the thick oil paint on the painting’s surface is a crucial element in
Neden’s construction of a world on canvas. But her sharpest and most
enthralling observations are those of color; this is an artist who can
extract sky blue from a stone wall and lime green from a ray of sunlight,
and still manage to create something wholly real.
Patricia Neden was born in Lachine, Quebec and continues to live and
work in Canada. She also silkscreens her paintings and has practiced
etching and linocut, among other techniques.
www.patricianeden.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Patricia_Neden.aspx
Rockface
Oil on Canvas
60” x 40”
103
Jean Louis Pauly
F
rench artist Jean Louis Pauly
creates sublime, moving landscapes
that are at once figurative in scope
yet bordering on the surreal. Using a
distinct combination of powerful lines,
mystical light, and transparent color,
Pauly transforms recognizable Parisian
monuments and everyday terrains
into something quite extraordinary.
By employing a unique range of
techniques and mediums, he breathes
life into his subjects, creating a vision
and ambiance that is entirely new. What
results are images characterized by
juxtapositions, strong impressionistic
elements, and experiential vibrancy.
Born in the countryside in the South of L’arc de Triomphe au Printemps Acrylic & Crayon on Canvas
France, Pauly has long been entranced
and inspired, like masters such as
Cezanne, Picasso, and Dali before
him, by magical light and powerful
color. He is attracted to both natural
and manmade subjects around which
he mixes elements of the strange
and surreal. Often one finds scenes
centered around a monument of Paris
painted almost transparently on a
colorful foreground.
In his work, the artist has developed
an innovative process that allows him
to stage subjects, colors, and materials
in unusual and intriguing ways. Central
to his style is the creation of strong
contrasts between colors, lines and Le Mont St Michel Acrylic & Crayon on Canvas 8” x 16”
form to create a compelling impression.
He has also developed a transparent
glazing technique applied with a knife
to add atmosphere and depth to each
image. The inclusion of new mediums
such as crayon in his acrylic on canvas
pieces creates complexity and interest
within familiar forms.
In each painting, Pauly works to
move away from his original subject
in an effort to escape the strictly
figurative and transform the image
into something that is much more. In
his works, the viewer is invited into “a
maze of color, depth, transparency, and
movement.” Within each piece there
exists an imaginative space, where a
little bit of the magical can be found in
Le Sacré Cœur Acrylic on Canvas 16” x 31.5”
the real.
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Jean_Louis_Pauly.aspx
104
12” x 24”
Neema Lal
T
he playful spirit of Neema Lal’s art comes alive in a lively dance of
color, as figures, spirals, and geometric designs emerge from within
a raucous explosion of pigment and mark. As she paints, Lal develops a
fluid spontaneity in her abstractions, fueled by an expressive freedom
and vitality. These vibrantly rich and meditative works draw inspiration
from Indian culture, Picasso, and Danish abstract artists, expressing
the limitless possibilities and wonder of existence. The artist builds
her works in a variety of mediums, combining acrylic paints, collage,
and mixed media on canvas with an intuitive and looping motion.
Born in the Himalayan mountains and raised in a desert region, Lal
now lives in Gurgaon , India, receiving widespread exposure for her
art as she exhibits throughout India and Europe, and more recently
worldwide.
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Neema_Lal.aspx
Camac
Acrylic & Collage on Canvas
39” x 23”
M
Marty Maehr
arty Maehr works in oils on canvas, and his style makes the
most of the richness of color and subtlety of shade and tone
that the medium provides. “My hope,” he says, “is to find a true blue, a
deep red, a heartfelt orange.” In Maehr’s paintings, all of those shades
appear, infused with light in a way that brings stained-glass windows
to mind. But his free sense of line and dynamic sense of movement
take his images into another realm.
While each image has its basis in the real world — a bird, a tree,
a wellspring — Maehr transforms each subject, breaking it up into
separate areas of color. The resulting works communicate the artist’s
ties to the natural world and illustrate his distinctive sense of form,
hue and composition.
www.maehrcreations.net
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Marty_Maehr.aspx
Free Spirit Rooster
Oil on Canvas 48” x 24”
Micheline De Oliveira
M
icheline De Oliveira’s ethereal acrylic and mixed media work
diffuses color, light, and form to create abstracts that dare the
viewer to define their content. De Oliveira’s colors are alternately
dabbed, scraped, or allowed to blossom softly across the canvas,
resembling anything from a rain-streaked window to a colossal
nebula. Forms are organic and spontaneous; the palette follows the
logic of natural light. The paintings could depict images, emotions,
energy, events — their tonal combinations are infinitely complicated.
De Oliveira’s skill is to capture so much that we recognize as truth, yet
still allow for wonder and mystery.
De Oliveira was born in Luxembourg, where she continues to live and
work today. She appreciates both the making and viewing of art as an
antidote to stress.
www.konschtportal.lu/gal-m-de-oliveira.html
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Micheline_De_Oliveira.
aspx
Zoo
Acrylic & Collage on Canvas
31.5” x 24”
105
Zoë
I
n her mixed media paintings, Australian, Taiwanese-born
artist Zoë seeks beauty in a variety of subjects, from
female forms, animals, and landscapes, to more abstract
compositional elements. Using, ink, oils, pencils, and
a variety of other materials, she traces the beauty of the
physical while capturing the wildness and rawness of the
internal human experience.
For Zoë, painting is a fusion of paint, canvas, and mental
imagery, enabling the creation of another elevated reality
as she allows the image to evolve as it may. Completed in
a single sitting, these paintings contain a freshness and
immediacy not often seen in the fine art world, as well as
a vibrant life force that erupts from the canvas. Colors are
muted and highly emotive, highlighting an implicit tension
between geometrical and organic shapes and forms.
Alongside her painting, Zoë also writes poetry which both
echoes and inspires her visual work, composing at night in
that mystical and subliminal time between wakefulness and
sleep. For Zoë, her paintings and writings spontaneously
express themselves across the page and the canvas, evoking
the deep internal mysteries of the human spirit. “For me, art
is a process whereby some kind of magic takes place. The
canvas is my confessional, a waking dream where I am able
to both create and experience my state of reality at the same
time… It is something that comes from very deep inside me.”
Based in Sydney, Australia, where she also works as
an attorney, Zoë is a rising art star, both locally and
internationally. She has had several solo exhibitions (see
page 93 for a photo of her solo Sydney exhibition this
year) and her paintings form part of private and corporate
collections throughout Australia and Malaysia. She was Delicate Mixed Media on Canvas 40” x 30”
the selected artist of 2013 for the annual “Artist Series” by
Malaysian fashion designers Shen-Tel and Sereni, and her paintings were reproduced on exclusive design textiles. Her
work will be at Agora Gallery from October 29 to November 19, with the opening reception on November 7. Don’t Hide the Madness, Follow Your Inner Moonlight
Oil on Canvas 30” x 40”
Zoë
www.artbyzoe.org
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Zoe_Paterson.aspx
106
Tricia Kaman
T
he portrait and figurative paintings of Tricia Kaman are strong
in detail and rich in emotive expression. Working directly from
live models, Kaman has developed an artistic process by which she
gathers information via an “unspoken dialog” between painter and
subject. In this way, she is able to glean glimpses of that person’s soul,
resulting in paintings that capture the unique personal, physical, and
spiritual qualities inherent in every human.
Compositional elements add emotional depth to Kaman’s renderings
of the figure. She is masterful at using light and shadow to create
ambience and expressionistic appeal. Above all, Kaman is able to
capture beauty and elegance, using the dimensions of the physical
body – a choice made all the more powerful and complex by the
strong energy that emanates from each subject. As she explains,
“Working with living models adds a sacred dimension to my painting.
It allows me to witness the beauty of the human form and the divine
element of the human soul.”
Tricia Kaman’s work has won awards in both national and international
competitions, and has been featured in major art publications. She
also served for eight years as the Ohio Ambassador for the Portrait
Society of America.
Brenda’s Miraculous Medal
Oil on Canvas
48” x 36”
www.triciakaman.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Tricia_Kaman.aspx
Yukihiro Murai
Y
ukihiro Murai’s surreal and otherworldly aesthetic results from
a confluence of formative influences, including Renaissance
paintings, traditional Japanese art, and contemporary Manga comics.
His imagery therefore maintains a historical tenor while also being very
modern, juxtaposing signs of divergent periods such as calligraphy and
neon light lettering, mythical creatures with cartoon-like characters,
and works in monochrome tones with others that ripple in glowing,
saturated hues.
Through his dazzling compositions, Murai taps into a very powerful and
evocative modern notion of being simultaneously in the past, present
and future, of feeling the influence of history all the while hurtling into
the unknown. His enigmatic digital prints are typically structured around
a central figure surrounded by secondary forms and constellation-like
patterns of jewels, eyes, leaves and flowers. This rich, information-filled
imagery fuses such temporally and culturally disjointed elements into
complex and endlessly fascinating works whose incredible levels of
detail add immeasurably to their immediate appeal. He creates works
that are both playful and engaging by bringing the irreverent humor of
Pop art into dialogue with the mysticism of traditional calligraphy. The
densely packed and precisely rendered layers of visual information in
Murai’s prints offer an immersive and unpredictable journey through
time.
bosats
Digital Print on Metallic Paper
14.5” x 10”
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Yukihiro_Murai.aspx
107
Jerry Anderson
J
erry Anderson’s arresting acrylic paintings meld the intimate and the
majestic to create images that are more vision than reality. Anderson
pares down sweeping desert landscapes and monumental figure
studies to a few graphic contours and primary colors, with a flattened
perspective and an expertly balanced composition of warm and cool.
His unique spiritual atmosphere, at once endearing and grand, comes
from his personal approach of combining what he calls “female and
masculine energies — the female through curvilinear and flowing forms
and the male through bold colors and strong contrasts.” In this way he
creates a peak that arcs like a woman’s back, and a figure that bestrides
the world like a colossus.
Anderson lives in northern California. His work has been exhibited across
the United States and in Europe.
www.jerryanderson-art.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Jerry_Anderson.aspx
Shifting Sands
Acrylic on Canvas
24” x 36”
Anne-Marie Crosby
A
nne-Marie Crosby says that the world in her paintings is “real
enough so that the viewer recognizes what he is looking at and
impressionistic enough to feed my soul.” Crosby’s landscapes are
dominated by skies in an astonishing array of colors. Each sky is a mix
of shades that she orchestrates to create a feeling of depth, air and
space. The wispiness of clouds, the subtleties of light playing across the
horizon and the areas that seem to recede into the distance all come
vividly to life.
Working mostly in oils on panel, Crosby uses the intensity of oil paints
with a sure hand. But she says that formal effort alone cannot explain
her technique, which she calls “as unconsciously accomplished when I
work as is breathing.”
Infinity 1
Oil on Panel
36” x 36”
www.anne-mariecrosby.ca
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Anne__Marie_Crosby.aspx
Julie Fletcher
A
ustralian photographer Julie Fletcher captures the exquisite essence
of nature through her electrically-colored photographs. Allowing her
innate sense of adventure to direct her to her subjects, Fletcher follows
her spirit throughout all the corners of Australia in order to create her
vivid, arrestingly evocative landscape photographs. Saturated, glowing
colors permeate these works, with the dynamic energy of the wild
made palpable and alluring. Using a digital camera, low light and long
exposures, Fletcher creates her masterpieces out of a deeply reverent
respect for nature. “My passion for photography centers on my love for
Australia, adventure and the great outdoors,” she explains.
Julie Fletcher has been a professional photographer for many years and
currently works as a Getty Images photographer. She has exhibited her
artistic photographs throughout her native Australia, where she currently
lives and works.
www.juliefletcherphotography.com.au
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Julie_Fletcher.aspx
108
Milky Way
Photograph on Glossy Paper
12” x 20”
Brady Steward
“G
etting the work to speak,” Brady Steward
says, “you really have to take it to the edge
and then some.” Steward’s innovative art, which
encompasses glass sculptures and mixed media
works that incorporate wood and industrial
materials, provides vivid examples of his boundarybreaking philosophy. His sculptures combine
elemental intensity with a freedom of approach,
delicacy of touch and a well-developed eye for color
and construction to create a highly original world. “I
like the sculpture to be fluid and abstract,” he notes,
though his abstractions have a strong physical
quality. His interest in water and fluidity is tied to the
physicality of the human body (“veins look like rivers
and arroyos,” he says), resulting in pieces that seem
to exist on several different levels at once.
Net Series Mixed Media 32.5” x 32” x 24.5”
Steward’s pieces in glass give that material an
unusual degree of weight and density by letting
dark colors dominate, with only occasional hints of light and transparency peeking through. He uses a wide variety of
techniques, including sculpture molds and cast glass as well as free-form and spontaneous blown glass. His mixed media
pieces deftly mix a variety of textures and shapes. But whatever technique or materials he uses, the artist exhibits a raw
power that takes him, and the viewer, into uncharted territory.
www.bradysteward.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Brady_Steward.aspx
Fernando Braune
T
he artistic process of Brazilian artist Fernando
Braune may begin with photographs, but the
work that goes into each piece involves much more
than conventional photography. Capturing each
shot — many of which portray street scenes from
Rio de Janeiro, where he is based — is only the
beginning; thereafter he creates black and white
prints of his images, which he transforms using
watercolors, crayons and pastels. He then digitizes
the resulting mixed media works, transforming and
tweaking them further, before printing the resulting
compositions on 100% cotton paper.
Braune’s images combine multiple photographs
and other visual elements for an effect that is
Element Y Photograph on Hahnemühle Paper 20” x 28”
distinctly urban and contemporary, echoing his
multidisciplinary process. Overlaid fragments of photos superimpose street scenes, architectural details, portraits, and
more, to which his painted and pastel modifications add surprising bursts of color and bold chunks of text. The interactions
between these disparate elements are made all the more dramatic by Braune’s choice of palette, which varies radically
with black and white sections that approach a chiaroscuro effect evocative of film noir, while other areas glow with bright,
saturated tones. The finished works, hybrids of digital and analog, modern and traditional methods, are full of sharp
contrasts and disjointed formal elements, yet achieve an original and attractive balance.
www.fernandobraune.com.br
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Fernando_Braune.aspx
109
Image by Catherine Gaillard Perez
New York City: Evoking the Muse
The Muse - she was once the female platonic ideal, a deity, a sage, a goddess; and for hundreds of years the blessing
of a Muse was essential for the creation of art. For many artists, the Muse is alive and well, infusing the psyche with a
gust of the divine, to inspire not imitation but new insights. For many years Agora Gallery’s Director Angela di Bello has
privately addressed the issue of new art forms with artists from every corner of the world. This dialogue has culminated
in her theory that today’s muse is often either a physical place or a place in the heart. Over the past ten years artists
have discussed with her the inspiration that becomes manifest when they are exposed to the spirit and energy of New
York City. In ‘Evoking the Muse’ artists share their experiences of the city. Angela would like to thank Judy, Wendy,
Therese, Tatiana, Anna and Bharati for their evocative and powerful contributions, and encourage others to share their
experiences with us for the November 2013 issue of ARTisSpectrum.
110
Judy Talacko
“I was awed and touched by the resilience, strength and respect felt at Ground Zero.”
In four days we visited the Chelsea Market, Ground Zero, Staten Island, Times Square, walked the streets of New York, and went to
the Top of the Rock on the evening of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting. We went to the Picasso exhibition at the Guggenheim.
We also spent much time exploring Central Park, and, of course, attended the splendid exhibition opening at Agora Gallery on the
twenty-ninth of November. We also saw two shows on Broadway, The Heiress and Nice Work if You Can Get It. The latter is strongly
recommended! Brilliant production, I loved it. I have been greatly touched by this journey. I found myself trying to take as many photos as possible, including photos featuring the
United States flag. The biggest impressions on me have been the friendliness of the people, which started from the minute we boarded
the plane in London. I have been emotionally moved over and over. I was awed and touched by the resilience, strength and respect felt
at Ground Zero. The Freedom Tower is inspirational, as it rises beside the footprints of the Twin Towers. From the Remembrance Park, it
rises, giving hope and faith for the future and, for me, emphasizes the strength of the nation based on the liberty and fraternity which
is the hallmark of the USA. You can see I am greatly moved by it all.
It was an amazing four days and I hope I shall return again. Many thanks to all at Agora once again for adding to the enjoyment of our stay.
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Judy_Talacko.aspx
111
“I could have sat in the great lobby all day staring at the magnificent ceilings.”
Wendy Carmichael Bauld
My exhibition “Degrees of Abstraction” with so many other talented artists was going to be the highlight of a trip to New York I had
been planning with my husband, daughter and friends, for months. We decided to stay at “The Plaza” which was an experience in and
of itself with its ornate architecture, design and ambiance of an era where many great people have stayed. I could have sat in the great
lobby all day staring at the magnificent ceilings… and wow - they must hold so many secrets - if they could only speak about the people
who have walked beneath them, they’d certainly have a story or two to tell!
The night before my exhibition we were thrilled to be able to go to see Letterman. What an experience because on television The
Letterman Show, in what was formerly the old Ed Sullivan theater, appears to be this massive place, but once inside, it’s actually much
smaller, which makes for a much more intimate setting. We found this fascinating, especially the array of lighting, camera, audio /
video equipment which looked chaotic and unorganized, but once the show went “live” the production came together like a fine tuned
orchestra. Dave was sharp, warm and welcoming and as always, I found his quick wit quite entertaining. After the theater was emptied,
we were truly thrilled to be able to go up on stage for a bit of a tour. Then we checked out the old “Green Room” with photos displayed
of many other famous stars from the past. It was truly a walk down history lane. We even had a few minutes for a photo op. My
husband sat in “Dave’s chair” and I guess you could say I was his “guest” sitting in the chair beside him. Very surreal, but what a thrill!
The following night was my opening reception at Agora Gallery. I truly am in awe of these amazing people, who I call my New York
family. They are supportive, articulate and each one top notch in their particular field. In other words, they know their stuff! Their
constant guidance, knowledge and expertise helps all of us as artists to fulfill our dreams, and to be the best we can be. The Agora
team were truly thrilled to see us succeed and just as thrilled to be of service to not only artists, but the other end of the spectrum
of designers, and professionals who may be in need of the many services that they provide. It’s all a win-win situation, and, from my
exhibit in New York, I will take away a renewed perspective on how I will portray my appreciation for this experience in my work. My
experience has been life-changing, and New York cannot help but be a part of that influence. Agora Gallery, your product is art, your
strength is your people! Many thanks!
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Wendy_Carmichael__Bauld.aspx
112
Therese Obergottsberger
“I could feel the past, present and future of this wonderful city”
I have lived in small communities in Washington my whole life. Hearing stories about New York, my experience was one
of fascination. The city has a vibration that hit me as soon as I came out on 34th Street from Penn Station. I could feel the
past, present and future of this wonderful city and everyone’s hopes and dreams. I was interested in the real New York,
the small communities and how people lived in this vertical city. I was fortunate to be able to stay with a young family with
two children. I was inspired by the fact that they have the world at their fingertips and so many opportunities at hand just
by stepping out their door. They also have a closeness - each minute spent together is cherished. On the plane, I met a
gentleman who was an engineer and helped build the Twin Towers. He had just laid off two hundred people a couple of
days before the tragedy, and was in a meeting at a building next door and saw it happen. He has never been back to the
site, which I understand; I lost my son on the same day a year after the tragedy, but I had to go and pay my respects. I had
every emotion there: anger, disbelief, and then pride hit me. This city is a symbol to the world, which makes it America. It
is a symbol of everything we as Americans believe in: freedom to express ourselves in so many different ways. I was impressed with the way the city flows so effortlessly, it seems, but in reality everyone works together to make that happen.
From the NYPD to the street clean up crews to the venders, if I needed anything, all I had to do was ask. Thank you to
all the people who made my first experience in New York a great one, from the gentleman who helped me with my first
subway ticket purchase, to the TSA Agent who took her job seriously but smiled beautifully when she saw how long my
name was, and to everyone at Agora Gallery - you gave me my chance to fulfill my dream.
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Therese_Obergottsberger.aspx
113
“everything begins here in New York!”
MY MUSE IS NEW YORK!
This was my very first time in New York, and I have to say that I absolutely loved its never-ending vibrant energy, elegant and chic,
contrasting yet harmonious architectural style of older brick buildings and modern glorious skyscrapers, bright street lights, cultural
diversity and of course its well known art scene.
New York is a Muse that influences art all over the world: it inspires, supports, sustains and gives birth to new artistic concepts. In other
words - everything begins here in New York!
My first collective exhibition at Agora Gallery brought me here, and I had an incredible opportunity to explore the city. It was hard to
believe that Hurricane Sandy was here not so long ago. I am sure it wasn’t easy, but New Yorkers, with their great spirit and appreciation
for this city, brought it back to its best in no time!
Broadway, theater, museums, Central Park and 5th Avenue and many more of New York’s alluring tourist attractions invite you into an
unforgettable journey. I loved it! I also had an amazing opportunity to see the art of Edward Munch, Pablo Picasso, Gustav Klimt, Marc
Chagall and Wassily Kandinsky at MoMA. Seeing these works in person was an incredibly mesmerizing and memorable experience - a
highlight of my trip.
I hope to return to New York in the near future to join artists from all over the world for another collective exhibition at Agora Gallery,
and to explore even more of New York’s fine art scene.
Agora Gallery really impressed me! It’s team gave so much thought, care and attention to smallest details that went into representing
each artist from all over the world in this fabulous city! Talented and highly professional, they exceeded my expectations and went above
and beyond to make this magic happen! Thank you Agora Gallery!
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Tatiana_Davidov_Romo.aspx
114
Anna Narday
“I started seeing the city that would inspire me to paint in a way I had not done in years”
I traveled to New York City in the fall of 2011 to celebrate a birthday. We planned a visit to the MOMA, the Metropolitan Museum of
Art, a night at Birdland jazz club, and plenty of good cuisine. I guess you could say our trip was all pretty stereotypical for a weekend in
the Big Apple. Seeing great art, hearing great music and eating great food are all so easy to do in New York City! When visiting the city,
it’s hard not to feel as though you already know the city, as films, television and music have all influenced my impressions. Our itinerary
for the trip read like a page out of a guide book, and I suppose all these things inspired me as an artist when I started painting from
pictures I had taken during my visit. However, the true inspiration was the city itself. In a spur of the moment decision, we took a tour
of the city on one of the Yellow Bus Line tours, and there on the upper deck of a double decker bus, I started seeing the city that would
inspire me to paint in a way I had not done in years. It was a brilliant day. Sunny, cloudless blue skies and the incredible architecture of
old and new, both modest and ostentatious, stood out in stark relief at times and quietly drew my eye at other times. Iconic images of
New York comfortably rub shoulders with ordinary life, and hold their own with recent contemporary designs: towering skyscrapers that
make you dizzy as you put your head straight back to take in their precipitous heights, the majesty of the Brooklyn Bridge standing like
an ancient gateway, ready to rebuff all foes if necessary, and the Neo-Gothic beauty of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The ride through New
York, left me breathless at times. Block after block offered up the most beautiful or sometimes jarring images: the quiet, untold story of
an open doorway in a field of red brick, or the bisected, distorted image of a building of stone reflected by a tower of glass.
I took over 100 pictures on that trip and I could have taken more. When I went through them at home, I found a handful of photos
that captured the light, color, line and shadows that inspired my recent series Views. The paintings I’ve done and continue to do are
not true representational images of New York; rather, I hope they capture the excitement, wonder and diversity of this incredible city. It
was surprising to me that the most touristy thing we did yielded the most wonderful views of a city I love. New York is like that: open
yourself to what it has to offer and you will be amazed at how it affects, and in some cases, changes, you.
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Anna_Narday.aspx
115
“You wish that you had your art materials and could paint all that you see”
Bharati Sagar
Back to New York after ten years, but the thrill is still the same as the first time! Lovely weather! There’s a chill in the air alright, but once
you have your coat on you are ready to hit the streets.
You wish that you had your art materials and could paint all that you see, but time is short, so you just take in all the colors, and make
a mental note of all the picturesque scenes that you are going to sketch, once home.
At Agora Gallery in Chelsea, my exhibition opened, and it was so wonderful to meet other artists from distant parts of the world, and to
have the opportunity to know them and their individual styles of working. At the same time there was a Canadian show and a solo show
by a Japanese artist. At least a hundred art connoisseurs, artists and art lovers thronged the gallery. They strolled around taking in the
beautiful show and there were words of appreciation and queries floating around.
On day two, a short visit to the gallery again and a walk in the Chelsea art district area revealed more galleries catering to art old and
new.
From there it was off to try some ethnic food restaurants in the neighborhood. It was indeed surprising to see that most of the patrons
here were not Indian. The food was as good as back home in India!
The Statue Of Liberty was to be the next stop. The ferries were all booked so I missed going up close for a better look and had to be
satisfied with a long distance image and some photographs with a miniscule vision of the statue in the background.
The later part of the evening was spent at the Strand bookstore to browse the huge array of books on art. You name it and they had it!
Once there one encountered a totally cosmopolitan lot of people. On one side there was a group chanting ‘Hare Rama, Hare Krishna’
in their meager kurtas and dhoti in the chilly weather with gusty winds blowing our caps away. On the other side there was a fortune
teller from far off Africa. There she sat, a majestic figure, gazing at something that looked like a crystal glass, foretelling her predictions
to a young hopeful listening intently. There was also a young lady on stilts giving out pamphlets for an upcoming program in town.
All in all it was a memorable experience, but one would have to visit a few more times to get the whole picture. New York is a huge town
thronging with life twenty-four seven!
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Bharati_Sagar.aspx
116
Elena Shorokhova-Gayun
East . Harem . East Bazaar Diptych
Oil & Mixed Media on Canvas
39.5” x 118”
I
n her oil and mixed media paintings, Russian artist
Elena Shorokhova-Gayun combines decorative
surfaces with figurative and abstract elements
to create multi-faceted images rich in visual
complexity and symbolic depth. Compositions
lend a sense of balance and order, accentuated
by a masterful use of color meant to enhance the
pervading sense of pattern that characterizes her
work. What results is a distinctive original style
that merges bright colors and a strong use of
geometric line and shape to create a unique art
form blending the past with both the present and
the future.
Shorokhova-Gayun draws on a range of artistic
influences to define and expand her work,
including the more modern Op-art and Art Deco
styles, as well as the tile art of the 15th through
19th centuries. Yet what really makes ShorokhovaGayun’s paintings stand out is her use of light.
Using a rare technique that ensures her paintings
look beautiful in diverse lighting, she is able to
capture subtle shifts of light in a more decorative
piece or the bold glare of the sun. In each image,
the illumination seems to come from within.
Shorokhova-Gayun’s images are replete with
symbolic elements, giving them deep meaning
and rendering them full of emotive power. Her Elena Shorokhova-Gayun
ornamental compositions draw from a variety of
sources, including fantastic, mythological, and even grotesque creatures, to majestic lions and more traditional birds, fish,
and woodland animals. Elements of heraldry and the ancient traditions of the nobility are woven throughout each piece,
lending an air of antiquity and history to the overall effect.
Elena Shorokhova-Gayun currently lives and works in Moscow, Russia. Her surname Shorokhova has been passed down to
her through three generations of Russian artists.
www.rustleart.ru
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Elena_Shorokhova__Gayun.aspx
117
Uriu Veselik
Village
Oil on Canvas
16” x 20”
River in the Village
Oil on Cardboard
15” x 18”
R
ussian painter Uriu Veselik creates compelling, memorable
visual images as energetic as they are beautiful. Working
primarily in oil in a style defined by a fascination with texture and
color, Veselik captures a variety of subjects, from figurative portraits
and nudes, to expansive landscapes and intimate glimpses of the
details of nature. Applying thick layers of color characterized by an
intensity of brushstroke, Veselik lends a physicality to his paintings
that transforms the two-dimensional surface into an expansive
space of three-dimensional depth.
A hallmark of Veselik’s work is the degree of movement and barely
harnessed energy contained in each piece. As the viewer confronts
the painting, the eye cannot help but be engaged in constant motion
as it attempts to absorb the many facets and layers captured within
each sophisticated composition. Even the areas of shadow provide
little respite, as they are filled with unexpected hues and tones.
What results are vibrant compositions that seem almost alive.
Veselik has been influenced by a number of artists, including Klimt,
Monet and Hodler, and like these artists, he is able to combine great
visual beauty with a distinct profundity of meaning. A boldness of
color, richness of texture, and complexity of form come together
to expand the elemental visual characteristics of his subject and
also to explore the deeper significances hidden within. There is an
element of searching contained in each piece, as though Veselik is
attempting to penetrate beyond the surface to see what there is to
be uncovered and perhaps unearth those latent energies that so
often go unseen. Regardless of whether the painting depicts the
female form or a forgotten landscape, these works are rife with
meaning, inspiring the viewer to look a little deeper: within the
painting and perhaps within the self as well.
www.vesselik.ru
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Uriu_Veselik.aspx
118
Winter Park
Oil on Canvas
20” x 14”
Sonal Raje
D
iscovering and creating harmony within the complexity of her
paintings, Sonal Raje delves into an inner emotional landscape
filled with turmoil and wonder. These expressive abstractions open a
dialog in color, finding freedom in the fluidity of the brushstrokes as
the artist celebrates the unexpected turns her art develops. Working on
paper and canvases with a variety of tools and techniques, Raje builds
her surfaces in acrylic paints, allowing her intuition to direct her mark in
contrasting layers of pigment and texture.
After earning her diploma in Applied Art from the Sophia Polytechnic in
Mumbai, India, Raje began her career as a graphic designer. Now living
in Guelph, Canada and working as a professional artist, she exhibits her
art globally in both solo and group shows throughout Canada, Europe,
and India.
www.sonalraje.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Sonal_Raje.aspx
Downpour 2
Acrylic on Paper
20” x 26”
T
atiana Davidov Romo uses acrylics, oils and mixed media to create
atmospheric, impressionistic visions of the world that cause viewers
to pause and take note that they are looking at something extraordinary.
Her primary mission is to intrigue viewers. “I want to make you look, to
make you think, to make you question,” she explains, engagingly. “My
intention is to evoke emotion in the observer, for you to be moved, for
you to be touched and unforgettably affected by what you see.” The
artist achieves this by incorporating unusual shapes, raised textures,
color, and 3D effects that come together to form a memorable whole.
Tatiana Davidov Romo was born in Russia, and she moved to Canada
after graduating from college. Her Eastern European heritage has shaped
her perspective and influenced her work.
Dream Escape
Acrylic on Canvas
50” x 44”
www.tatianadavidov.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Tatiana_Davidov_Romo.
aspx
Fabrizio Valle’
F
abrizio Valle’ paints with oils, acrylics and watercolor to create
intense, colorful, dreamlike images that lead the viewer deep into
each piece. His brushstrokes are carefully placed to evoke a strong
sense of movement within each painting, and he renders his paintings
with great attention to detail to create an illusion of depth and space.
“To be creative is for me an interior necessity,” Valle’ explains. “My
artwork is metaphysical and [inspired by] Surrealism.” Although his
work tends toward abstraction, there is typically a hint of reality to
latch onto in each piece, which is part of what makes his work so
compelling and intriguing.
Fabrizio Valle’ was born in northern Italy. He currently lives and
works in Amsterdam, and his work has been featured in numerous
exhibitions.
www.fabriziovalle.biz
www.agora-gallery.com/artistpage/Fabrizio_Valle’.aspx
Sun Behind the Hill
Acrylic on Wood
24.5” x 24”
119
Terry Kindley
T
erry Kindley’s lyrical mixed media paintings are both unassuming
and deeply complex. Kindley is motivated by what he calls “a rhythmic
flow of color language,” an idea influenced by Abstract Expressionism
and the seen and unseen parameters of light and hue in nature. Through
his treatment, a rain-streaked window becomes an alternative rainbow
of ghostly colors. A field of flowers becomes an ocean of smoldering
yellows, grays, oranges, and greens, all depicted as fluid streaks that
spark each other like energy currents. Though the work is abstract,
purposeful movement and stillness are apparent.
Kindley was born in North Carolina, where today he maintains a horse
ranch in addition to painting. His distinctive painting technique allows
him to manipulate paint solely by hand, with no instruments.
www.terrykindleyfineart.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Terry_Kindley.aspx
Botanical Garden
Mixed Media on Masonite 72” x 72”
Lola Lonli
L
Armageddon. Thinking Movement
Mixed Media on Canvas 24” x 35.5”
ola Lonli mixes global iconography, mysticism, and real-life
cultural figures to create intricate images that layer pattern with
surreal representation. Using paints which she makes herself from
mineral pigments, Lola begins with a straightforward central image
— a lakeshore, a figure floating through space, Billie Holliday’s
face — and surrounds it with exuberant, dancing line motifs. These
multicolored patterns both adorn and break free of this grounded,
relatively realistic first image, in an expression of the unique energy
and tone of that person or place. In capturing a feel rather than a
literal moment, Lola sheds light on the invisible.
Lola was born in Russia and continues to teach and exhibit there.
Among her most important influences, she counts “a respect for
the heritage and spiritual achievements of the multinational human
community.”
www.lolalonli.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Lola_Lonli.aspx
Patricia Gilman
“I
really fell in love with the art and magic of photography through
digital cameras,” says Patricia Gilman. A self-taught photographer,
Gilman uses the sharpness and intensity of color that shooting digitally
provides to give her images of scenes, ranging from intimate views of
nature to panoramic cityscapes, a heightened physical presence. With
a strong sense of framing and composition, she expertly focuses the
viewer’s attention, creating photographs that put the eye in motion, but
also have an appealing sense of quiet and stillness.
Gilman is always pushing the boundaries of her art, looking for other
means of expression to add to her photography, from hand painting
directly onto an image to Polaroid Transfers. That sense of searching and
discovery results in work with a unique sense of life and energy.
www.patriciagilmanstudio.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/Artistpage/Patricia_Gilman.aspx
120
Blue Eyed Icelandic Pony
Digital Print on Fine Art Paper
18” x 27”
Donna Shaffer
D
onna Shaffer’s nimble ink paintings are nature studies unlike
any other: a new genre that mixes precision with the freedom of
flowing liquid. Shaffer builds her forms out of balanced washes and
bright, saturated bursts of color which are expertly organized but still
bend and bleed when they need to. The rush of a current of water,
the surprise of a new flower petal, and the delicacy of a single leaf
all appear with the same tangibility. Subtle variations in line and an
array of forms keep the composition moving and tense. Opacity and
transparency intertwine to create incredibly vivid, believable textures
— while at the same time making no attempt at photorealism.
Instead, Shaffer’s work traffics in the heightened and the surrealistic,
with a certain stream of consciousness aesthetic that guides the viewer
through the commotion and beauty of the wild world. Shaffer calls
herself an “abstract naturalist artist,” seeking her own interpretation of
nature.
Donna Shaffer was born in California and has exhibited throughout
New England and Pennsylvania. She is a sculptor as well as a painter,
using a variety of found natural materials including branches, clay,
stones, glass, and roots.
www.donnashafferartist.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Donna_Shaffer.aspx
Nebuli
Ink & Brush on Paper
36” x 24”
Olivia Kapoor
“I
love making paintings that create an atmosphere in which
the viewer’s eyes are continuously moving around,” says
Olivia Kapoor, and indeed she creates works whose dynamic
compositions, bright colors and varied textures encourage
that motion. The artist, who describes her works as futuristic
and abstract, gives her images an otherworldly air, with
dark backgrounds lending an air of mystery to the vibrantly
colored figures that take center stage. Working with acrylics
on canvas, she lets the paint take on a life of its own. Vigorous
brushstrokes play off against subtly modulated fields of color
in just one of the sets of contrasts that characterize her works.
Kapoor’s artworks present an appealing balance of freedom
and order. Spontaneous, freely drawn images are placed
next to rigorously geometrical patterns, and the back-andforth between those styles accounts for much of the energy
in her paintings. But even that energy is part of a contrast.
“My technique,” she notes, “is very relaxed and meditative.”
Citing such artists as Van Gogh, Dali and Monet as influences,
Oasis Acrylic on Canvas 48” x 48”
Kapoor explains that her primary goal is to communicate her
vision to the viewer. “The great thing about the end result,” she says, “is that it is able to speak for itself, tell a story.”
www.dollyink.com
www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Olivia_Kapoor.aspx
121
ARTbeat
ARTbeat
Agora Gallery is proud to represent talented artists from all over the world, many of whom are
inspired by their surroundings. Each location is different and possesses a unique atmosphere.
Naturally, the art in each place also varies, imparting a particular feeling to the art scene and
influencing artists in certain ways. In ARTbeat, some of our artists explain what they think is most
characteristic and special about the art scene in the city where they live.
122
Thessaloniki, Greece
by Ermina Avramidou
Perhaps against all odds, Greek art continues to prove to be an emphatic player in the international art scene, with a vigor and
ingenuity all the more germane in times of economic recession and sociopolitical crisis.
One of the last urban seafronts in Southeastern Europe, Thessaloniki, is Greece’s second largest city, tucked between relics of
Byzantine antiquity, avant-garde art galleries, bohemian nightclubs, and culinary hot spots. Historically one of Europe’s oldest and multi-ethnic cities, the best way to get a tangible sense of the city’s soul is by walking around the centuries old street
markets, from Ano Poli to Aristotelous Square, strolling through the kaleidoscope of Louloudadika, or promenading by the
seaside with a view of the city’s landmark, the 14th century White Tower.
And although the Euro crisis has caused discontentment, Thessaloniki continues to endure and demonstrate several significant
projects on an institutional level. Premier among them is the Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art, the largest meeting
point for international artists and various artistic practices, organized since 2011 by the ‘5 Museums Movement’ (5M) and
bringing together the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, the Museum of Byzantine Culture, the Macedonian Museum
of Contemporary Art, the Teloglion Foundation of Art (Aristotle University) and the leader of the project, the State Museum
of Contemporary Art – Costakis Collection. This year the Thessaloniki Biennale will be organized for the fourth consecutive
year with a program yet to be announced (for more information http://biennale3.thessalonikibiennale.gr/en/mainpage). The
‘5 Museums Movement’ regularly promotes exhibitions and art events with an international focus.
Another equally important contemporary art event in Thessaloniki is the annual Alternative meeting, which has been running
since 2001 in the ex-military camp of Karabournaki, in Kalamaria, east of the city center. ‘Action Field Kodra,’ as it is called, focuses on young artists and experimental creativity aspiring to be a dynamic form of non-museum exhibition in Southeastern
Europe, presenting the greatest trends in art painting, video, photography, installations and new technology. By means of
hosting artists, the event attracts art theorists and curators who are interested in visual arts “as one of the most penetrating
mechanisms of understanding political circumstances as well as one of the most intrusive methods of speech.” Action Field
Kodra systematically expands on both regional and international high quality artistic creation, while it has enriched its program
with an international conference articulating original discourse on issues of art theory, philosophy and cultural research in
dialogue with the festival’s main program and central concept (http://www.actionfieldkodra.gr/).
For artists and audiences alike, the Thessaloniki art scene is one deserving of its prominent status among the international
milieu. Rooted in axioms of experimentation and soaring in interpretive thought, the city and its artistic venues welcome participants to join in as it inaugurates a new vision of the European classical tradition.
photographs taken by Aris Rammos
123
Reykjavik, Iceland
by Bui Kristjansson
Reykjavik is the capital of Iceland, which is a sparsely populated country inhabited only along the coast, that thrives on fishing,
tourism, aluminium and software. An active volcanic island situated on the Atlantic Ridge, Iceland is dominated by mountains.
The inland part of the country is a plateau region, and Iceland is the largest wilderness in Europe. One of Iceland’s hallmarks
is clean air and clear water. Icelandic art has always been heavily influenced by the spectacular landscape that ice and fire has
shaped through the ages.
Iceland was first settled by Vikings around 800 AC from the British Islands and Scandinavia. Iceland is in many ways different
from Europe in terms of culture and tradition. Icelanders are migrants who settled here in a new country, and, being settlers,
having a broad perspective and openness to new ideas was necessary. Icelanders have a powerful tradition of travelling and
studying abroad. Because of the small population, Icelanders must be more extrovert than introvert in order to survive. This
has had a major influence on art in Iceland post World War II. The powerful old landscape painting tradition had to give in
to a strong group of abstract painters, who were strongly influenced by the French abstract movement and it lasted until the
1960’s. In the 1970’s, a large number of Icelandic artists studied in the Netherlands and were influenced by the Conceptual Art
Movement. This movement had deep effects on the art scene in Iceland and still has a large impact today. But despite these
influences, the powerful landscape tradition of the past did evolve in an extraordinary way within a small group of artists, and
it is something that all art lovers who come to Reykjavik must see. I encourage every visitor to go to museums and galleries to
see this Icelandic art, which is unique in many ways.
It is not easy to access Icelandic artists, as studios are somewhat scattered around the city of Reykjavik, but there are some
strong galleries that can help one to access the artists. The artists are more than willing to show their studios and are open to
receiving visitors. The Association of Icelandic Visual Artists opens all galleries in November, giving art enthusiasts an opportunity to visit artists’ studios. The art district of Reykjavik is all within walking distance of the old town center and the harbor.
In that area there are also many cafes and restaurants.
There are several facilities made available for rent to foreign artists by The Association of Icelandic Visual Artists. There are also
many private spaces all around the countryside that one can rent to be surrounded by breathtaking scenery.
Reykjavik attracts tourists and artists from all over the world because of its nature and the power of the pure northern air.
124
Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand
by Rick Edmonds
The Nelson / Marlborough region occupies the northern area of New Zealand’s South Island. With a reasonably small population (approximately 120,000 people), it boasts a thriving and vibrant art community, helped by a combination of artistic heritage, spectacular natural scenery, laid-back lifestyle and pleasant climate.
The natural beauty of the area has long attracted artists. With three national parks, many golden coastal beaches, and beautifull mountains with bush and rivers abounding, the light, form, and color of the area have long inspired creative endeavor. The
creative people work in a variety of different disciplines and media; the region includes a rich abundance of painters, potters,
sculptors, writers, musicians and actors who have chosen to make this piece of paradise their home.
The indigenous heritage is strong in the area, and some notable Maori artists are combining their heritage with a desire to
communicate to the world their own particular vision and understanding of their environment.
My own particular back yard is the Marlborough Sounds; 1,700 kilometers of sheltered waterways that in one small province
comprises over 10% of New Zealand’s total coastline. Fingers of land intertwine with fingers of sea, so that one is never sure
which is invading the other. The water is deep, and the bush falls right to the coastal edge. For a marine artist such as myself,
the inspiration is endless. Growing up in such a place, the compulsion to be an artist was inexplicably linked with the desire to
interpret this outstanding natural environment.
The arts community also benefits from many galleries and studios dotted around the region. The Suter Art Gallery in Nelson
is New Zealand’s oldest purpose built art gallery. It houses a collection of significant New Zealand art, and hosts exhibitions
showcasing many notable local and national artists.
Nelson art educators are recognized as being among the best in the country, and many talented young creative people are
being encouraged to find their artistic voice in this nurturing, stimulating, and inspiring environment.
125
Cairns, Australia
by Josie Lowerson
A remote location situated thousands of kilometers from major capital city art scenes doesn’t necessarily result in a deprivation
of knowledge, innovation or creativity. With the benefit of technology and an international airport, places such as Cairns, in the
far north of Queensland, Australia can easily keep pace with artistic trends from all around the world. Situated in a unique position on the tropical coast, Cairns is surrounded by diverse geographical features such as the Great Barrier Reef, World Heritage
listed rainforests, and soaring mountain ranges with outback regions inland of the Tablelands. The climate and pristine locations attract an extraordinary and diverse group of contemporary visual artists, sculptors, print makers, photographers, graffiti
and performance artists. As a relatively young city in historical terms, Cairns is a place that has shown a willingness to embrace
and appreciate all forms of creative practice. There is a refreshing level of sophistication and cultural awareness amongst those
who practice in this remote area.
In the center of the city, the Cairns Regional Gallery has been the longest running gallery in the area, and has a strong reputation for bringing major national and international traveling exhibitions to the region. This beautiful old gallery is well respected
for its efforts in forging strong relationships with emerging and established local artists, as well as encouraging young artists
through its innovative educational programs. The CRG also takes pride in promoting local indigenous art, and a large part of
its schedule is devoted to increasing individual profiles.
Forward thinking by local government authorities has resulted in an impressive display of public art on the Esplanade and
around public venues. The airport has an impressive array of cast aluminum sculptures titled “Termite mounds” by indigenous
artist Thancoupie, and the lagoon pool on the beach features “Woven fish” which are stainless steel sculptures by Torres Straits
islander artist Brian Robinson. Public art and graffiti laneways are located all around the city and outlying regions. Artists colonies and private and commercial galleries are also located in Cairns, Kuranda Village, Port Douglas and the Tablelands.
Situated behind the giant “Jelly Babies” sculptures near the center of Cairns is the KickArts Gallery, which is another gallery
that strongly collaborates with contemporary artists and features a myriad of video, performance and visual artists. Strongly
supported by its members, patrons and artists, this gallery strives to support artists who want to push boundaries. Also on the
same site is Djumbanji Press, a printmaking workshop that specializes in the print process, and promotes the huge, intricately
detailed linocuts and etchings produced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander artists.
Cairns is host to one of the largest indigenous art fairs in the world, and each year thousands of interstate and overseas visitors
flock to the area to view the eclectic mix of native cultural art.
The art scene in Cairns and its outlying regions can only be described as fresh and energetic, as it encompasses so many different styles, practices and passions. Artists tend to be extremely well informed and up-to-date with current artistic practices,
as isolation means that individuals cannot restrict themselves to their own environment. It is necessary to inquire, explore,
research and progress in order to grow as an artist and the extensive breadth and diversity of artists in this area is proof that
remoteness is an incentive, not a handicap, to the creative process.
Lima, Peru
by Mili DC Hartinger
Under the cloudy sky of the coast of Peru lies Lima - a city that has overcome its grayish hue with its flavors, sounds, and visual
expression. This is a city where waiting for a green light can become a dance show or attending an exhibit can also mean visiting a beautiful monumental house.
Over the past few years galleries and cultural events have been emerging in our capital. To speak of the art scene in Lima, we
must begin with the Museo de Arte en Lima or MALI. MALI is home to the work of great Peruvian artists throughout history.
It is of Neo-Renaissance style architecture, surrounded by a multitude of gardens and statues. It was built in 1869 with the
purpose of hosting the first art exhibit in Lima. Their permanent collection includes graphic pieces by Camilo Blas, to name
just one example, as well as pieces dated 3,000 years back. Here, we can also find the photographs of the late Martin Chambi
from the early 1900s.
Regarding contemporary art, Barranco is known for being the artists’ district. Here we can find historic houses that are now
galleries, such as Lucia de la Puente and the Museo de Osma. The Museo de Osma was built originally as a house in the early
1900s, and is now known for being not only one of the most beautiful and well kept houses in Barranco, but also for its viceregal art collection. Museo de Arte Contemporáneo, or MAC, has recently opened its doors to the public with the objective of
promoting artists and their art. In the corner of Pedro de Osma street is “MATE,” an art gallery focused on the work of globally
recognized Mario Testino. Currently the gallery is exhibiting Testino’s “Todo o Nada.” Another gallery near this area is 35-yearold Forum, which has hosted the exhibits of many artists, including the famous Fernando de Szyszlo. Photography is a growing art in Peru. Every year in August the Centro de la Imagen hosts Lima Photo. This is an international
exhibition of galleries specializing in photography. It is a great event where the work of diverse artists come together for us to
appreciate, enjoy and also learn about the artistic trends happening in other parts of the world. In 2012, the city also hosted
of the Bienal de Fotografía. During this time, Lima became the place where multiple international photography exhibits, workshops and lectures were held. Lima is the past and the present. With the passing of each day there are more talented artists and worthy galleries. It’s a place
to grow and discover.
127
Central Oregon, USA
by Stuart Gordon
It’s no secret that citizens of the great Pacific Northwest love their coffee and microbrewed beer. But in the small and
mid-sized communities that make up Central Oregon, residents are just as passionate and excited about their art, which is
celebrated year-round in a number of ways. One of the most popular is the city of Bend’s monthly First Friday Art Walks.
Although Bend is not a big urban center like Portland, you wouldn’t know it on the night of an Art Walk. The venues downtown and at the swank Old Mill shopping district are packed even during Central Oregon’s harsh winter months when the
snow is flying. Galleries and other businesses stay open late into the night serving wine and hors d’oeuvres as patrons
schmooze with the local artists whose creations are on display. Bend, the largest community in the region with some 85,000
residents, also hosts one of the most prestigious juried outdoor art shows in the nation. Art in the High Desert was ranked
“in the top 25 events nationwide for sales of fine art in 2012.” Greg Lawler’s Fine Art SourceBook ranked the popular event
as the 14th best fine arts festival in the nation based on sales. “The art community in Central Oregon is very diverse,” says
Pamela Hulse Andrews, publisher of Cascade Arts & Entertainment, a monthly magazine devoted to spreading the word
about the region’s vibrant art community. The character of the artwork is reflected in the personality of the distinctive
communities that comprise Central Oregon. In Madras, you can find Native American artists and work influenced by the
presence of the Warm Springs Reservation. In Prineville, art and artists reflect the town’s Western cowboy heritage. In Bend,
Redmond and Sunriver, one can see the influence of the beautiful Deschutes River and nearby Cascade Mountain Range in
the strong penchant for producing landscapes in painting, watercolors and photography.
The area has its share of affluent residents, many of whom have summer homes in Bend, and who collect and appreciate the
arts. One major patron of the arts over the years has been Brooks-Scanlon, a former lumber company turned realty firm that
underwrote several nationally recognized sculptors to create large outdoor pieces for Bend’s largest traffic roundabouts.
Such generosity has its rewards. In Oregon, donations to the arts earn you state tax credits. Although Central Oregon boasts
36 art galleries, there still doesn’t seem to be enough wall space to accommodate all the fine artists seeking exhibit space.
Local coffeehouses, restaurants, microbreweries, libraries, golf course, clubhouses and even salons have gotten into the act
by providing wall space for artists. Andrews says the local art community seems to have rebounded from the hit it took during the nationwide economic recession. Although several galleries went out of business during the downturn, many others
survived, and new ones have recently opened. The new model for local galleries seems to be cooperatives that exhibit the
work of several artists ranging in media, and who also financially support the gallery with membership fees. Clearly, the
community generously embraces its artists. But Central Oregon’s artists also find ways to repay that support.
Donated artwork is often the backbone of fund-raising auctions held to support art education for children, the High Desert
Museum and several local non-profit organizations. It’s safe to say that art is woven into the fabric of the Central Oregon
community for years to come.
128
Hamilton, Bermuda
by Huguette Vincent
Bermuda is a 21 square mile semitropical paradise situated in the Atlantic Ocean, and a two hour flight from New York City will
land you on our beautiful pink sandy seashores. Rest assured, however, that Bermuda is much more than its beaches. This
small cluster of islands is packed with art galleries and studios and art activities abound all year round, celebrating the excellence of Bermuda’s artists, who are often inspired by the incredible range of blues and turquoises in its waters.
Some of the most renowned and well frequented galleries are The Bermuda Society of the Arts (BSOA) and the Bermuda
National Gallery, both located in the heart of Hamilton, Bermuda’s capital. The Bermuda Society of the Arts (BSOA), often
referred to as “The people’s Art Gallery,” hosts approximately 50 shows per year exhibiting an array of artistic styles, ranging
from traditional to modern/contemporary. The Bermuda National Gallery, on the other hand, is home to Bermuda’s national
art collection. The permanent exhibits include paintings by island artists, as well as European masters like Gainsborough
and Reynolds. It also houses African masks and sculptures, as well as photographs by internationally known artists, such as
Bermudian Richard Saunders (1922-87). The fine and decorative art pieces in the Bermuda Collection reflect the country’s
multicultural heritage. Located at the far western tip of the island, and equally as interesting, is the Bermuda Arts Centre at
Dock Yard, which offers a forum for local contemporary artists. Centrally located and nested in the Botanical Gardens is Master
Works Museum of Bermuda Arts.
StemsiArt, by artist Karl Sternath, in partnership with Barracuda Grill, one of Bermuda’s most popular restaurants, has created
an informal art gallery in the restaurant’s establishment. It is an arrangement with advantages for both parties. Barracuda’s
management is thrilled to have beautiful art adorning their walls, and StemsiArt benefits from the exposure. StemsiArt has a
similar arrangement with a local dental office, Smiles Inc., where a number of art pieces are on display.
In addition to its galleries, Hamilton offers a number of art related activities, one of which is Bermuda Art in the Dark, a unique
event combining good food and art appreciation. It uses restaurants as exhibition spaces or art galleries. Here, patrons can
have something to eat while viewing the work of local Bermuda artists. The event also allows collectors the opportunity to
buy a special piece.
In summary, art enthusiasts will discover creative enjoyment and inspiration in the most unexpected places in Bermuda – it
can be found in the incredible shades of its waters, the clarity of its skies, the soothing pinks of its beaches, the lush greens of
its foliage and even in the friendliness of its people.
129
Subscribe to ARTisSpectrum
The Gift of Contemporary Art
Receive four wonderful issues of ArtisSpectrum, featuring
profiles of contemporary art and artists and important articles.
Two year Subscription: $24 for US, $35 for international.
www.artisspectrum.com/subscribe.html
130
Beautiful, light-filled spaces connect three
centuries of landmark architecture, offering
visitors an intimate and engaging encounter with
the great span of Western achievement in art,
literature, and music.
The
Morgan
Library &
Museum
In the Heart of
Midtown Manhattan
Madison Ave. at 36th St.
themorgan.org
Pierpont Morgan’s 1906 Library (East Room).
Photography by Graham Haber, 2010.
131

Become a World-Famous Artist

Transcription

Similar documents

Jan Schall, Wilbur Niewald, 10/Charlotte Street Foundation, 2007

Complex simplicity in the art of Yunizar

michael quadland - Behnke • Doherty Gallery

15 Oct 2013.pmd

nicola simbari - Wally Findlay Galleries

Pissarro was born in the caribbean and moved to paris when he

Keith Haring - Hartwood PTO

Los Angeles Adds to Growing Art Scene

JIM MORPHESIS - Pasadena Museum of California Art

Contemporary Artists