DESTIG - Issue 6

DESTIG BARCELONA

CREATIVES WITHOUT BORDERS ISSUE 6 - JULY 2019

WELCOME TO

ISSUE 6

DESTIG MAGAZINE TRAVEL WITH ART

BARCELONA MEET DESTIG'S TOP ARTISTS FOR 2019 DESTIG HOT PICKS

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ART IS THE VERY SOUL OF THE CATALAN REGION'S GRANDEST CITY.

DESTIG TABLE OF CONTENTS

006. Editor's Note 008. Meredith Mullins 016. Hazel Stone 022. Marcia Biasiello 028. Barcelona 050. Charles Carter

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058. Jennifer Jigour 066. Abraham Dayan 074. Dorothy Bury Shaw 082. Lighting from Barcelona 088. Flavia Lovatelli 096. Gregg Harper 104. Dora Martinez 112. The Cotton House Hotel 118. John Denis 126. Jane Barthès

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134. Carmel-by-the-Sea 142. Juliet Hillbrand 150. Stephanie Hardy 158. Jennifer Pazienza 166. Niki Stearman 174. Lisa Cossins

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AWARDS 6 REGIONS / 4 CATEGORIES www.DESTIGAWARDS.com

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182. Ivana Masic Saric

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ART + TRAVEL

190. Janetta Smith 198. Ernesto Gutiérrez Moya 206. Nancy Stainton 214. Nick Noyes 220. Harold Westerink 228. Juan Camilo Guzman

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238. Francesca Busca 244. Smarin 246. Filipino American Artists 252. DESTIG Hot Picks 264. Jens Risom 266. Paul McCob 269. Phil Akashi 270. Monaco Art Week 274. Daniel Kukla 276. Jesse Tungilik

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278. Caribbean Art 280. Veronica Byun 282. Kuntzel + Deygas 286. Nina Harold 288. Alessandro Scotti

296. Andrea Branzi

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MAGAZINE CREATIVES WITHOUT BORDERS - 3 ISSUES A YEAR www.DESTIG.com

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294. Euzhan Palcy

Editor's Note

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The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes. - Marcel Proust DESTIG always has one simple goal - to be at the same time - the world's most beautiful and effective art magazine. We spare no effort in our quest to achieve these goals. You can be assured that the magazine you are now reading was carefully crafted over a thousand hours by our devoted team.

Flick through DESTIG, if something irresistibly beautiful makes you stop then please do so and allow us to effectively inform you. Otherwise keep flicking through until you arrive at the end. We are confident that within these pages there are things that will make your heart beat faster.

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Mike Walters - Editor-in-Chief

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M E R E D I T H M U L L I N S

D E S T I G

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A R T I S T S

Meredith Mullins is an award-winning, fine art photographer and photojournalist living bi-continentally in Paris and California. She has traveled and exhibited internationally for decades, immersing herself in the heartfelt spirit of “Vive la photographie.�

Tell us about yourself and background.

I have had a camera in hand since I was five, growing up in Maryland (USA), tilting the camera this way and that to be different from the way others were capturing the world. I wanted to really SEE, and I sensed that my surroundings and the constant parade of characters were more fully articulated by making photographs. I was training my eyes and heart to really look at things - to feel each moment through all the senses - and to share those feelings with others. After many years - studying, making images, and teaching photography - I still feel the same. Photography was (and is) my destiny. I am not myself without a camera. It is a body part . . . and a significant piece of my soul.

"Photography was (and is) my destiny.

I am not myself without a camera."

What makes your work unique?

I have spent most of my life rebelling against cultural norms, sometimes even rebelling against myself, but my images often speak to the timeless beauty of traditions, or vanishing eras.

I work primarily in black and white to reveal the essence of a subject and to create a mood through the powerful elements of light and form.

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Tell us about your work.

My work is diverse - from Paris street photography to free floating figures weightless in water to the artistry and strength of the circus arts.

The underlying theme always centers on time and space- the moments that expand between the ticks of a clock . . . and movement that challenges the standard rules of mass and matter.

The images are about defying gravity . . . and being set free.

Tell us about some of your achievements.

I am honored to have been featured in more than 50 solo and group exhibits worldwide and to have appeared in numerous publications in France and the U.S., including Camera Arts Magazine, Carmel Magazine, Paris Magazine, OIC Moments, France Today, and National Geographic Education.

My work is represented in museum and private collections in Europe and North America, including the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris and The Weston Gallery in California.

I have also received several prestigious awards, including the Grand Concours Photo sur Paris, the Paris Photography Prize, the Photographer’s Forum Award, the Worldwide Gala Award, the Julia Margaret Cameron Finalist Award, and the California Visual Artist of the Year Award.

The most meaningful achievement, however, is to touch people in some way with my photographs - to inspire people to pause in their busy life to connect with an image that evokes emotion and has meaning for them.

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I studied journalism and filmmaking at the University of North Carolina, but I’m now drawn to dramas that are captured in just a fraction of a second.

Photography encourages the viewer to take that millisecond and expand their interpretation of time and storytelling to the edges of their imagination.

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M E R E D I T H

M U L L I N S

What are your sources of inspiration?

I am inspired by all the arts - music, dance, theater, literature, and visual arts. I am most empowered by music - classical, rock, blues . . . you name it. Music goes deep in me - vibrations straight to the soul - and lifts me to another universe. The benefits are many, but I know that having music in my life makes me feel more intensely when I am connecting with a visual subject to make a photograph and provides the lyrical movement so necessary in a photograph. I know, too, that the arts make me more open to the stories to be uncovered every day - about the unending mysteries of humans and the surprises of our planet.

Tell us the back-story of some of your projects.

I traveled for many years, photographing exotic places and recording memorable moments with local people who taught me much about life (Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey, Kenya, Tanzania, Nepal, Morocco, Senegal, India, and the Seychelles), but my heart kept coming back to Paris.

In 2005, my book In A Paris Moment was published.

I was on a promotion visit to the magnificent City of Light, when I found the perfect apartment (a 17th century former boulangerie on the Ile St-Louis).

With no hesitation, I took the apartment and uprooted myself from California to begin a new life chapter.

Fifteen years later, “Je ne regrette rien!”

Paris offered multiple layers of culture and history, as well as infinite photographic opportunities.

The streets and the endless cast of characters became my subjects. “Decisive moments” leapt out like wild

"I teach photography to adults and children in the hope that creative expression will continue to be a part of people’s lives. I especially envy the uncensored, unselfconscious free spirits of children. We should all be so lucky." animals. I fell into Paris rhythms, like singing a familiar song in a strikingly new way. Every day, something hidden revealed itself. And from the streets, I have now entered the extraordinary world of Paris circuses, a project I have been working on for the past four years.

I’m a circus addict. I am mesmerized by acrobats flying fearlessly through the air, contortionists folding themselves as if they were origami, and all the improbable feats of strength, balance, trust, and gravity defiance that are part of the circus arts.

I come away with a desire to fly . . . and, more important, the belief that I can.

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What are you passionate about?

I want the power of the arts to continue its worldwide reach. I want young people in all countries to be introduced to all genres of music and a range of artistic media and to understand that individual artistic expression should know no bounds.

I teach photography to adults and children in the hope that creative expression will continue to be a part of people’s lives. I especially envy the uncensored, unselfconscious free spirits of children. We should all be so lucky. I was also a co-founder and director of the International Fine Art Photography competition to recognize emerging and mid-career photographers and share their outstanding work with the worldwide photographic community.

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"I traveled for many years, photographing exotic places and recording memorable moments with local people who taught me much about life."

"My work is diverse - from Paris street photography to free floating figures weightless in water to the artistry and strength of the circus arts."

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AR T I S T S

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D E S T I G

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Share with us your upcoming projects.

I am quite moved by the events surrounding the end of World War II in France. I am working on projects at the D-Day beaches in Normandy for its 75th anniversary and in Oradour-sur-Glane, a village in Limousin where all the men, women, and children were massacred by a Nazi Waffen SS regiment four days after D-Day.

Tell us about where you are based.

I live bi-continentally in Paris, France and on the Monterey Peninsula of California—two of the most beautiful places on Earth. Both, also, are rich in photographic traditions, strong in their artistic communities, and filled with inspirational footsteps from the talented photographers who were based here in the past.

"We desperately need a unifying force ... the arts are an answer."

"I want my photographs to take viewers where they’ve never been and at the same time make them feel a part of the story."

Website: www.meredithmullins.artspan.com

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How do you feel about Art and its role?

In this world of conflict, divisiveness, and distractions, we desperately need a unifying force.

A way to reach back inside ourselves for the values and emotions that make us caring humans. The arts are an answer. I hold out hope.

How do you want your Art to affect the viewer?

I hope my photographs provide a glimpse into worlds that people might not ordinarily enter and that they feel the magic that I felt when making the photograph. I want my photographs to take viewers where they’ve never been and at the same time make them feel a part of the story. I want my photographs to set them free.

H A Z E L S T O N E

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INNOVATIVE ARTIST IN WATERMEDIA As a child, I saw things around me with an “artist’s eye.”

I watched particles float in a ray of sunlight, enjoyed the varied designs of frost on windows during the winter, noticed the shifting image when looking at objects first with one eye then the other, then tested contrasting color images and after images.

Rainbows, clouds, shadows, insects, butterflies and plant life of all kinds were favorite subjects for my curious exploration and examination of life around me.

Talent in art began to assert itself when, in Junior High School Art Class, my teacher put an A+ on my Report Card, with a comment, “Talent in Art.” That concept became my guiding principle. I bought art books and supplies to teach myself the basic lessons in making art.

As my natural creativity emerged, I was compelled to follow my interest in drawing, painting and any art medium. Later, studying Art History filled me with absolute awe. As I was learning about the lives and pursuits of famous artists, I thought that I would be able to draw and paint also. It was at that time that I knew I had to be an artist. I realized that ART had become my “Life’s Passion” and that ART would forever guide my life.

I know I can paint anything I can see, so I prefer to go to my imagination, experiences and feelings to unlock the image for the next painting. I love complexity, texture, shapes, spontaneity and new materials. I may work loosely or with great control depending on the project that is on the worktable.

The love of art is always present in my thoughts as I continue my journey along the path of Fine Artist in Watermedia. As an artist, I create art and I create my life. No one can do that for me. The ability to make art and make my own life allows me to create a very rewarding life. Gradually I am creating a legacy and my life story. So, I am an artist! That is "Who I am and what I do."

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Symbolism is an important aspect of my art. Various shapes are given meaning that may or may not be evident to all, but I know what part of the story they portray. Viewers are free to find their own interpretation.

H AZ E L S T ONE

I call my painting style and technique “Experimental Abstraction.” The energetic and lively compositions for my paintings come from my head, my heart and my hand.

Design elements that make my contemporary paintings stand out as being readily recognizable as HAZEL STONE include my favorite color choices, symbols, geometric shapes, patterns, words, humor and various types of line work for connections or emphasis.

My “One of a Kind” paintings appeal to all ages, but especially to people who will spend time with my work to understand the meaning from their viewpoint. My unusual style and subject matter paintings appeal to sophisticated clientele with more contemporary taste.

It is said that all art is autobiographical. So, in that sense, my paintings tell my life story in an Indirect way.

Whoever owns my work has it because they love it and that makes me very happy!

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WELCOME TO EXPERIMENTAL ABSTRACTION

I like complexity and unusual combinations. My intuition is always part of the process.

The finished image is likely to be a play of light and dark, color contrasts, line, shape and design with little or no recognizable subject matter. The design and development of a piece are on-going aspects of my process and I continue to do what the painting calls for until it delights my eye.

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"It is said that all art is autobiographical. So, in that sense, my paintings tell my life story in an indirect way."

"The ever-changing play of color and shapes still delight my eye.

I love to be surprised by a painting and wonder how I happened to create it."

One of my favorite ways of working is very time consuming and requires uninterrupted concentration.

I start with arbitrary lines, shapes of various sizes, and continue to design until the final stroke is done.

Paintings done in this manner all have strong design and composition, flat application of clear, contrasting color and white lines of various widths as the basic elements. Sometimes I add words, letters, symbols, or images to convey my thoughts and feelings.

“Levels of Communication” was juried into the National Watercolor Society Annual Member Exhibition in 2014.

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“Levels of Communication” developed intuitively.

Decisions regarding the design and color were made as the work progressed. I didn't know what this would look like until I finished it. The ever-changing play of color and shapes still delight my eye. I love to be surprised by a painting and wonder how I happened to create it.

I was honored to have my Solo Exhibition of 35 original watermedia paintings, “Levels of Communication” at Herberger Theater Art Gallery, May, 2018. The gallery walls were boldly vibrating with the interplay of color and design.

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S T O N E

"Over time, I have developed my own style of painting whatever intrigues and captivates my eye and continues to motivate and Innovative my mind."

Life is often puzzling with unexpected twists and turns.

My paintings may have puzzle aspects to relate to, to contemplate, to solve, and to understand. Sometimes my puzzles are too obtuse and people just don’t get my meaning. But, given time, they have an “Aha!” moment when their eyes work better than their brains. Thinking on the right side of the brain frees the creative spirit in the viewer and the meaning of my work comes forth.

“Conversations Over Lunch” was inspired by a luncheon date with my dear artist friend. She loved this painting too. We had so many wonderful artist adventures over twenty years. It was chosen for the CWA 50th Anniversary Juried International Exhibition, October 13, to December 16, 2018 and received a wonderful Combined Merchandise Award.

I might have been drawn naturally to study Architecture, Interior Design, Art or Home Economics. However, I followed my parents' wishes to get my college degree in Nursing at the University of Utah. I graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree and Registered Nurse Certification. After marriage, I taught Medical-Surgical Nursing to Sophomore Students for two and a half years.

My first daughter was born, and, three years later, my second daughter arrived. Motherhood was very important to me and I wanted to be a "stay-at-home mom." Still the fascination for the Arts continued, I found various classes to study whatever interested me, then various workshops followed. Postgraduate Art History courses seemed to solidify the idea that "Art was my Passion." I have been seriously involved in art since the 1970s and my "Passion for Art" still increases!

Over time, I have developed my own style of painting whatever intrigues and captivates my eye and continues to motivate and Innovative my mind.

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The title of one of my favorite paintings came to life during a conversation with a Gallery Director friend.

He kept saying, “… and that’s OK!” I said that I was naming my next painting with that phrase and he liked that idea very much.

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T O P

A R T I S T S

"Unless the minds of people become more involved in the things that make us loving and caring humans, we may see a vast decline in the excellent creation that is mankind. My advice is: Surround yourself with paintings that you love because art makes every day better.”

Being an artist is woven throughout my life. I am by nature a curious person and a researcher, so I find resources to gain knowledge and educate myself.

I really enjoy writing as it seems to tap into a different form of creative thinking. I love organizing exhibitions and curating all aspects of an art event. I was invited to be Juror and Curator of “Memories of October and November” at Herberger Theater Art Gallery, Phoenix, AZ in 2017.

Hazel Stone works in her Phoenix, Arizona home studio.

Large wall areas throughout her home display her work giving it a museum or art gallery ambience, but for her, it is home.

www.hazelstonefineart.com www.hazel-stone-watermediaartist.com

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I recently proposed a Waterworks Artists group exhibition, “ALTERED FOCUS”, for Herberger Theater Art Gallery, Phoenix, Arizona. It was approved for the month of November 2020. www.waterworksartists.com

In the past, civilizations have risen and fallen depending on their appreciation, participation and support of art, music, literature and other humanizing elements. Unless the minds of people become more involved in the things that make us loving and caring humans, we may see a vast decline in the excellent creation that is mankind. My advice is: “Surround yourself with paintings that you love because art makes every day better.”

M A R C I A B I A S I E L L O

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Marciana Biasiello is an Artist, currently living just outside of Chicago. She specializes in creating beautiful paintings that are imbued with shimmering pattern in a romantic, narrative space.

Tell us about your earliest memories of being an artist.

I have always felt what it is to be an artist. As a little girl in Chicago, I made pictures by squirting paint onto paper using a toy spinner machine on our front porch and sold them to anyone who stopped to watch on their way to “The Royal Blue,” the store at the end of the block. After my cousin showed me how to shellac the rocks we had painted with tiny animals and flowers so that they glimmered in the sun, I sold them door to door from a red wagon. And I told fortunes in the back yard using a toy lie detector set under a tent made of blankets clipped to a clothesline. My first real creation was a storybook about a man and woman who fell in love and got married. I drew the pictures in a spiral notebook above the words my father had written down as I told them to him for me before I knew how to write.

I am very likely continuing that same love story in my paintings today. My work has been in exhibitions around the USA and is included in private collections,

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"My first real creation was a storybook about a man and woman who fell in love and got married.

I drew the pictures in a spiral notebook above the words my father had written down as I told them to him for me before I knew how to write. I am very likely continuing that same love story in my paintings today."

M A R C I A

B I A S I E L L O

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"I have always been moved by story.

We tell them out loud to each other, and silently to ourselves, sometimes without realizing it."

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A R T I S T S

including in Albuquerque, Alexandria, Appleton, Berlin, Boise, Boston, Brooklyn, Burbank, Fort Worth, Chicago, Laveen, Ligonier, Los Angeles, Manhattan, Oakland, Omaha, Riverside, San Francisco, Sacramento, Toronto and Westfield.

Tell us about your work.

I have always been moved by story. We tell them out loud to each other, and silently to ourselves, sometimes without realizing it. Narratives connect the subtle, revealing and creating meaning. The branch, the chair, the adored, the longing, the projection, the connection. Words move us. And, images do as well, hopefully not just the instant and disposable.

My paintings are stories. I see these images as depicting pivotal moments. What happens before, after and even during the moment of the scene being depicted is open with possibility.

I see the frame as drawing a line around an otherwise normal environment and an otherwise uneventful moment. By constraining the space and loading it with extremes, a next step seems inevitable. But a next step from choice, not restriction and constraint.

Interactions between him and her, him and the past, her and the future, etc., all overlay the present moment to make any next move possible. I don't know what each figure in these paintings will do next. We are all fluid and unpredictable in each other's lives, and even in our own.

How do you want your art to affect the viewer?

I try to present space in the paintings that offers a different logic than the rooms we walk around in and know what to expect. I want to offer a moment where someone can take pause and feel exhilarated. I hope when someone lives with a painting of mine, they may come home, drop their keys on the table and feel excited by it. And that they have dinner guests with swelling conversation and the painting I sat with many a night joins them on the wall, spirited and lively!

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Tell us about some of your achievements.

I have an MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and taught art at the University of Illinois in Champaign, and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I have received grants for both visual work as well as a collaborative Opera, “The Martha,” with Robert Metrick. And, I am an award winning Minted artist with prints available on Minted.com.

M A R C I A

B I A S I E L L O

What makes your work and approach unique?

I see these pictures as visual narratives/talismans/love poems. Finding relationships amongst the elements is like writing a poem with phrases, rhythm, meter, and even dangling modifiers. My process seems to follow steps: One: inspiration: fashion, music, gesture.

Two: composition.

Three: sketching onto the surface.

Four: selecting a limited color pallet.

Five: first layer of painting to define forms.

Six: dress-up of the figures.

Seven: look for relationships between elements, tension, release, constraints and interactions.

Eight: layer of intensity to create an overall continuity.

Where would you like your art to be seen?

I am always excited to work with new galleries, curators, art directors and collectors.

Why is your work a good investment?

I am working consistently, exhibit actively and develop ongoing relationships with my collectors. The reach of my work is widening. I believe that living with images, music and literature, and telling each other stories makes life rich. I hope that living with my work brings enduring joy.

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What is your creative session like?

I have a great love of beauty and want to present compelling environments. While some elements of beauty may be universal, symmetry, harmony, proportion, other elements draw me in me equally: attraction to the unknown, comfort of darkness, surrender to overwhelming.

When I paint, I am in a room filled with music. My marks come out of a space between the inner and outer worlds.

When painting, I long to become so engrossed as to lose all sense of time and space, and enter a portal between the canvas and whatever else is available. Music can often take me there. Nick Cave “Love letter, love letter go get her,” Joni Mitchell “I drew a map of Canada with your name on it twice..,” Van Morrison, “I'm nothing but a stranger in this world.” I start out drawing and then find myself responding to what is already on the canvas.

The life force of the painting emerges when I am responding and no longer directing. After the materials have been prepped, colors chosen based on sensitivity to hue, saturation and tone, the body can respond to an emotional connection, applying paint and moving. It is the visual trail of a kind of dance. Seeing the image is then witnessing and in turn experiencing the artist's interaction with materials imbued with emotional responses to the subject matter and the physical.

"I have a great love of beauty and want to present compelling environments. While some elements of beauty may be universal, symmetry, harmony, proportion, other elements draw me in me equally: attraction to the unknown, comfort of darkness, surrender to overwhelming."

WWW. MAR C I AB I AS I E L L O. C OM

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BARCELONA A HISTORIC CITY BUILT FOR ART

Art and culture exhibitions and projects in the city by artists from around the world, are a result of the artistic concerns that have always characterised the great city.

The first human settlements in Barcelona date back to Neolithic times. The city itself was founded by the Romans who set up a colony called Barcino at the end of the 1st century BC. The colony had some thousand inhabitants and was bounded by a defensive wall, the remains of which can still be seen in the old town.

For over 200 years, Barcelona was under Muslim rule, and, following the Christian reconquest, it became a county of the Carolingian Empire and one of the main residences of the court of the Crown of Aragon. The fruitful medieval period established Barcelona's position as the economic and political centre of the Western Mediterranean. The city's Gothic Quarter bears witness to the splendour enjoyed by the city from the 13th to the 15th centuries.

From the 15th to 18th centuries Barcelona entered a period of decline, while it struggled to maintain its economic and political independence.

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Barcelona is a city of art which supports the arts.

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Art and culture exhibitions and projects in the city by artists from around the world, are a result of the artistic concerns that have always characterised

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the great city.

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BARCELONA

DESTIG ISSUE 6

The Catalan Antoni Gaudí, one of the most eminent architects, designed buildings such as the Casa Milà (known as La Pedrera, the Catalan for stone quarry), the Casa Batlló and the Sagrada Família church, which have become worldfamous landmarks.

A period of cultural recovery began in the mid-19th century with the arrival of the development of the textile industry. During this period, which was known as the Renaixença, Catalan regained prominence as a literary language.

The 20th century ushered in widespread urban renewal throughout Barcelona city, culminating in its landmark Eixample district, which showcases some of Barcelona's most distinctive Catalan art-nouveau, or modernista, buildings.

The Catalan Antoni Gaudí, one of the most eminent architects, designed buildings such as the Casa Milà

(known as La Pedrera, the Catalan for stone quarry), the Casa Batlló and the Sagrada Família church, which have become world-famous landmarks.

The freedoms achieved during this period were severely restricted during the Civil War in 1936 and the subsequent dictatorship.

With the reinstatement of democracy in 1978, Barcelona society regained its economic strength and the Catalan language was restored. The city's hosting of the 1992 Olympic Games gave fresh impetus to Barcelona's potential and reaffirmed its status as a major metropolis.

In 2004, the Forum of Cultures reclaimed industrial zones to convert them into residential districts.

An example of the renewed vigour with which Barcelona is looking towards the 21st century.

Best of all, no matter where you go in Barcelona, you’ll find that artists are just as accessible as the art they create.

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This struggle ended in 1714, when the city fell to the Bourbon troops and Catalonia's and Catalans' rights and privileges were suppressed.

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BARCA

The city streets are an extension of the lives of its inhabitants; they are part of their homes, their way of sharing and living together in what is, in short, their home or everyone's home. If we walk through Barcelona and look at its street signs, we'll see the names of poets, architects, scholars, politicians, property owners and families, as well as guilds or words that have their origins not so much in an intellectual act but in a popular saying.

Every street has its own unique story to tell. They contain the memories, events and remnants of history that have

shaped the soul and spirit of the thoroughfares in the heart of the city.

The word “Rambla” comes from the Arabic word “Ramla”, meaning “sandy river bed”. When it rained, water flowed down from the mountains and ran along the river bed.

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What's over here? And a couple of streets over there?

Wherever you are in Barcelona, there's always something to see nearby around the neighbourhood or district: jewels of home-grown Catalan architecture, modernisme, and contemporary architecture, markets that are a treat for the senses, treasures of the ancient Roman and medieval city, parks where you can unwind … And the best thing of all is, you don't have to be a great explorer to find and discover all of Barcelona’s neighbourhoods.

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After the hospital had been built, the river bed was turned into a street known as La Rambla; it was Barcelona's first and only major wide boulevard. At the time, Barcelona only had narrow streets that kept the houses cool during the summer months. This made La Rambla the best street in Barcelona for taking a walk. It also gave the well-to-do the chance to show off their wealth, as their exclusive attire and jewellery didn't catch anyone's attention in the dark, narrow streets.

The word “Rambla” was even turned into an expression “ramblear” which means “to people-watch”. You can still “ramblear” on Barcelona's Rambla. So don't miss the opportunity to do so.

Taking a leisurely stroll along La Rambla is an absolute must when you visit Barcelona. The city's most iconic boulevard stretches for just over 1 km from Plaça de Catalunya to the sea. The Port Vell begins where La Rambla ends and offers a wealth of leisure attractions, bars and restaurants. In October it hosts the boat show, the Saló Nàutic Internacional de Barcelona.

If you want to enjoy breathtaking views of the port, the sea and the city, we suggest you make your way to the top of Montjuïc. You can get there easily from Paral·lel, on the funicular and cable car. The panoramic views from the Mirador de l'Alcalde and Montjuïc Castle are truly spectacular and the park's green spaces and gardens are perfect places to stroll and relax.

Montjuïc is also home to major attractions, including the Anella Olímpica, the Poble Espanyol and the Jardí Botànic (Botanical Gardens) and museums of the calibre of the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, the Fundació Joan Miró and the CaixaFòrum.

To make your visit to Barcelona truly complete, we suggest a combination of sea-based and cultural activities. The big advantage is that you can do them all in one day.

The word “Rambla” was even turned into an expression “ramblear” which means “to peoplewatch”. You can still “ramblear” on Barcelona's Rambla. So don't miss the opportunity to do so.

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The Columbus Monument, stands proudly at the end of La Rambla and its viewing gallery boasts superb views of the sea and the famous boulevard below.

The nearby Gothic shipyards, the Drassanes Reials, are home to the city's maritime museum, the Museu Marítim and if you make your way to the waterfront, and the Moll de la Fusta quay, you'll be able to see the Pailebot Santa Eulàlia, a historic schooner that celebrates its centenary this year. At this point, the walkway known as the Rambla de Mar, will take you to the Maremagnum shopping complex and L'Aquàrium.

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Explore Barcelona's Museums ART, CULTURE, SCIENCE AND ENTERTAINMENT COME TOGETHER IN BARCELONA'S MUSEUMS: EGYPTIAN MUMMIES AND CONTEMPORARY WORKS OF ART, THE CITY'S ROMAN ORIGINS AND ONE OF EUROPE'S BIGGEST SPORTS CLUBS. BARCELONA'S CULTURAL LIFE IS RICH.

Museu del Modernisme de Barcelona The holdings of the new Museu del Modernisme de Barcelona (MMCat) come from the private collection that two Barcelona antique dealers, Fernando Pinós and María Guirao, have amassed during their 40 years in the business. The museum is dedicated exclusively to Catalonia's home-grown artnouveau movement, modernisme.

The collection on shows consists of 350 works by 42 of the most representative modernista artists, including Joan Busquets, Ramón Casas, Antoni Gaudí, Gaspar

Homar, Josep Llimona, Joaquim Mir and Puig i Cadafalch, in their different disciplines: painting, sculpture, furniture and the decorative arts.

Casa Museu Gaudí The Gaudí House Museum was the home of the architect Antoni Gaudí i Cornet (1852-1926) from 1906 until 1925. It was built as a show house for the Park Güell development scheme and designed by Francesc d'Assís Berenguer i Mestres (18661914), the architect's friend and right-hand man. It opened to the public as the Gaudí House Museum on 28th September 1963. Since 1992 it has been owned by the Fundació Junta Constructora del Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, which has restored the house to give us an insight into Gaudí's life and work and what it was like when he lived there.

Fundació Fran Daurel The Fran Daurel private collection focuses mainly on Catalan art, comprising works by major artists such as Dalí,

Guinovart, Ràfols-Casamada, Cuixart, Tàpies, Barceló, Plensa, Millares and Picasso.

The latest addition to the Fundació Fran Daurel is the Sculpture Garden, which is reached through the Montblanc gate. 5,000 m2 of land has been reclaimed so that visitors can enjoy this permanent open-air sculpture collection. New works have been added to the garden which now comprises a green area featuring 41 sculptures by 27 contemporary artists, forming a landscape in which the figurative and abstract coexist, forming a wide range of shapes and colours which show us contemporary art from a different slant.

CaixaForum CaixaForum offers a wide range of events with a broad appeal: exhibitions of ancient, modern and contemporary art, which make CaixaForum one of Barcelona's most dynamic, active and vibrant venues. Exhibitions devoted to international artists, together with concerts, film screenings, debates and lectures.

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Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya The Museu Nacional takes visitors on an uninterrupted journey through a thousand years of Catalan art, from the 10th to the 20th centuries, through its four permanent collections: Romanesque and Gothic art, Renaissance and Baroque art, Modern art, photography, drawings, prints and posters and the Catalan Numismatic Department.

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WHERE EVERYTHING BEGINS WITH ART BARCA MUSEUMS MACBA - Museu Art Contemporani de Barcelona The MACBA's programme of events explores the most complex visions of contemporary art in a space that is open to the exchange of ideas and experimentation set out around a landmark cultural plaza that includes a Gothic chapel and the iconic museum building designed by Richard Meier.

Fundació Joan Miró Miró's artistic career and the wide variety of techniques he used are widely represented by the more than 14,000 exhibits on display.

Fundació Antoni Tàpies The Fundació Antoni Tàpies is a foundation set up in 1984 with the aim of fostering the study and knowledge of modern and contemporary art.

The Foundation building opened in 1990 in the former Montaner i Simó publishing house in Barcelona. The Foundation contains one of the most comprehensive collections of Tàpies art work which give an overview of every period of his artistic career. It currently combines temporary exhibitions, symposiums, lectures and film seasons with the production of publications.

THERE ARE OVER 50 MUSEUMS IN BARCELONA

217 paintings, 178 sculptures, a variety of prints and textiles and over 8,000 drawings provide an in-depth understanding of the creative process of the Catalan genius. It also has a pioneering exhibition space, Espai 13, which stimulates experimentation among young artists.

La Pedrera Known as La Pedrera due to its austere external appearance, resembling an opencast quarry, sinuous and with forms drawn from nature, it comprises two apartment blocks connected by interior courtyards and with a shared façade.

Gaudí designed the building at the age of 54, when he was at the height of his powers, and it was his last piece of civil architecture which represented a break with the ways of perceiving architecture at the time.

Museu Etnològic i de Cultures del Món – Montcada The Museu Etnològic i de Cultures del Món is the result of a passion for collecting and knowledge of other cultures. The museum seeks to preserve, restore and make accessible objects of incalculable cultural value in order to disseminate the artistic wealth and ethnic heritage of non-Western countries. The museum has worked in association with other public and private art collections throughout the world to bring together a display of highly valuable pieces.

Founded in 2012 in La Ribera, the Museum brings together a selection of more than 30,000 pieces originating from Asia, America, Africa and Oceania, and 2,356 works from the Folch Collection, the most important non-Western art collection in Catalonia.

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OUR SELECTIONS ARE ONLY SOME OF THE BEST

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EXPLORE GAUDI, PICASSO, MESSI IN BARCELONA'S MUSEUMS

Museu Europeu d'art Modern - MEAM The Fundació de les Arts i els Artistes has founded the MEAM, Museu Europeu d'Art Modern, as a showcase for its collections. The Foundation's mission is to give impetus to and disseminate figurative art, and, more specifically, painting and sculpture from the late 19th century to the present day.

The Foundation's holdings will be the focus of the MEAM's displays, although temporary exhibitions are planned in order to ensure it generates a dynamic and attractive programme of events.

Museu Frederic Marès The collection is divided into two main sections: the sculpture collection and a collection of everyday objects and collectors' items, called the Gabinet del Coleccionista.

The sculpture collection features works of art from around Spain spanning the pre-Roman period to the 19th century, and includes important exhibits from the Middle Ages and polychrome religious carvings.

Spanish sculptures from the Renaissance and baroque periods are also widely represented and there are examples of works from the main Spanish schools of sculpture, from the medieval period to modern times.

The "Gabinet del Col·leccionista" showcases a series of handcrafted objects that bear witness to the everyday lives of our ancestors from the 15th to 19th centuries and is divided into three galleries.

Camp Nou Experience The stadium of Footbal Club Barcelona, the city's eponymous soccer institution is an experience that will thrill even those that don't care for sports.

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Museu Picasso The museum shows the solid bond between the Malaga-born genius and the city of Barcelona.

The permanent collection comprises over 3,800 works from different periods, but with particular emphasis on works from his formative years and youth.

The Museum Picasso also features the extraordinary Las Meninas series, works from the Blue Period, as well as an extensive programme of exhibitions which complement the permanent collections.

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MUHBA - Museu d'Història de Barcelona The Centre d'Interpretació del Call showcases everyday objects from the 13th and 14th centuries. Noteworthy exhibits include Khanukiyyes, dishes with Hebrew characters, and a facsimile of the illustrated manuscript, the Sarajevo Haggadahvwhich depicts 15thcentury scenes, and two tombstones with Hebrew inscriptions.

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Museu Marítim de Barcelona Since 1929, the Museu Marítim de Barcelona has built up a major collection of exhibits which are illustrative of Catalan seafaring culture and make it easier to understand the factors that influenced the country's maritime history. The museum provides a journey through the history of seafaring with recreations of authentic maritime settings.

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Museu de l'Eròtica The Museum's presents 800 pieces of great historical value showcasing the erotic manifestations of a wide range of cultures, from a ritualistic, religious and recreational point of view, and spanning several periods in our history, from Greece and Rome to the 1920s. The museum also hosts contemporary erotic art by internationally renowned artists.

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Hemp Museum Barcelona For thousands of years, the story of cannabis has evolved hand in hand with the story of civilisation until it has become part of our everyday lives. This is why the Hash Marihuana Cáñamo & Hemp Museum Barcelona invites you to take an interesting journey to discover this plant species which has been essential in our development.

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ALL ARCHITECTURE IS ART

www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com

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"To Barcelona, architecture is so much more than just GaudĂ­. Architects from around the world flock to the city to visit much of its more modern architecture. Bold, brash, colourful, distinctive, harmonious,varied and unique are just a few adjectives that come to mind when describing it's architecture. Barcelona has successfully blended the old and the new in a way that makes this city simply breathtakingly beautiful."

CATALONIA TRADE & INVESTMENT

Website: www.catalonia.com

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Catalonia Trade & Investment is the Catalan Government’s agency for foreign investment and business competitiveness.

It operates from 36 offices around the world and promotes innovation, internationalisation, trade and founding of Catalan companies and startups. In addition, it offers specialised one-stop-shop services to international investors and corporations, attracting foreign direct investment to Barcelona and Catalonia.

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Charles Carter has been painting for the last 17 years in Montery, CA where he resides with his wife Char. In his words: "Painting from my perspective is communicating with the viewer and some how making a connection that is lasting. It is an idea manifested in a relate-able manner to the viewer."

Background >> Charles was born in Phoenix Arizona in 1950, art was always a part of his upbringing. He recalls that when he was a small child, he asked his mother to draw a cat and she whipped one out in a matter of a few strokes. His basic dilemma was that he was a talented athlete with a penchant for the arts (both performing and visual). His family did not share his musical acumen so it was never nurtured through a musical instrument. His mother was the artist and made ceramics which were a popular interest during the 50's and 60's when he was at home.Â

He left the visual arts until he entered the US Navy.

He began to study the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright while he was stationed in Japan. Wright had both a presence in Japan with his design of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo and also in Charles' native state of Arizona, where Wright's design studio Taliesin West was established. Charles began to cut stones with his friend and Japanese artisan, Naokosan, from whom he learned the craft and also explored jewelry design. After he was honorably discharged from the Navy, he was accepted in the College of Architecture at the University of Arizona in Tucson. While he attended the university, he would frequent coffee houses and local pubs,

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It was in high school where he excelled in the performing arts, he was tapped as the lead role in Bye Bye Birdie as Conrad Birdie as he could sing a bit and had the gift of the dramatique. He was also on the track team; a quarter-miler and ranked in the state. The powers that be explained to Charles that he could not continue with both art and sports.

His replacement was active on Broadway in New York in his post-school career - Stephen Spielberg and Linda Carter were in attendance in his high school and were active in the drama department.

Charles was selected to play American football both in college and high school.

"Monterey is one of the most beautiful locations in the world, this is where I paint."

He graduated from the University of AZ and moved to Houston, where he met his wife and was soon employed by an architectural firm. During his training, he worked with Pat Lopez - a premier architectural illustrator, who was performing illustration work for the architect firms of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill and the World famous Phillip Johnson. This was a formative experience as the discipline of illustration was very exacting and would positively affect his art career in later years.

Charles and his wife later left Houston and moved to the Monterey Peninsula, in Central California; this is where he began to paint. His first attempts were disastrous, he took a couple of painting lessons which were of no consequence.

He found the solution through a friend: "I then conferred with a dear friend and fabulous artist, Joseph Nordmann who is deceased as of two years ago. He was by far the best plein aire artist on the Monterey Peninsula and I have a collection of thirteen of his works. I asked him if I could observe him painting a work to completion without asking questions or interfering in any manner and he agreed.

Joseph's mastery was developed over 45 years.

Immediately it sunk in and I was off to my new career."

Charles has been painting as a professional in his studio at home in Monterey, CA. for nearly two decades.

"Monterey is one of the most beautiful locations in the world, this is where I paint. My wife and I have also been spending time on the Baja Peninsula in Mexico, between a small Mexican Village, Todos Santos, and the East Coast city of La Paz, Mexico."

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ordering a pitcher of beer, he would sketch faces and figures of the attendees and became quite proficient in understanding the human face and anatomy.

He was also enrolled in art - figurative drawing classes and photography. During Charles' college stint he had the opportunity to attend The Universidad de La Salle in Mexico City, which had a very European environment.

He studied architectural design in an all-Spanish class.

He achieved the highest award in the design class while competing against native Spanish speakers.

A strong connection with Mexico and it's people was developed; their art and love of colour influenced his art almost from its inception.

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Work >> Charles' work has evolved from its early stages of plein aire or impressionism to abstract expressionism.

It is reminiscent of the 1920's post-impressionistic abstract expressionism and his influences include Diego Rivera, Pena, and a touch of Mora, Amadeo Modigliani, and Picasso. "I have stated that my work is Modigliani Lite, as my color palate is not as dark as his work, but utilizing elongation as an expression in my art."

Uniqueness >> Keeping a positive color palate with an uplifting delivery: Charles' intention to communicate with the viewer through whimsy, uplifting color and a positive message. He also attempts to give his subjects an expressionless countenance. His florals and landscapes are of an idealized place in time which exists only in the mind. A certain perfection of an abstract reality that only exists in one's idealized thought.

He utilizes glazing techniques that are somewhat antiquated, but deliver a universal expression with a modernist outcome. It is a culmination that is truly American with a bit of Mexico, and Paris in the mix.

"I also work with studio paints, as I use a lot of paint it can get expensive but it works for me and maybe causes a bit more effort on my part, but I have perfected a vocabulary. I am a big advocate of frames even though they are painful, they seem to complete a painting as intended, the reason for this is that great artists from the past would often times paint with a frame on their work.

My frames are put together by a local framer and he does a very good job."

He says "Art is a good investment for one reason and the value resides in the enjoyment it brings to the owner and the satisfaction that it brings to the artistÂ

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Investment >> Most art purchased as an investment has already reached some level of value. Charles does not consider any art from contemporary painters to be investment quality, except for a handful of artists, as time has not yet played out. It is his wish that after he is no longer on earth his work will at least not wind up in some resale shop next to an antiquated dusty lamp of no value unless it is later discovered that it was a painting of major consequence painted by the late master Charles Carter.

Passion >> Charles is passionate about living life to the fullest and providing comfort to those in need. He and is wife have volunteered for years to support the Carmel Youth Center (which was started by Bing Crosby) helping local children who need a place to go after school. They also volunteer for various events on the Monterey Peninsula, including Car Week - the largest and most extensive vintage automobile extravaganza in the world.

These events provide help to local charities - one in particular that they have worked with for several years is the Kinship Center - a local charity that has grown to national prominence, its main function is to facilitate the adoption of children who are beyond desirable ages and circumstances such as teenagers, and children with special needs.

The couple also donate combs to the less privileged in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and other countries in Latin America. The single-use combs are thrown away by local private clubs, so Charles and his wife Charlaine collect the combs, get them sanitized and sent to various countries through a dental group who perform free treatment for the kids and adults who cannot afford it.

"We started this activity and now receive photos of children and adults running our donated combs through their hair.

I named the venture Kombs for Kids."

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when he realizes that an individual appreciates his or her work. My dear friend who is an artist musician defined an artist as 'An Egotist with an Inferiority Complex'."

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Upcoming >> Charles is currently working on a Sonoran Desert theme for a client, the very area in Arizona where he grew up, this is an interesting study in the local flora and fauna of the Northern Sonoran Desert. "It is interesting that my wife and I also go to the Southern end of the Sonoran Desert in Mexico in Todos Santos. Southern Baja, is also where I will be exhibiting my art as well. The piece will be my largest painting to date, 36�x 65�."

"I feel that art has drifted apart from quality to statement."

Location >> His house is on the Monterey Peninsula, 400 meters from the famed Pebble Beach Golf Course where the 2019 US Open Golf Tournament is being held at the time of writing. Francis McComas a great displaced plein aire painter who moved to the Monterey Peninsula from San Francisco, due to the San Francisco Earth Quake of 1905, stated that Big Sur was the most beautiful meeting of land and water in the world. Charles' work is influenced by the local beauty but also by the great quantity of quality artists who live and paint locally. "I believe that I am influenced by both the environment and as the great painter Monet stated: the museum!"

Art >> Charles feels that art has drifted away from quality to statement.

He says "It is somewhat similar to how comedy for the sake of humor has given way to making a political statement. Artists should paint for quality and improve the environment through their level of art and not through statement. Sometimes art can cross over to statement, but the results are usually not to the benefit of the artist or the quality of their work.

I would like my art to be appreciated for what it is, e.g. level of artistic competence, that it be museum quality and convey a message of uplifting of one’s spirit and the ability to convey a sense of whimsy without being slapstick! A simple and direct message."

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Backstory >> He does not paint many consignment pieces, he paints for a local gallery that exhibits his work - "The Carmel Valley Art Association in Carmel Valley is owned by a wonderful couple who are very sensitive toward their artists."

Charles also sells work from his studio in Monterey to a list of clients who collect his work. "I keep up with demand and vary themes from florals to landscapes to figures, music themes, automotive themes with an emphasis on inclusive figurative work and my definition of a still life."

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"Art is a good investment for one reason and the value resides in the enjoyment it brings to the owner and the satisfaction that it brings to the artist when he realizes that an individual appreciates his or her work."

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Shows, Collectors, and Accolades >> - 2012 Aug? “Art Business News”, New York - declared one of the Top 50 emerging artists in the world.

- 6 one-man exhibitions in local Carmel Galleries.

- A one-man exhibition and artist demonstration at the Beach and Tennis Club, Pebble Beach, CA in 2013.

- A second one-man exhibition and artist demonstration at the Beach and Tennis Club, Pebble Beach, CA in 2014.

- Finalist in Art Comes alive Cincinnati, OH. A national competition.

- Selected for an email campaign for fundraising at Clint Eastwood’s, Monterey Jazz Festival.

- Personally exhibited his work in 4 galleries in Carmel, CA. - Juried into the Sausalito CA Art Festival, very few artists internationally are juried into this event.

- Painting “Dona Marie in Big Texas Hat” was selected by The Junior League, featured as the only two dimensional art work advertisement for the Palo Alto Arts Festival in “Gentry Magazine”.

- Featured this year in an article in Paul Miller’s, Carmel Pine Cone News Paper, the publication that Clint Eastwood helped make famous.

- Collected by a varied cast of officionados. He is collected by a golf professional who is currently an author of how to in golf and also a national level broadcaster on the golf channel.

- Placements in Japan, Geneva, and Paris. He is collected all over the US. He has placements in Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, California, Nevada, Ohio, Idaho, and Arizona.

- He is collected by doctors, lawyers, business owners and money market managers, and people with an eye for his work. He just sold a work to a fellow artist which is a compliment of the highest order.

- Selected to hang in the late Doris Day’s and Dennis Levette’s Cypress Inn in Down Town Carmel-by-the-Sea. www.charlescarterartist.com

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"I would like my art to be appreciated for what it is, e.g. level of artistic competence, that it be museum quality and convey a message of uplifting of one’s spirit and the ability to convey G Rwithout E G G being H A slapstick!

R P E R a sense of whimsy A simple and direct message."

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Jennifer Jigour is a painter from the Bay Area, California. She fancies herself a Secret Agent Artist with a mission to create images that manifests positive desires for people and the world.

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You call yourself the Artist with the Golden Paintbrush?

Inspired by the concept of the golden rule, I paint images I'd like to see materialize in real life.

I treat my work of art as if it is living, being conscious of my audience and knowing that when they look at my artwork they are subconsciously receiving a message and I want that message to bring about things I care about, such as strength and enlightenment in the oil painting Secret Underground Relics or confidence and determination in my watercolor illustration Debonair.

Ian Fleming had a golden typewriter to create James Bond. I have a golden paintbrush to create art with my own secret mission: positive manifestations for people and the planet.

How has sexuality influenced your art?

I’m interested in creating a bridge between humans, sexuality and nature. Mother Earth is an artist herself. Her creations are paintings of perfection. It is my perspective that she is also a sensual being. I have a strong interest in human sexuality and how it relates to nature, as shown in my oil paintings Ecstasy in Nature and Sensuality of Mother Earth. As a sensual being, Mother Earth is calling to every soul on earth to treat her with tenderness and love. I want the earth to feel more love.

So, I paint images of exactly that. I want humans to be loved more too, because I think that is also needed. I would love to see quality connection between people on a global level.

As a female, bisexual and erotic artist, it is my mission to create strong images that evoke sensuality between the sexes that are beautiful, respectful and sexy. We are all sexual beings and I want people to own their sexuality, be responsible with it and be allowed to feel good about it, too.

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"I’m interested in creating a bridge between humans, sexuality and nature. Mother Earth is an artist. Her creations are paintings of perfection."

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How has your art manifested in real life?

The images and locations I create in my paintings often become actual destinations I reach in the future. A series of rococo style watercolor illustrations, including Cherry Blossoms, took me to the Palace of Versailles where I attended the grand masked ball. Landscape paintings of tropical destinations later took me to Fiji and Hawaii.

As a Californian, I have been busy for the last few years purposely painting in shades of blue and green and painting water or rain, as in DNA Tree, in response to the drought. So far 2019 is looking good; fingers crossed it stays that way. Mystic Desires was painted to heal personal trauma and it worked.

Maybe it’s all just a coincidence and there is no magic and my golden paintbrush is just a simple cinematic prop.

However, where is the mystery and the adventure in looking at it like that? I love looking at life mysteriously.

It's fun! I encourage people to have more fun.

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"The images and locations I create in my paintings often become actual destinations I reach in the future."

"I am a traveling artist.

As a world traveler, I take my artwork with me, drawing or painting on the beaches of Goldeneye in Jamaica or Vatulele, Fiji. I often paint on location and am influenced by the people and culture."

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What else are you passionate about?

Inspiration through dreams. Giving voice to the silenced. Supporting or collaborating with other artists and creatives, including modeling for photographers.

Languages and anything that helps me grow as an artist or person. Boxing and Judo, which accentuate my vision of reality as a female Secret Agent Artist with a license to create. By the way, I also wrote and illustrated a graphic novel called Secret Agent Moscow.

How has travel influenced your art?

Although I have an art studio based in California, where I was born and raised, I am a traveling artist.

As a world traveler, I take my artwork with me, drawing or painting on the beaches of Goldeneye in Jamaica or Vatulele, Fiji. I often paint on location and am influenced by the people and culture.

The oil painting Vedrus, evoking wisdom and understanding, was inspired by my travels to Russia.

Love and sensuality come from the Indonesianinspired The Indonesian Romeo and Juliet.

Other destinations of influence include France, Italy, Cuba, Japan, China, and Australia, and sometimes I even paint miles up high in the sky in an airplane.

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"I want humans to be loved more too, because I think that is also needed.

I would love to see quality connection between people on a global level."

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Why is your art a good investment?

Because I desire for all of you to be uplifted with me.

Life is a lot more fun when you get to share the magic with others. It is my mission to be your artist with the Golden Paintbrush and help you visualize whatever it is that you want to be or see in this world. I’m inviting you to participate in a global epic movie, told in still paintings with happy endings.

Where can your artwork be seen in person globally?

Have you heard of the 3-star Michelin restaurant called Ultraviolet in Shanghai, China? If you go, ask to see the celebrity signatures behind a gate. I have an original drawing there. In the charming port city of Fremantle, Australia, I have an Airbnb called The Captain's Lodge. I have some artwork there and will be adding more to the collection in the future.

My artwork can also be found at Gallery Erato in Seattle Washington: www.pan-eros.org/galleryerato

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"I desire for all of you to be uplifted with me.

Life is a lot more fun when you get to share the magic with others."

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"Each painting of mine, whether it is in oil or watercolor, are little stories within themselves.

They are still images to the dynamic cinema that is going on in my head."

Tell us how your art is both theatrical and cinematic?

Influenced by filmmakers such as Alfred Hitchcock, Terry Gilliam and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, I studied film and set design in college with the intention of one day directing my own stories. Life happened and things changed and I wasn’t going to wait for Hollywood to come knocking on my door.

I decided one day that I would make things happen for myself. I decided to treat life as if it was already one big movie with a happy ending, where I was the star playing the part of an Artist. Each painting of mine, whether it is in oil or watercolor, are little stories within themselves.

They are still images to the dynamic cinema that is going on in my head.

Who in your life inspires you?

I come from a very creative family. My dad is a musician.

My mom was an actress, and my sister is a playwright based in LA. My husband, an Australian actor and engineer, is quite a character. It’s a bit like being married to the love child of Salvador Dali and Steve Irwin. He is a huge factor in making life seem like a movie. The French Mafia. No, not the real French Mafia, just a large friend/family community in the US and France. Other artists around the world, many whom I know and have worked with personally.

Tell us about your current art projects?

Over a dry gin martini, I discussed a future painting with a French-Indonesian friend of mine. She is the subject.

I asked her what she would like to see materialize in her life. These qualities will be symbolically represented in the painting. Once the painting is complete, we will wait to see if what is represented in the painting comes to life.

The future holds more paintings such as these for clients.

www.jenniferjigour.com www.secretagentmoscow.com  Artist Portraits by Seven Foot Viking

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What can we expect from your art in the future?

Paintings with a sense of humor. I'd like to see more people laugh.

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"I started to study all the artists I loved and learned the history of art by myself, I had a hunch that I knew I was going to get there. I did not know how to paint yet but I thought I could and I wanted to learn, and I was not afraid to try."

Abraham Dayan is a contemporary French painter.

In his own words: "One day I woke up and I had to paint. I am a self-taught artist, in my work I put in what I find necessary for the viewer to understand."

What inspired you to become an artist?

I woke up and I had to paint. There are also the paintings of the Louvre, Musée d'Orsay and Centre Pompidou that inspired me, I love the paintings of Van Gogh and Gauguin especially those colors at the beginning, as well as Modigliani and Picasso.

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Your were born and raised in Paris?

I lived on Rue de La Folie Méricourt not far from the Quai de Jemappes and the place de la République and the Canal Saint Martin. I saw on the banks of the Seine sometimes painters who painted landscapes.

My parents took me and my little sister to see Versailles, I remember that it was very beautiful with large paintings and beautiful antique furniture, chandeliers, carpets and embroidery on walls.

I remember that I was very impressed, there were always the visits to the see the beauty of Paris, including the Museum of the Louvre and Musée d'Orsay and Center Pompidou, my parents had the taste of beautiful things, I think I inherited it.

Very quickly I loved all the great masters of the Renaissance and Leonardo da Vinci especially. I started to study all the artists I loved and learned the history of art by myself, I had a hunch that I knew I was going to get there. I did not know how to paint yet but I thought I could and I wanted to learn, and I was not afraid to try.

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You created a watch brand in your youth?

In the 80’s I worked with my parents and after a few years of success in sales forthe family business my father financed my creation of a watch brand that was not too expensive but very fashionable; that successful journey lasted from 1985 to 1993. I bought creations from Montreal and sold to shops in France and Europe, and it worked very well. After a disappointment in love I dropped everything and wanted to move on to something else.

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Tell us about living and painting in the USA? My experience in the United States was the trigger to show my work. I had painted a hundred paintings and more already in Paris, but I had never shown them.

It is in the USA that I gained confidence in me as an artist and I did not stop creating for 7 years between workshops in Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Boca Raton.

I had a great reception at the Boca Raton art festival, my work is now in the collection of the Contemporary Art Museum of Boca Raton. I liked the brightness of Georgia from the East to Savannah so I took a big Studio upstairs in an art center with 15 artists, each artist had their Studio and it felt good to be near artists. We stimulated each other and what I hadn't learned in the schools I was asking my neighbors.

From then I was selling and showing my works and selling all over the United States and my work also received very positive commendations from art critics. Savannah the secret jewel of the United States is a very pretty town where one can create beauty. There are an enormous number of artists to be seen at the College of Art, favourably low rental and living  costs combined with the beauty of residences. I lived downtown in front of a typical Savannah garden while my workshop was in the historic center where all the tourists come to visit the restaurants and attractions. I created and painted hundreds of paintings and developed my style with several evolutions. Despite the irresistible magic of Savannah, as usual as with my father and my watches I could not resist the urge to set off for New York City. This must be my sickness of impatience but after 4 years I also felt ready. I arrived in New YorkÂ

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You spoke about becoming eternal through painting?

This is the first feeling I understood when I read the biographies of the known painters. I saw that most had suffered but not all who arrive here get to leave a language and universal images of their genius for those who follow them decades and centuries after their disappearance. Through their works they become eternal (pretty or not). It is easy to see this simple phenomena when you are in a Museum when the work that you admire of a great painter fascinates you, controls you, dominates you and speaks to you. It is proof that through the work the artist became eternal, often also by what they had understood about the future, so I also want to become eternal.

You have participated in many international shows?

I have participated in numerous festivals, exhibitions and the Biennial of International Art. It is very rewarding for me as an artist that my work is recognized throughout the world. I am always amazed when the art organizers ask me to participate in large group exhibitions; recognition is very important for an artist, even more than money for the most part, it's a gift from God.

But aside from that, this brings an extra challenge and motivating because generally I will be alongside extraordinary artists and different talents. In our work and approach in art, all of a sudden one doubts and it is good because it allows one to advance to create and see other Horizons. We can then show these creations hoping to have a good reaction, it's nice to find yourself as a spectator too. The exhibitions are also important because it creates communication with good galleries and sales opportunities, of course it is also beneficial for the resume.

What is the inherent DNA of your work?

"My vision of the world" That's what I want to leave.

I want to change the world by putting in colors instead of monotony. I do not like the dull weather, in my characters I love that there is emotion that emerges from them especially in my portraits. I want my portraits to touch people by the beauty and the power of some traits and certain colors adapted to the character. When I paint them, I put what is necessary in my eyes so that the spectator understands but I leave open doors for imagination. Through the beauty, the

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with a truck with all my furniture and paintings.

It wasn't easy at first, I lived for 8 months at a hotel on 73 and 7th Avenue West in Manhattan and I was painting in my Studio in Madison and 6th Avenue just behind the Empire State building. I realized at least 100 paintings there. There are all these different people and trips from the United States, magnificent exhibits in the major galleries and Museums, artists and artworks that I have seen… all of this knowledge mixed with my culture from Europe allowed me to develop my works as an artist, I feel like a citizen of the world. I love New York, Savannah and Florida… these cities where anything is possible.

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"My vision of the world" That's what I want to leave. I want to change the world by putting in colors instead of monotony.

I do not like the dull weather."

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"When I paint them, I put what is necessary in my eyes so that the spectator understands but I leave open doors for imagination."

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"Let's save the world together by creating, emotions, creativity and beauty."

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creation and subtlety, I help them to see sometimes the shocking and prophetic, and the mystical. In my scenes I try to rework what is common in creativity such as salon tables or other objects with a different approach to the characters in a space and perspectives, I also use more colors that are my own, I try to ensure that the work is interesting that the spectator always discovers new things in the painting.

Why do you work in your style and way?

It's the evolution of my style for 25 years, I try to find other ways and doors but I always come back to this because I think it's natural, I believe it's me.

It's bad because I lock myself in this style, despite the difficulty with the market and galleries I did not change my style as a weathervane going to the art market but I rather try to impose it and explain it when I can. There are people who see my work and appropriate it to illustrious and famous artists and it is not easy for me to compete with the very famous movements and painters but I know that my work is different by what I create it and so I defend it. So I lock myself in this box that may be my coffin. The process I draw with a grey tale darkens the features of an image or a scene that I have in my brain with my search for space and prospects, if I see that it comes from me or from my unconscious I trace it with an old Dutch blue oil ÂŤold Holland "and after I work the deeper traits and colors.

What does the future hold for Abraham Dayan?

My plans for this year is to create at least 6 to 8 gigantic sized works and to try to paint at least 10 medium formats, and to distribute them to galleries around the world. For the future I would like to paint the most beautiful portraits of the world after Leonardo da Vinci and paint for major galleries and museums.

What message would you like to share to the world?

Let's save the world together by creating, emotions, creativity and beauty.

What are your passions?

I love cars, travelling to see other cultures, science, space of other worlds and research.

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Website: www.abraham-dayan.com

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Dorothy Bury Shaw, an award-winning artist from the Chicago area, explores spiritual themes in colorful renderings of great detail and symbolism.

She is inspired by nature and the human experience.

Why is your work a good investment?

When a work of art stirs you deeply, compels you to linger, then soothes something in your soul, know that the connection that first sparked inside you will remain there as time passes. Art is far more than an object one purchases; it is an experience that enriches your life and wakens self-awareness. To a potential collector, I could speak of my archival methods in creating and framing my art, numerous awards, recognition, publications, and provenance which might tick some boxes when purchasing for a financial investment, but these are never what first draws someone into a piece. To connect with a painting and feel the call to purchase it, there is an investment in one’s self… staking a claim in what brings joy and abundant life. The ones who choose my

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Tell us about yourself and background.

Born and raised in Chicago, I fell hopelessly in love with art as a young girl. The only cure was to create art myself. Alas, my loving (but practical) parents would only consent to pursuit of an art degree if I agreed to study commercial art. So, I graduated from the Chicago Academy of Fine Art. For several years I worked as a freelance editorial illustrator. My commercial work was published in Chicago newspapers, Chicago Magazine, Midwest Magazine, and more. It was only later in life that I returned to fine art.

Tell us about your work.

A single painting will take many hours, weeks, and months to complete. It is a painstaking process layering ink, watercolor and colored pencil on rag paper.

Recently I have added altered paper collage elements into some pieces too. There is detail in the hand-drawn line work; so fine that I sometimes need a magnifying glass to do it. I find myself lost in this intuitive process which alters between feeling peaceful and channeling an intense benevolent force carrying me onward.

My work references abundant, unapologetic use of symbolism and references to mysticism. It is intimate and soulful. Of course, there is a story unfolding, and it can only be completed when the viewer brings another perspective.

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"My work references abundant, unapologetic use of symbolism and references to mysticism. It is intimate and soulful. Of course, there is a story unfolding, and it can only be completed when the viewer brings another perspective."

art are welcoming into their lives a part of my spirit, a shimmer of the divine light that inspired the work, and all the beauty to be found in the dawn of Love’s presence within me as the art unfolded through my hands.

Each painting I create is a sacred space, a blessing for me and for all who are drawn to it.

Tell us about some of your achievements.

As a student majoring in editorial illustration I was selected by the faculty to be awarded a full scholarship at the Chicago Academy of Fine Art. Now as a fine artist I have received many awards at exhibitions and art events throughout the Chicago metropolitan area, including Best of Show, Best in Category, First Place, cash awards and more. I have been interviewed by several magazines and newspapers including the Chicago Tribune in June of 2016, and featured for the cover story in the Winter issue

of Suburban Life Magazine in 2016. My work hangs in collections all over the world. I am also a poet and launched my first art and poetry book in 2018, Love Without Distance, a Heartscape of Art & Verse, a project dear to my heart.

There are also private accomplishments that are very meaningful. When I meet people at street fairs who are deeply moved by my work some will say, “You are the real deal.” One elderly man spent an hour in my tent quietly studying my work, then confided, “I will never forget you, for the rest of my life I will remember this day.” Another time a woman came to me in tears telling me “I have entered a living chapel, this is holy ground, and your work tells me I am never alone.” A young professional man came to several of my art fairs one summer to gaze upon a particular painting, sitting in the grass, tears in his soft eyes. He eventually purchased

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"The ones who choose my art are welcoming into their lives a part of my spirit, a shimmer of the divine light that inspired the work, and all the beauty to be found in the dawn of Love’s presence within me as the art unfolded through my hands.

Each painting I create is a sacred space, a blessing for me and for all who are drawn to it."

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"My heart was pounding. I felt the ancients surround me with chants and drumming, matching my heart beat. My pen covered the paper with lines and patterns. As the storm raged, my heart found a steady rhythm and I felt great comfort in the drawings"

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that piece. He has written me since that the painting still speaks to him delivering insights. These are the moments I understand that I am just a messenger and gratitude fills my heart.

Tell us the back-story of how you developed your distinctive style.

In 2013 a powerful rain storm swept through our area.

My spirit, typically calm, was increasingly restless as the storm gained momentum. I felt a heightened sense of impending loss, that life was about to be changed forever. Floodwaters slowly approached us. I felt the gaping jaws of my creative spirit, gasping for air, near drowning. All night I fought to keep the waters out but soon they rose up through the drains in my studio.

There was nothing more to be done. Exhausted and surrendering, I sat down to draw and what came astonished me. My heart was pounding. I felt the ancients surround me with chants and drumming, matching my heart beat. My pen covered the paper with lines and patterns. As the storm raged, my heart found a steady rhythm and I felt great comfort in the drawings

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What are your sources of inspiration?

Inspiration is abundant. I dip my pen into the simmering soup pot of all the books I’ve ever consumed, all the art that’s moved me, a lifetime of unremembered dreams, a bank of extraordinary mystical experiences, every relationship held precious to me, the ever-expanding field of Love that surrounds us, and I cover my paper with these stories. It’s important to bypass the ego, to let intuition hold the lantern. It is an intimate process.

I feel exposed when I look upon what I’ve created, but the result is always honest.

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"Having been forever moved by powerful mystical experiences since childhood, I have always been focused on divine intention and its power to heal and transform. How can my work make this world a kinder place to be, and how can I help to heal the wounds upon our collective soul? These are the questions that drive all that I do creatively."

that poured from me. In the gush of those creations and the floodwaters, I was reborn. Miraculously, my studio was saved. And all the work I do now reflects that experience. There is no doubt whatsoever that this style is what I was born to do. I have not stopped since.

Share with us your upcoming projects.

Currently I am creating work inspired by nature for a select group exhibition at the Peabody Mansion at Mayslake, Oak Brook, Illinois for early 2020. I also plan on expanding my exhibitions into other locales and abroad.

What are you passionate about?

Having been forever moved by powerful mystical experiences since childhood, I have always been focused on divine intention and its power to heal and transform. How can my work make this world a kinder place to be, and how can I help to heal the wounds upon our collective soul? These are the questions that drive all that I do creatively.Â

www.dburyshaw.com

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Tell us about where you are based.

I spent the first half of my life in Chicago and now reside about fifteen miles west of the city in Downers Grove, Illinois where I work in my home studio.

I am very active in Chicago-area art and poetry groups.

Marset "Bicoca" lamp

BARCELONA LIT LIGHTING INSPIRED BY AND FROM THE CITY OF THE CATHEDRAL BY THE SEA

Barcelona’s lifestyle and values were “lit up” by about 25 collections of lamps for indoor and outdoor at Milan Design Week 2019. The lighting products had been selected from the most famous brands of Catalan creative entrepreneurship.

Table lamps, thin suspension, outdoor lanterns, retro-style products that recall post top luminaries, LED circle and bollards: the “Inspired in Barcelona: Mediterranean Design” exhibition at Fuorisalone 2019 - promoted by Catalonia Trade & Investment, Ajuntament de Barcelona and organized by BCD Barcelona Centre de Disseny with the participation of Habitat Cluster.

Barcelona - included about 25 lighting collections, each with a different design, a different material and a different use, but all with the common matter of being “Mediterranean”.

The values of the main Catalan city and its unique lifestyle were indeed emphasized at Milan Design Week 2019 by a tale of light, that released the power of the sun and the benefits of social sharing through design.

From Vibia to Marset, from Santa&Cole to Estiluz, from Carpyen to Bover Barcelona Lights, from Faro Barcelona to Lamp and Tunds, the most famous Barcelona brands were matched with smaller companies to bring attention to the illumination traditions and design heritage of Barcelona.

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“Inspired in Barcelona: Mediterranean Design” exhibition was a tale of light.

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Bover Barcelona Light Drip/Drop" collection

Urban lighting systems reminiscent of the streets, boardwalks and parks, that are typically filled with outdoor tables and equipment, thus offering the opportunity to enjoy social time. Furthermore, lighting collections characterised by a combination of materials such as wood, metal, stone and ceramic, suggest the idea of being at home, while iconic suspensions refer to workspaces or hospitality areas.  Inside a large open space in 14, via Dante, the exhibition offered a combination of the best Mediterranean Design manufactured in Barcelona.

There were no rooms but just design products that allowed the international audience to experience the real feelings coming from the rhythms and the colors of the city and its distinctive cultural heritage.

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Top Left: Carpyen Alabast Collection Top Right: Santa&Cole_Tatu Collection Right: Carpyen Margot Collection

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Vibia Tempo Collection

BARCELONA LIT

www.inspiredinbarcelona.com

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Top Row: Tunds Disa Collection | Metalarte Ray Collection | Santa&Cole Tekio Collection Middle Row: Faro Barcelona Loop Collection | Lamp Stormbell Collection | Estiluz Revolta Collection Bottom Row: Bover Barcelona Light Non La T Collection | Vibia Palma Collection | Lamp Bside collection

WWW.EMILIANADESIGN.COM

EMILIANA DESIGN STUDIO

RE-DESIGNING LIFE FROM CATALUNYA emiliana design studio was founded at the end of the 90’s by Ana Mir and Emili Padrós, who had recently achieved their MA's in Design at London Central Saint Martins School of Art & Design.

Since the beginning, the studio was characterised for promoting a multidisciplinary approach to design practice, this fact has allowed the studio to develop a diverse, solid and rich career.

The relevance of the concept in the creative process, the research in the historical and socio-cultural context, the experimentation with different materials, the attention for the details, the devoted exploration of new typologies, the active involvement of the user, the search for a poetic gesture and the use of a particular sense of humour, are among the essential aspects that emerge in the projects by emiliana design studio.

“We usually work in projects that require a certain degree of challenge. Whatever it may be – an industrial product, a unique piece, a space or exhibition – we always face projects with generosity and high enthusiasm and of course with the maximum technical rigour”

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Top Left: JUNE, Produced by Vibia Top Right: SPHERES, Produced by Escofet Right: EMILIANA DISPENSER, Produced by Moritz

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Flavia I. Lovatelli is a multidisciplinary visual artist in Columbia, South Carolina, USA.

Tell us about yourself and your background?

I was born in Lima, Peru, from an American mother and an Italian father, raised in a cosmopolitan family immersed in art and culture as a way of life.

I experienced the dream life, having lived in Peru, Italy, Spain, and France with several of my family members being accomplished artists, jewelry makers, and writers.

While I lived in Italy, I traveled all the time. Europe, to me, was like this amazing source of inspiration... the light there seems to take on a completely different hue.

The architecture, the affresco’s, the fashion, the light around you is mesmerizing. The way of life is constant movement, the people are for the most part delightful even though life is the same pretty much everywhere with wealth inequality, political dystopias and archaic bureaucratic morosis. I have lived in Rome (the city of love,) Milano (a culture of the mind and intellect,) and experienced Spain’s elegant honor and deep pride, but it is the United States that drew me home.

I came to this country to pursue what is most American — independence, autonomy and reinvention. I sought to lose the shackles of history and the generational weight of expectations. I found myself in a place of great strength. America is still a very young country; playful, and vibrant. It has the incredible freedom to be whatever it wishes to be. In this wondrous nation, you can reinvent yourself, take the time to hone into your craft and live under the impression that woman is equal to man. As I write this I realize I am living in a bubble, for the #MeToo movement is proving me wrong.

The Christine Basely Ford trials are a repeat of the Anita Hill trials; about three decades later which proved to the world nothing has changed, not here, not anywhere.

Tell us about your relationship with paper and plastic.

My love for paper was in me since birth I think, for I remember turning into a veritable Gollum at the sight of stray paper, saving any and all of it from sure doom

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In her own words: "I am a multidisciplinary artist focused on marrying traditional and non-traditional materials into a curious narrative of harvested objects. TrashionArtista, 2D and 3D artist, I compose works from everyday scraps, forging a story from what we leave behind."

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had I not ensconced with it. The manipulation came to me in my teens, my dad rolled paper out of habit, and I started doing it because that would be our thing.

Later on in my life I started thinking I have to turn this twirling of paper into something for my habit could potentially turn into a great thing. I found rolled up curly cues everywhere, in my pockets, in my purse, in my car, every time I got a receipt (and we all know what that looks like) I would roll it and twirl it out of habit.

I started making coils and made some silly jewelry, then frames, then coasters and so on. I love to play with paper, fold it, bend it, and coil it— learning what it becomes after it has passed through my hands. When I tire of it, I turn to painting, assemblage sculptures, creating trashion and now I found pleasure in playing with plastic.

I do what I do because I enjoy what I do, though paper has been a constant passion in my life it is not my only love, but my passion of working with plastic is one borne

from hate, the hate of the damage it is doing to us humans, the animals, the earth, the air and my need to spread the message.

Tell us about your work.

I was born a recycler, passionate for sustainability and accountability of our actions, I salvaged and recycled what I could and loved to reinvent it. I have learned that art is not necessarily associated with technical skills, but the passion you bring forth to your work.

I am a tactile artist, have always been driven to dimensional work, fascinated by art that included random found objects injected into it with purpose.

My work is spontaneous, being a sustainable artist, I have collected with the aid of my community a great amount of scraps and salvaged objects. I realize that I have been drawn to a specific texture, shape and color. Verging on earthy tones, soft, inconspicuous.

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"I have learned that art is not necessarily associated with technical skills, but the passion you bring forth to your work."

I find my work to be quite contemporary, seductive in the materials I use, the present day direction embracing, promoting and trumpeting the sustainable movement in the art world. In this current economy where we are at odds with where we are going with global warming my art genre is in great demand. I have grown my skill for the past ten years to what it is today, manipulating paper with perfection, injecting other found object, using resin in some and creating a variety of shapes and sizes to render the object that much more alluring. My sculptures have a myriad of dimensionality and facets that keep a viewer mesmerized in the discovery of them all.

I love my work, but I am always busy making it, loving every second of the process, hearing the heavenly sounds in my brain when I am done and move onto the next thing, right away, without a real pause, and never really taking the time to sit with any of it, for I am far too busy to sit and enjoy. Most of the time I am working on a number of things, which moves me even faster in that motion of keep it moving, onto bigger and better. I took a good look at it now, as if seeing it for the first time, forcing myself to see it from a viewers perspective, it took my breath away at how amazing it looks.

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My work is made entirely with repurposed, recycled, salvaged or up-cycled materials, all my work has some assemblage component where the materials used have been saved from their inevitable path to the landfill, my work, like all other sustainable works clamors attention to the incredible disregard to our wasteful actions.

Most people don’t stop to think "I am but one person throwing this away"… "What does it look like multiplied by the worlds population?!?"

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Tell us about some of your achievements.

I am proud of creating an art crawl in the small city where I raised my children, that is still going strong years after I moved away. I created a local sustainable Art group, for artists working in mix media specifically using recycled materials called Art Ecology Group.

We organize a yearly trashion (trash fashion) called ecoFAB Trash Couture. The show invites all artists interested in creating a wearable piece made entirely out of recycled non functional materials, plastic, paper, metal, glass etc. to make a trash on piece and with the same colors, materials, motif or design to create a 2D and 3D piece for a subsequent exhibition called ReCurrent. The show has traveled, mostly in North and South Carolina but we are always working to take it further. We have been doing this for eight years now and we are getting bigger and better.

I have been selected into ArtFielsds three years in a row.

Juried into the South Carolina State Museum 30th Art Anniversary, and my collaborative just won a Public Art Call in Asheville NC.

"A workaholic by definition works, I create, I play, I exult."

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

My inspiration comes from the salvaged material that finds its way to me, the shape and color inspire the work to be had. The material itself dictates the direction it wants to go and I know it is done when all pieces feel as they are in harmony. I am also very active in the art community, we have several events to attend every month all artistic, all inspiring me into the next phase, and inspiration comes

Tell us about how you feel when working.

Some people would consider me a workaholic, I disagree. A workaholic by definition works, I create, I play, I exult. The word work has a bad ring to most peoples ears, people react to that word negatively, I love what I do. I call myself a play-aholic though what I do is not taxing for the most part, it’s meditative, it’s rewarding, whatever that task may be. If the work at hand is a taxing one I challenge myself to continue one piece at a time. The worst part of my job is cleaning and preparing used materials for instance; the keurig k-cups or the used straws, plastic cups, cutting the million strips from plastic bags, etc. I consider my work finished when I see a good balance in play between all the pieces, a dance frozen in motion. The production of the paper pieces is my favorite part. The coils, quills, peaks or twirls; the task is cathartic, peaceful, meditative.

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within, I believe if you live and breathe art, inspiration is everywhere.

Tell us about your upcoming projects.

A lot of the projects I involve myself in are local by design, I had my kids to take care of and be around so I did not venture far from home until now. I am part of a group exhibition at StormWater Studios ArtFields Extended, one at Anastasia & Friends Gallery Last First and one at Tapp’s Arts Center Un-Common-Place in Columbia, SC. Our ecoFab Trash Couture 2019 debuts in Columbia SC on August 31. This year we officially become an International Show since one of our artists comes to us from the Ukraine. In September we install a three month group exhibition at Tapp’s Arts Center Re-Current.

In July we debut a large collaborative art installation, the Jasper Project Table in Columbia SC, and we also install a public art installation Welcome to the Block in Asheville NC funded by the city to memorialize the block lost to Urbanization. I have applied to calls outside my immediate area already and will start researching residencies and calls abroad this year.

How does where you live influence your work?

I live in Columbia, South Carolina, however, because of the nature of what I do, I believe my influences are more global. Pollution is a worldwide problem and if I were so lucky to live in one of the very few places that are living a trash free life I would still be aware that the rest of the world isn’t, I would have still seen Chasing Coral and Plastic Paradise, images of the pollution in India, I would have learned of the beaching of wales due to the plastic they are ingesting is killing them. Images of the turtles, mammals and other animals being choked to death by plastic bags and six pack holders… Same goes with paper, I started working with paper when I was young, living in Italy, that passion and work has followed me from continent as I moved from Italy to Spain, France and lastly to the US. My personal experience of the art world in Columbia is amazing. I find my city to thrive with art.

I might be jaded because of the neighborhood I live in.

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"If I were so lucky to live in one of the very few places that are living a trash F L A V I A L O V A T E L L I free life I would still be aware that the rest of the world isn’t."

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Tell us about ecoFAB. ecoFAB was born from a desire to grow my art footprint and draw attention to it by offering a different spin on creativity. I was also interested in evolving the understanding of what is art to people who feel insecure on what and how to appreciate art.

Because of ecoFAB and having to find new materials to work with throughout the years I started working with plastic. That move inspired me to join the board of a Community driven project Plastic Bedroll for the Homeless where we create plarn (plastic yarn) out of plastic bags which we cut into strips and loop together.

That work creates new smaller plastic waste, the handles and the bottoms of each bag gets discarded, that caused me to have the idea to knot them together and create a fluffy boa, that fluffy boa looked like seaweed and that is where the Great Barrier installation G R E G G H Awas R borne, P E R which propelled me into the world of environmental and installation art.

www.flavia-lovatelli.com

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How do you feel about art and its role in the world?

Art is the unspoken language, that which moves us, connects us, breaks the borders and unites us.

Like math, art is a universal means of communication.

Art is a necessity to keep us moving, existing, enjoying life.

It is that which gives us life, feeds our soul. Unfortunately just like our societal hierarchy dictates what’s what for the rest of us, so it does in the art world, it has become quite politicized and though I am very supportive of all art I feel sometimes the politics of it all take over and muddle the waters. Art is as important today as it ever was with all the turmoil we are living in. It helps the artist to express and expel and the viewer to find themselves united in a larger picture, there is incredible strength in numbers and all we ever need is to find our community. Art gives us that.  How do you want your art to affect the viewer?

I would like my art to cause the viewer to feel comfortable in the interpretation of art and rethink what art is, broaden their perspective of it, not just my work but in general, make them more comfortable with the whole sense of creativity and make them enjoy it instead of feeling uncomfortable or annoyed with what they don’t understand. I want the viewer to feel confident enough to be able to state what they like and dislike without shame and know that beauty is in effect in the eye of the beholder. I would also love it if I could cause the viewer to re-examine waste and the use of single use plastics and be a part of getting the world on board with banning single use plastics, like shopping bags, all styrofoam other than medical shipment supplies, straws except for extreme cases should be banned, plastic party supplies and so on.

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Gregg Harper is a visual artist and musician with his home and studio in Portland, Maine. His art has been exhibited in New England as well as Venice and Rome, Italy.

Tell us about yourself and your background.

I was born and raised in the Greater Cincinnati, Ohio/ Kentucky area with its rich Ohio River Valley culture and have been involved in collecting things that inspired further investigation since childhood. A telescope, professional magician's props, a Polaroid camera, and a nutpick were my tools of exploration. Today, all of the explorations initiated by these tools throughout my life, the experience of living in New England for most of the past 26 years, and professional work as an art historian and archaeologist, feed my visual art.

"Answers are merely the leadin to the next question."

Tell us about your work.

I formalize questions that I wish to address with my work by representing the layered exploration with a physical layering of media. The questions I pursue primarily relate to the importance we ascribe to spirituality, and how western and other world “philosophies”, as well as science, try to bring about clarity. Recently I've begun addressing how human spirituality - which is typically anthrocentric - places humanity above or separate from and not "of" Nature.

Answers are merely the lead-in to the next question.

Why is your work a good investment?

I hope that those who have my work find that they remain a rich visual experience – continual portals to deep, thought-full places.

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"The questions I pursue primarily relate to the importance we ascribe to spirituality."

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What makes your work and approach unique?

Objects that I’ve collected over a lifetime are layered, juxtaposed or woven together with my painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, silhouette cutting, and stitchwork in my “combinatorial” practice.

In much of my work I employ a technique of printing my photographs on clear acetates and layering them, or hovering one above another, to obtain new patterns, configurations and color combinations.

I keep in the back of my mind a quote from the late Harvard psychologist Jerome Bruner - "All of the forms of effective surprise grow out of a combinatorial activity — a placing of things in new perspectives."

What are your sources of inspiration?

My archaeological background is a well-spring of conceptual inspiration. Also, artists as diverse as Antoni Tapies, Francesco Clemente and Maurizio Cattelan are conceptual influences, and artists such as Remedios Varo, Joseph Cornell and Sigmar Polke have influenced my compositional approach.

Recent readings of books published by Quantum Prose Press and books/essays by Harry Houdini, Edward Harrison, Umberto Eco and Gary Snyder have also expanded my perspective in poetic and what might be called “scientific/philosophical" imagination.

Share with us your upcoming projects?

Artist Nicole Monforti and I are developing a collaborative project to explore the possibility of "absorbing" another's persona into our own.

It is known scientifically that someone who is part of our experiential memory becomes physically part of us – strong memories become physically embedded in our neurons. Can this also be the case when we experience

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Tell us the back-story of some of your projects.

For two years, and inspired by many visits to Venice, Italy, I used a formal “framing” for my works that are inspired by 16th century Italian, French and German Tarot playing cards. I’ve given this series the title “The Broken Vessel Cartomancy”. The 13 artworks invite personal divination as viewers imagine how they might be interpreted or “played” for themselves by tapping into a centuries-old Cartomancy that facilitated self-reflection and even storytelling. Italo Calvino described Tarot cards as a “combinatorial narrative machine”.

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"For two years, and inspired by many visits to Venice, Italy, I used a formal “framing” for my works that are inspired by 16th century Italian, French and German Tarot playing cards. I’ve given this series the title “The Broken Vessel Cartomancy”.

"My aim going forward is to initiate thinking about Human and Nature/Human as Nature�

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G R E G G

www.gregoryharpermusic.com

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another’s important spaces and their objects even without experiencing their owner's physical being? Does it require a certain psychic sensitivity?

Is it even valid to think in these terms?

How do you feel about art and its role?

Art can serve as the portal that reflects diverse philosophical and cultural perspectives, and to open personal conversations between viewer and artwork.

How do you want your art to effect the viewer?

My aim going forward is to initiate thinking about “Human and Nature/Human as Nature”, aligned with the basic premises of “Vital Matter” and “Deep Ecology” – that all components of global ecology, including humankind, are equal in stature and concern. The trick is finding balance between visual elegance and the idea (with a dose of humor), and the effect of chance and poetic universality universal in that one might be drawn in to engage with the image long enough to draw one’s own meaning from it.

D O R A M A R T I N E Z

D E S T I G

T O P

A R T I S T S

Dora Martinez - Doram is a Digital Artist born in El Salvador and presently living in Los Angeles. In 2000 she started her experimental work by manipulating photos and creating original digital images with Adobe Photoshop and later with Paint.NET. In her own words: I consider my work the fusion between imagination and technology.

Tell us about yourself and your background.

I was born and raised in El Salvador, I started drawing at an early age and never stopped. When I was seven-eight years old I took oil painting classes and later engaged in all forms of arts and crafts as a hobby. At age 18, after graduating from high school I moved to the United States to pursue my college education. One year later, I was accepted at FIDM Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in LA. After majoring in Fashion Design I enrolled at LACC Los Angeles City College and continued taking fine art courses such as life drawing, oil and acrylic painting, 3D design, sculpture, ceramic, graphic design and commercial illustration.

Tell us about your work.

I consider my work the fusion between imagination and technology. When I first began the focus was external, color and beauty were strong drivers then later became internal and conceptual. When I work with technology, I'm compelled to discover what door I can open to find art on the other side, whether I'm working on a computer, tablet or phone, the intensity is the same.

Why your work is a good investment?

In the past people have collected my work for different reasons, some were purely emotional, they were deeply moved, others were intrigued by the technique and subject matter and some because of my trajectory as an artist, when I started there was no such a thing as digital art, all my work was original and has remained innovative since then.

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What is unique about your work?

All my work is original, I'm constantly searching for new ways to tell a story, in the digital realm there are no boundaries, I'm free to create and keep my work unique.

Technology as a medium frees my mind from the limitations of time and space, It allows me to explore multiple ideas simultaneously, I can mentally become several artist working on independent concepts, different styles all at once.

D O R A

M A R T I N E Z

Tell us about some of your achievements.

In 2005 I opened my own art gallery in Los Angeles, there I provided free exhibition space for upcoming artists from all categories, during this period I was able to introduce digital art to the mainstream LA art scene.

"All my work is original, I'm constantly searching for new ways to tell a story, in the digital realm there are no boundaries, I'm free to create and keep my work unique."

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What are your sources of inspiration?

Externally anything that attracts my curiosity can become a source of inspiration, internally the creative process is abstract and limitless, the goal is to turn simple ideas into something brand new and discover the infinite possibilities within an image.

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"Internally the creative process is abstract and limitless, the goal is to turn simple ideas into something brand new and discover infinite possibilities within an image."

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D O R A

M A R T I N E Z

"Color is powerful, colors are vibrations that instantaneously reach your subconscious, you can tell many stories by the way you combine them, you can alter people's mood in so many ways."

What you are you passionate about?

Human nature, quantum physics and colors, how they interact with each other. Color is powerful, colors are vibrations that instantaneously reach your subconscious, you can tell many stories by the way you combine them, you can alter people's mood in so many ways. With digital technology I can explore the variation of colors and see their unmediated effects. In seconds I can decide what road to take with each piece.

L O V A T E L L I

Share with us the back-story of some of your projects.

In 2003 I visited Tokyo and attended the opening of the Mori Tower Contemporary Art Museum, when I returned back to LA, I created one of my favorite pieces named “Tokyo View� from a photograph I took during that day. Years later when the print finally made it to the gallery, It was sold almost immediately to a young man working for Microsoft planing to travel to Japan. It felt like the creative process went full circle, like the image wanted to go home.

Tell us about your upcoming projects.

I'm currently working on a piece I will be showing in the upcoming Florence Biennale Contemporary Art Exhibition.

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F L A V I A

"Digital art allows me to visually express feelings of pressure, stress, conflict and contradiction that are a result of the world we are living in."

"The greatest reward is to know that with art I can shake people out of their comfort zone or the opposite bring balance and beauty in the midst of chaos."

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G R E G G

WWW. DORAMARTINEZ. COM

Tell us about where you are based and how it influences your work.

I'm based out of Los Angeles California, life is very intense in such a large city, as expected I am constantly struggling between keeping the endless noise out and searching for balance and inner peace. The challenge to find that quiet space where I can create, pushes my work forward, art makes me feel I'm still alive.

How you want your art to affect the viewer?

As an artist I can only embrace the creative process, the end result is a private and intimate connection between the final piece and the audience, the greatest reward is to know that with art I can shake people out of their comfort zone or the opposite bring balance and beauty in the midst of chaos.

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How do you feel about art and its role in the world today.

As technology develops exponentially, the perception of reality speeds up, life moves rapidly and becomes altered, consequently society reacts and art needs to convey those strong emotions, digital art allows me to visually express feelings of pressure, stress, conflict and contradiction that are a result of the world we are living in.

HOTEL

COTTON HOUSE

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THE 5 STAR HOTEL DESIGNED FOR THE MOST CURIOUS TRAVELLERS, WHO WANT TO DISCOVER THE TRUE ESSENCE OF BARCELONA.

COTTON HOUSE IS MORE THAN A HOTEL. IT IS MORE THAN A HOUSE. IT IS THE PLACE WHERE WE WILL WRAP YOU IN COTTON. -----------------------

Finally, at the initiative of a group of hotel promoters in Barcelona, the building commenced an intense refurbishment process which culminated in January

2015 to reveal the beautiful Cotton House hotel.

The refurbishment project has taken great care to maintain and recover all the original elements of the building. Acclaimed interior designer Lázaro Rosa Violán was commissioned with the project and has done a marvellous job; reflecting a contemporary and sophisticated style, which at the same time incorporates all the functionalities needed to assure the luxury level of service and comfort that our guests deserve.

The original elements of the building have been conserved, such as the imposing marble staircase, delicate parquet and boiserie embellishing ceilings, floors and walls in some of the rooms. also the famous spiral staircase built in 1957, the main feature of which 311 .p

The Cotton House stands imposingly on the site of the former headquarters of the Cotton textile foundation “fundación textil algodonera”, an emblematic 19thcentury building in the neoclassical style which is a landmark in the city of Barcelona. Built on the orders of a family of the Catalan bourgeoisie when the textile industry was at its height, it was sold in the middle of the 20th Century to the Cotton Producers Guild which established its headquarters there with the aim of housing the highest possible number of cotton producing bodies and services: the idea was to create a genuine Cotton House.

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LOCATED IN THE HEART OF BARCELONA, IN THE EIXAMPLE DISTRICT: A PERFECT GRID OF WIDE STREETS THAT FORM BLOCKS WITH CHAMFERS ON EACH CORNER.

Like the buildings in this original district, the Cotton House has an interior patio garden. The eixample was planned at the end of the 19th century and today it is one of the best districts in Barcelona thanks to its planning simplicity and the quantity of services and amenities it offers. It was the district chosen by rich Catalan industrial bourgeoisie to build their stately homes in the Modernist style, which is why it is the area of Barcelona with the highest concentration of

buildings in this style. Of particular note are la Pedrera and Casa Batlló, both the work of Gaudí, Barcelona’s most universal architect (they are a 10-minute walk from the hotel). not forgetting the Sagrada Familia, a 20-minute walk away.

The hotel has 83 refined, comfortable rooms, five of which are spacious suites. The decoration is inspired by cotton through a chromatic combination of the white, black and sepia of the cotton plant and everything it evokes: softness, comfort, delicacy and naturalness.

The rooms have been designed to offer all possible comforts, including: bed linen that is made of sheets with 300 thread count mercerized Egyptian cotton and cosmetics by the prestigious Ortigia brand, made with 100% natural products from the Mediterranean area.

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is that it is not supported on the floor below, but is suspended from the metal frame of the upper floor, to give a light and airy aspect. At the same time, all the facilities of the building have been completely replaced, resulting in a distinguished setting full of history, yet modern and comfortable at the same time.

WHETHER IT IS CULTURAL, ARTISTIC, ABOUT CUISINE OR PRACTICAL. WE AIM THAT EACH GUEST’S EXPERIENCE IN OUR CITY WILL BE INTENSE, ENRICHING AND AUTHENTIC.

Outdoor Pool: on the roof of the building there is a magnificent outdoor pool with views. Barcelona enjoys a pleasant temperature and sunshine most of the year so this pool and solarium guarantee a flattering tan.

Gym, Massage & Beauty Treatment: at the gym, our guests can continue with their regular exercise routine. our guests will be able to relish the most relaxing and replenishing beauty treatments in our cabin. l’atelIer: The Cotton House offers its guests an artisanal tailor service provided by the professionals of santa eulalia, the most prestigious tailor establishment in Barcelona. at the request of our guests, a tailor from that firm will come to our atelier to take his/her measurements, advise and select unique fabrics of the highest quality to make the desired garments.

Gossypium: We reinvent the traditional concierge service, by placing emphasis on offering each guest the information that is of most interest to him or her.

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Library: located in one of the rooms that the members of the Cotton Producers Guild used for meetings and as a social club. Here guests can relax away from the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy a traditional English afternoon tea.

Terrace: the hotel has a spacious terrace with lush vegetation, accessible from the Batuar Bar and Restaurant, where meals are also served. It is located at the back of the hotel, in a spacious block patio very typical of the buildings of the Eixample district.

WWW.HOTELCOTTONHOUSE.COM

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GRAN VÍA DE LES CORTS CATALANES, 670 / 08010 BARCELONA

J O H N D E N I S

D E S T I G

T O P

A R T I S T S

"I stumbled on a new medium of glass, a hybrid of glass. I am using it in a way that has never quite been used before.

I wanted scale and dimension that was not available in previous methods."

John Denis has been a full time working artist for over 25 years, exhibiting in over 100 juried arts shows throughout the USA. John's work is a reflection of time spent on the Pacific coast, the relevance and infinite character of the ocean fuels his senses and imagination.

Currently living, in Chicago the sights and sounds of the city are steering John's new work toward more contemporary, rhythmic and abstract forms.

Tell us about yourself and your background.

I was building small inventions, playing music and writing songs at nine years old.

I joined an original 80’s band at fifteen as lead singer and songwriter. We played along with a few large acts and finished with a press conference on cable TV in New York. Music led me to New Orleans in my early twenties where I worked for a renowned metal sculptor. I would build sculptures in the day, listen and play music in the night. This was the catalyst for my work for the next 25 years. I have participated in juried fine art shows and expos throughout the country for years.

This has exposed me to some of the most diverse and talented artists of today. It has also really helped me to develop my own approach.

What is unique about your work?

I stumbled on a new medium of glass, a hybrid of glass.

I am using it in a way that has never quite been used before. I wanted scale and dimension that was not available in previous methods. It’s the marriage between light, form and texture.

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Tell us about your work.

I start with a block of plaster, clay or a free form armature. I then hand carve a form from the work and layer it with glass and acrylic by heating and cooling the surface. I then break away the form and what is left is the sculpture.

"I attribute thought to where my work is displayed and shown.

The originality of my work stands for itself. Really I am not following any trend."

Tell us about some of your achievements.

In 2008 I was commissioned to do a large installation with my glass medium in a public building. It was five stories encompassing over sixty works hanging from metal cables enhanced LED lights. Some pieces as large as ten foot ranging in colors from blue, red, amber and green.

In 2018 Salvi Law Firm Chicago purchased a six foot tall sculpture for their newly remodeled lobby overlooking Lake Michigan.

In 2018, I was awarded Jurors Choice as Best Sculpture at New York’s Washington Square Art Festival as well as Jurors Choice at the Columbus Art Festival.

What are your sources of inspiration?

Travel, sometimes off the cuff, listening and playing music, reading actual books. I grew up hiking in the southwest observing the cliff formations, imagining how the elements formed these organic city-like structures.

I then moved to the west coast, began bodysurfing and walking the coastline. This was the seed for my future concepts on form and light.

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Why is your work a good investment?

I attribute thought to where my work is displayed and shown. The originality of my work stands for itself.

Really I am not following any trend. I am not concerned with being associated with a scene or a fad, as much as something poetic with a life of its own. As time goes on the work develops its signature.

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D E S T I G

T O P

A R T I S T S

What are you passionate about?

How the new generation of artists are contributing to the awareness of the environment and its fragile position now. Much of my work is water in motion.

It is a major element of the world's commerce and eco-system, connecting us all in many ways.

I’m venturing to highlight the magnificence of water.

Tell us about your upcoming projects.

I am currently working with a Chicago based design firm on an installation for a healthcare facility.

I have been selected to showcase with the Ft Lauderdale gallery Artblend at SOFA (Sculpture Objects Functional Art) October 31-November 3, 2019, Navy Pier in Chicago. It is a premier international art fair dedicated to three-dimensional

"Much of my work is water in motion. It is a major element of the worlds commerce and ecosystem, connecting us all in many ways. I’m venturing to highlight the magnificence of water."

Tell us where you are based.

I am based in Chicago, an ultra-classic American city.

It is literally a central player in the architectural boom. Chicago is layered with classic and modern design, structure and liberation. It is a city that is cradled by Lake Michigan which totally effects the drama of the weather and climate.

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art and design. I am performing with my original band members of “Basic Elements” from the 80’s for a one time reunion celebration at The Mint in Los Angeles on November 16, 2019.

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How do you feel about art and it’s role?

Art is being shared on social media worldwide from all walks of life which makes it more than ever a universal dialogue. It's a great time for art. It's an open platform. I think art is re-establishing itself as we speak through environmental issues and through cultural equality topics as well as technology. That said, there is a new art critic in town: the general public.

How do you want your art to aect the viewer?

I would like the work to uplift, at the same time shift the viewers state of mind to an openness, a pause of words, to take a breath and feel a little more. www.johnjosephdenis.com

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"I would like the work to uplift, at the same time shift the viewers state of mind to an openness, a pause of words, to take a breath and feel a little more."

J A N E B A R T H È S

D E S T I G

T O P

A R T I S T S

Jane Barthès is a Franco British artist who lives and works in Chicago. In her own words: “I feel a bit like a physicist researching her molecules. In essence everything is but matter and energy."

Tell us about your work.

There is a freedom inherent in a large, two-dimensional surface that is not bound by gravity that I never tire of exploring. I use acrylic, charcoal and graphite on canvas.

Grounded in an intuitive, meditative approach developed over many years the work has grown in complexity as it reflects an intensely personal journey.

My world has always felt big and wild and full of unknowns and I have turned it upside down many times.

Those conscious acts of self-implosion may have at one time seemed random but have come to reflect my personal evolution and artistic point of view.

The inherited duality of an English mother and a Catalan French father is fundamental. I have always grappled with concepts of duality; the ebb and flow between matter and energy, the clash between chaos and order in a world often fraught with ugliness and uncertainty.

My use of color is both bold and yet restrained and

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Tell us about yourself and background.

I consider myself to have lived many lives around the globe, living in the UK, France and the USA as well as having trekked across the African continent, China and other developing countries. I was born in Nigeria, in 1959, to a fiery Catalan French father and a reserved English mother. My inherited duality and unlikely birthplace have probably impacted my work from the start. I knew I wanted to be an artist from a very early age although my parents insisted that I do something ‘sensible’. I did for a while but spent all my spare time drawing comic strips. I finally followed my dream to the University of London, Wimbledon School of Painting.

After graduating in 1994, I left the UK to work in the relative isolation of the vineyards in the South of France. It was there, away from city pressures that I became an abstract artist while also teaching life drawing and designing sets for theatre.

However, in 2004, my insatiable curiosity and desire for change led me New Mexico in the US where the sheer space, extremes and drama of the desert inspired my work for 5 years before the recession set in. In 2009 I moved back to big city life in Chicago where I continue to live and work.

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"My world has always felt big and wild and full of unknowns and I have turned it upside down many times.

Those conscious acts of selfimplosion may have at one time seemed random but have come to reflect my personal evolution and artistic point of view."

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often complementary. My hope is that I can create a sense of clarity, even harmony in the chaos of the universe to give shape and purpose to what the eye does not see.

Additionally, there is a sustained dialogue with each geographical port of call. Sensitive to my surrounds, I am intrigued to see how the work has come to reflect the exquisite urban origami and Bauhaus lineage of the city I call home. The sunny, scintillating patterns of the waters of the Chicago river reflected in the geometric, glass high-rise buildings resonate so deeply, I get goose-pimples as I sense the esoteric connection between all things.

The geometric patterns in the work have become metaphors for both the architectural spaces we create and inhabit as well as for science particles. I refer to these as my ‘molecules’; they are the building blocks of life itself.

They are the purveyors of the powerful yet intangible energy that propels us through existence as I remain obstinate in the belief that if I just dig deep enough, the emptiness, or negative space of the canvas might reveal the secrets of the life force itself.

D E S T I G

T O P

A R T I S T S

What is unique about your work?

The work is so personal as it reflects my unique journey through life. My peripatetic existence has prohibited any obligation to satisfy local academic institutions, who, perhaps by their very nature, risk compromising the freedom of artistic thought.

I consider it my job as an artist to be independent in my observation and dialogue in search of a fresh perspective.

"The work is so personal as it reflects my unique journey through life."

Tell us about some of your achievements.

I had 2 concurrent shows in Chicago this summer, showcasing some of the very large works in a perfect setting, a large building downtown; The Olympia Building, (The Nieman Marcus Building), otherwise referred to as 737, Michigan Avenue.

I had a huge exhibition at Fermilab, the particles laboratory in the US for 3 months earlier this year in which I gave a talk.

The Long Beach Island Foundation for the Arts and Sciences also invited me to show this summer for their show “Landworks”.

I have representation with Prak-sis Ltd, a large consultancy in downtown Chicago as well as representation in San Francisco with The Project Room and Armadillo Central, in London.

There is more underway as the opportunities seem to be pouring in this year! On arrival in the US I was immediately picked up to feature in the book: 100 Artists of the South West, Schiffer publications, 2005.

I’m in private collections in the UK, France, Germany, Bundes Bank, NYC, LA, Chicago, New Mexico and more.

What are you passionate about?

Life! Art, obviously, architecture, literature, travel, people and my cat. My interests in art are always a work in progress and evolve with my journey through life.

American art has provided a new world of discovery and inspiration. Over the years I have gravitated towards Abstract Expressionism, particularly the suspended

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Why is your work a good investment?

Perhaps this is a question for the collectors and buyers that are beginning to discover the work.

Essentially, the quality of the work is grounded in years of practice and research. This is a particularly exciting summer for me with several shows running concurrently in Chicago, New Jersey and beyond.

I am also working with agencies in Chicago and San Francisco and London.

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"My work is an attempt to find balance. I seek to reveal a sense of poetry and even harmony that I find in all the messy dissonance around us.

I search for the sacred in the mundane."

How you want your art to affect the viewer?

In a world of increasing information overload, it seems to me imperative to offer a distilled space that invites the viewer to reflect upon the source of all our energies and the intangible mysteries of this life.

Acutely aware of the opposite forces I have been given to walk through this world with, my work is an attempt to find balance. I seek to reveal a sense of poetry and even harmony that I find in all the messy dissonance around us. I search for the sacred in the mundane.

Without space in our lives for quiet reflection, how can we find and experience joy and attribute meaning to our lives? www.jbarthes.com

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energy of Robert Motherwell’s shapes.

I also love the stringent rigors of American Hard-Edged Abstraction with Californian artists such as Frederick Hammersley, Lorser Feitelson and Helen Lundeberg.

I’m interested in many contemporary contributors to the discipline and seek to bring my own, perhaps more expressive journey to the discussion.

Share with us your upcoming projects.

Plenty in the pipeline but nothing I can substantiate yet other than what I’m doing at present.

Tell us about where you are based.

I’m based in the city of Chicago and my large studio is conveniently only a ten minute car ride from home.

CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA CALIFORNIA'S PARADISE FOR ARTISTS AND... PETS

Carmel enjoys moderately warm temperatures year-round, with an average high of 65 degrees and an average low of 48 degrees. September and October offer the best weather, with an average high of 72 degrees.

A one-square-mile bohemian haven on California's Central Coast with unique architecture that fuses the modern day with old world elegance. Carmel is known for its natural beauty that can be seen in its famous Carmel Beach, with soft white sands, gentle coves, and cypress

and redwood trees. Its fairy-tale-like setting and its lack of chain hotels and chain restaurants make it all the more inimitable.

In lieu of street addresses, Carmel-by-the-Sea's quaint oceanside cottages are identified by special, ownerchosen names that are more descriptive than the numeric nomenclature afforded to much of the nation.

Carmel-by-the-Sea's true distinction lies in the artistic intricacies that make this seaside village so inspiring.

Carmel-by-the-Sea was once—and for many still is—a bohemian haven, attracting artists, writers, and intellectuals.

Of course, many of today's 3,750 Carmel residents were once visitors to this charming California Central Coast village, only to depart dreaming of one day living here.

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The small village of Carmel-by-the-Sea represents a microcosm of everything that has contributed to the California dream — independence, creativity and tireless spirit. Situated on Carmel Bay in Central California on the southern bend of the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel-by-theSea is 120 miles south of San Francisco, 350 miles north of Los Angeles, and 26 miles north of Big Sur.

ART IN CARMEL

Carmel inspires with more than 100 art studios, galleries, and antique stores representing the works of master artists (both local and from around the world), hands-on art immersion and workshops, and vibrant art walking tours.

Carmel's early residents included the authors George Sterling and Jack London and poet Robinson Jeffers. These early inhabitants were determined to create an intellectual oasis on the inspiring, sparsely populated Central Coast of California. By the time Carmel-by-theSea became a city in 1916, the population had grown to almost 450.

The village was composed of luminaries such as authors Sinclair Lewis, Mary Austin and Lincoln Steffens.

Today, that artistic spirit is around every corner. Visitors will find artists busily working in their galleries - from worldrenowned sculptor Steven Whyte to the abstract painter Mary Titus.

A self-guided Saturday night Art Walk takes place monthly, and the Annual Carmel Art Festival draws dozens of Plein Air painters each May. Carmel's Performing Arts venues range from the charm of the historic Carl Cherry Center to the Golden Bough Playhouse, and from the Circle Theatre to the newly-renovated historic Outdoor Forest Theater.

Since its founding, the Pacific Repertory Theatre company has entertained residents and visitors with the interpretation of distinguished plays from its unique stages across Carmel.

The venerable Sunset Center, features a state-of-the-art facility that is home to the renowned Carmel Bach Festival (held annually in July), Carmel Music Society, Chamber Music Monterey Bay, and the Monterey Symphony, and yearround performances from artists of note.

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CARMEL BY THE SEA

QUIRKY CARMEL

Carmel is famous for some of its quirks and unique traits: - There are at least 41 courtyards and passageways throughout the village. The first debuted nearly 100 years ago, when architect Hugh Comstock began building fairytale houses and shops. Some passageways and courtyards feature shops, galleries, and restaurants.

Self-guided maps are available at the Carmel Visitor Center and at most inns.

- Unwilling to see their village become "citified," Carmel's founding fathers rejected the practice of house-to-house mail delivery in favor of a central post office. To this day, there are still no addresses, parking meters, or streetlights, and no sidewalks outside of Carmel's downtown area.

The local post office continues to serve as a social hub for residents, while those seeking directions receive hints such as "fifth house on the east side of Torres Street, blue trim, driftwood fence" or by the legendary names adorning most houses, such as "Periwinkle" or "Sea Urchin."

- There are no chain or fast-food restaurants, nor national coffee shops in the village.

- A permit is required to wear high heels: anything more than two inches in height or with a base of less than one square inch.

(Don't worry, local police ignore it.)

This odd law was authored in October 1963 by the city attorney to defend the city from lawsuits resulting from the irregular pavement distorted by tree roots.

As a memento of one's visit to Carmel, high-heel permits are available without charge at City Hall.

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CARMEL BY THE SEA

CARMEL BEACH ONE OF THE BEST IN THE WORLD Carmel is known for its many attractions, perhaps none more so than its incomparable white-sand, dog-friendly beach. Whether remaining on the path along picturesque Scenic Road, or feeling the sand beneath your feet, Carmel Beach is a favorite of visitors and locals who make their daily pilgrimage.

Two newly published guides, available free exclusively for guests at Carmel hotels, help visitors to explore while recharging body and mind. The Locals Guide to Scenic Runs, Hikes & Walks In & Around Carmel-by-the-Sea invites visitors to stay fit as they discover Carmel-by-theSea's many scenic nooks and crannies. And the Beginner's Guide to Mindful-by-the-Sea encourages visitors to relax and be in the moment for a more rewarding getaway.

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A trip to Carmel-by-the-Sea is an opportunity to unplug and restore in a scenic setting unlike anywhere else in the world. The inspiring natural beauty and temperate climate entice visitors to actively connect with Carmel while also finding peace and balance.

A 'TOP 10' WORLD DESTINATION

Carmel is experiencing a culinary renaissance with eclectic restaurants (no chains) that span the gustatory globe from the Mediterranean to Asian, French, Italian, Spanish, Cuban, Greek, and much more.

All told, there are nearly 55 coffeehouses, bakeries, pubs, bistros, and restaurants serving a bounty of international and regional cuisines and utilizing fresh produce grown locally in Salinas Valley, and fresh seafood from Monterey Bay, as well as serving award-winning Monterey County wines.

Carmel boasts several blocks of quaint shops, antique stores, boutiques, and galleries.

Along cobblestone streets and paths, strolling and shopping in downtown Carmel feels like a step back in time with virtually no chain stores but many affordable, yet trendy, shops and family-owned businesses featuring unique gifts and friendly, personalized service.

The village of Carmel-by-the-Sea has 42 inns — from casual and comfortable to elegant and refined — offering a sum total of 990 rooms.

Every lodging property in Carmel-by-the-Sea includes breakfast with a room booking, from continental buffet, to room-delivered, to full dining.

Many offer special amenities, such as ocean views or secluded courtyards and fireplaces, and all feature the characteristic warmth and charm that has become a village trademark.

And it's never been easier to make a reservation at one of the inns: the "Book Direct" feature on Visit Carmel's website allows travelers to quickly and conveniently make reservations, at special rates, directly with the lodging establishments.

Direct flights are available to Monterey Regional Airport (MRY) from San Francisco (SFO, United Airlines); Los Angeles (LAX, United Airlines); Dallas (DFW, American Airlines); Denver (DEN, United Airlines), Las Vegas (LAS, Allegiant Air); San Diego (SAN, Alaska Airlines); and Phoenix (PHX, American Airlines). The Airport is 10 minutes from downtown Carmel. Rental cars are available. Carmel is about a 2-hour drive from San Francisco and a 6-hour drive from Los Angeles (allow longer if traveling via coastal Highway 1).

For more information: www.carmelcalifornia.com

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CARMEL BY THE SEA

CYPRESS INN, CARMEL The beguiling seaside city of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, is world-renowned for its small-village ambiance, its great shopping, world-class restaurants, and gorgeous white-sand beach and for being one of the most pet-friendly cities in the country.

Nestled in the heart of Carmel is the elegant Cypress Inn, which CNN Travel called a “legendary overnight oasis” and Sunset Magazine termed “Probably the most famous dog-friendly hotel in the country.”

Cypress Inn has been Carmel’s most beloved boutique hotels since it opened in 1929. By combining Mediterranean grace and charm with warm hospitality and exemplary service, Cypress Inn has drawn everyone from kings, queens and Hollywood royalty to the everyday traveler, and especially all those who like to travel with their pets.

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Co-owned by legendary singer, actress and animal activist Doris Day (who recently passed away) for more than 20 years, Cypress Inn masterfully blends Old World hospitality and service with modern comforts and amenities.

CYPRESS INN

Peter Radler, General Manager of Cypress inn, tells us why its the best hotel in Carmel.

Why is Carmel a special place for visitors?

Carmel is an idyllic and blessed with beauty seaside town.

It has one of the most wonderful white sand beaches and wind shaped cypress trees. Considering how small Carmel is, we have over 100 restaurants, boutiques and specialty shops to choose from. There is everything for every taste.

Can you explain Carmel's magnetic pull for artists?

Carmel has been a community of artists since the 50’s and 60’s with amazing sceneries for any style of painting.

Our location on this breathtaking, beautiful central coast and the vicinity of Big Sur, brings in a lot of artists from all over the world to try out their talents. Rolling in fog, dramatic sunsets, amazing flora, historic architecture and the deep blue Pacific Ocean make for a spectacular background.

How does the Cypress Inn offer a unique and memorable experience for guests?

The Cypress Inn is mostly known for two things. One, the affiliation and part owner Ms. Doris Day and two, as mentioned in many publications, the pet friendliest hotel in the US. This beautiful 44 room hotel is a historic site and was built in 1929 in a Mediterranean style. We have a very popular restaurant, Terrys Lounge, with a beautiful patio and fireplace. There is a living room with live entertainment from Thursdays to Sunday and plainly, just a great feel all around.

What can you tell us about the Doris Day connection?

Ms. Day went into partnership with local businessman Denny LeVett in 1985 and made this beautiful place very special.

Doris was an unbelievable, warm hearted, kind and caring person. Her love for animals was unsurpassed.

Tell us about the artwork at the Cypress Inn. The Cypress Inn has quite some unique and rare art pieces and special collections from Mr. LeVett’s private estate throughout the property, like antique toys and gun collections etc. On one sunny morning, I had the pleasure to meet Mr. Charles Carter, a local artist, and after chatting for a little while and finding out more about his wonderful paintings, we agreed to hang some of Charles’ paintings in our hotel. It was a hit. So now we are featuring Carter paintings behind our reception and in our living room over the fireplace. Charles keeps switching them out throughout the season, depending on special local events and holidays.

For more information: www.cypress-inn.com

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CARMEL BY THE SEA

J U L I E T H I L L B R A N D

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Juliet Hillbrand is a Mixed Media Artist located in Houston, Texas. Her surrealistic worlds combine abstraction with realism. Subjects of her work include atmospheric oceans, color in motion, and the delicacy of the female form.

How would you describe your work?

My style is emerging through two paths. Realism mixing with abstract and purely abstract.

I get a lot of comments about my work being very different in subject matter. Everything I paint has to do with the natural world, transcending reality, and the poetic moments in our human-soaked details.

The world around me serves as constant inspiration as well as to create surreal worlds without boundaries. I also paint nude women often and recently realized in compiling my portfolio that the women are in one of two themes. Either dripping in flowers, color, completely in bloom – or they’re in black and white, more sensually mysterious.

So apparently, I have two moods for this series but usually they’re resting in a pose of serenity, stretching upwards in a kind of release and freedom. A new series I’m working on is oceanthemed with energy bursts of color and shape.

This series plays on your visions with movement and kaleidoscope-like abstract details. I battle with self-control to leave the white cotton canvas exposed sometimes. That stark whiteness against the color vortex is a heightened contrast, highlighting the control against the chaos.

I’m excited to merge these two styles or see where else my passions will take me.

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Describe you and your background.

Art is a path I didn’t see coming until I was 20 years old. Before it had only been doodles and scribbles on bathroom doors. Once I saw the world through color - Once I really saw it, I was immediately and forever changed. Art is more than just a love of mine, it’s part of who I am now. I’m constantly painting in my head, noticing the ten shades of a leaf and how they work together with contrast, shadows and highlights. My world is hues of warmth, detail, and dimension. Art has led me to opportunities and connections that I’m so grateful for, I couldn’t put into words.

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"Everything I paint has to do with the natural world, transcending reality, and the poetic moments in our human-soaked details."

What is your process?

I know I’m ready to make something in real life if I’ve created it in my mind at least ten times. If I stop messing up in my mind, work through each hurdle and kink mentally and can make it seamlessly from start to finish - then I’m ready to begin on canvas.

I try to paint everyday and not get worked up about the process. I work like a student of my craft. In the past I would torment much more with the pieces, throwing them across the room and fighting with them like they were sassy people. Now I let the painting tell me where it wants to go. I enjoy the process of shutting up and listening. If inspiration’s not flowing that day, I try the next. The way I see it is - each piece is leading me on a journey to the next piece.

I imagine this crazy technique I’ll be using in 20 years that I have no idea about yet. Each experiment gets me closer. There’s no destination in mind, only the goal to never stop creating. If there was a destination, I’d probably get bored once I got there.

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"I know I’m ready to make something in real life if I’ve created it in my mind at least ten times."

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"I imagine this crazy technique I’ll be using in 20 years that I have no idea about yet. Each experiment gets me closer. There’s no destination in mind, only the goal to never stop creating."

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J U L I E T

What is unique about your work?

I would say the emotion through my pieces and how my audience is always finding completely dissimilar interpretations. For one piece I’ve heard dozens of interpretations from, “It looks just like moon craters,” to “It’s twirling ballerina’s skirts shot from overhead,” to “a lilypond with fireflies,” to “dinosaur head” - all on one piece! I think this is the part I love most about sharing art. Most things in our world are so literal but art is different for everyone.

Unique in each of our eyes and completely up to the viewer. I want my art to continuously stay openended that way.

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"Most things in our world are so literal but art is different for everyone. Unique in each of our eyes and completely up to the viewer.

I want my art to continuously stay open-ended that way."

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"You can’t base your worth, talent, or passion to create on that vortex of comparison. If you do, the joy of it will be sucked from you and you’ll feel like a content-churning robot."

What advice do you have for artists and fellow creatives?

Although I personally feel so lucky to have social media as it’s given me connections and opportunities I couldn’t have found without it; I’ve been so much happier since I stopped caring how many followers and likes I get on my artwork. You can’t base your worth, talent, or passion to create on that vortex of comparison. If you do, the joy of it will be sucked from you and you’ll feel like a content-churning robot.

The popularity points are hollow and plastic and empty. Like money, it will only make you happy to a point. Keep it about the sacredness of your craft. You’ll be insurmountably happier, at peace with the success as well as the inevitable counter of rejection, with the side effect of becoming considerably more authentic.

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Tell us about your achievements.

I’m humbled to say there’s been quite a few lately.

I am thrilled that people find me in this giant internetwebbed world! This publication graciously naming me as one of the Top Artists of 2019 is certainly one.

I’ve also been featured in the last few months by Art Reveal Magazine, Lovett Publishing, Studio Visit Magazine, as well as a cinematic debut.

I have publications coming out later this year in Creativ Paper Magazine and am working on two custompainted guitars right now, custom wedding décor, and illustrating a children’s book that will be published early next year.

What are some of your future plans and upcoming projects?

I have a vision in my mind for more abstract surrealism mixed with realism. I’ve been toying with the idea for years now and see it so clearly in my mind but the execution isn’t where I want it yet. In the future, I want to find a means to channel that passion into more action, more good. I’m working with Woodland’s Arts and One Tree Planted which are organizations I’m very passionate about. I also donate to funds like SPCA and St. Jude but at some point I want to use my Oceanthemed art to collaborate with Save the Ocean foundations and use my art for tangible change.

I want to be in the thick of it, down in the mud working with my own two hands. These blessed tools that I’m lucky enough to make art with and plan to do so much more with in this lifetime.

It’s just the beginning.

S T E P H A N I E H A R D Y

Tell us about yourself and your background.

I studied fine art at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington and continued my education at Seattle University, earning a degree in English Literature specializing in Indian and Southeast Asian Literature with a minor in Fine Arts. I also studied Visual Arts at O’More College of Design in Tennessee as well as New York’s School of Visual Arts in Manhattan. After many years in the graphic design industry, I decided to take a leap into painting full-time.

Tell us about your work.

I specialize in animal art and portraiture, often times incorporating textile designs into my compositions.

I enjoy creating a fresh take on an otherwise traditional portrait by adding vintage floral details that compliment

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"My life as an equestrian and my connection to animals affords me the ability to capture their character as well as anatomy in a special way." the subject. I love to work with oils, but occasionally use acrylic if I have time constraints.

What is unique about your work?

My life as an equestrian and my connection to animals affords me the ability to capture their character as well as anatomy in a special way. I like to incorporate a little bit of my childhood into each portrait by combining it with elements inspired by fabric designs, adding a unique touch to each piece.

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Stephanie Jeanne Hardy is an artist currently living in Lone Tree, Colorado, USA. She specializes in contemporary animal artwork and custom portraiture, bringing beloved animals to life on canvas.

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"My artwork celebrates animals that we love, special pets, or wild life that brings joy to it’s viewer. The memories that are awakened by my art tend to outlast pieces that lean more towards trendy styles or colors."

Why is your work a good investment?

My artwork celebrates animals that we love, special pets, or wild life that brings joy to it’s viewer.

The memories that are awakened by my art tend to outlast pieces that lean more towards trendy styles or colors, so I feel like my work is a great investment to add to your existing or growing art collection and will prove to be a timeless piece.

What are your sources of inspiration?

I am largely influenced by my life as an equestrian.

I am constantly around horses, farm animals, dogs and various pets. All of these animals make their way into my artwork. I have found that horse lovers tend to be lovers of all animals and it is because of them that I branched out into painting dogs and various wild animals. My interest in textile designs stems from when my mother was a seamstress, and we would frequent fabric stores. I was mesmerized by patterns and textures of beautiful bolts of fabric and ribbons.

I started incorporating textile designs into my animal portraits a few years ago and they have made their way into most of my pieces since. My favorite fabrics are vintage designs out of France and Italy, featuring bold colored florals. I also love traditional floral fabrics or wall papers designed by William Morris.

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Tell us about some of your achievements.

I’m so proud to have had my equine artwork featured in American Art Collector Magazine, Nashville Arts, Horses in Art Magazine, and Art Galleries of the South. I have had the pleasure of participating in local art walks throughout Nashville and Franklin, Tennessee.

I have been a featured artist in The Swan Ball, a prestigious charity event in Nashville. My artwork has also toured Santa Fe, New Mexico, where my horses were displayed at the Drury Hotel as well as the Hipico Horse Show and at the Santa Fe Export Showroom.

What are you passionate about?

My life has revolved around horses for so long, it is absolutely one of my biggest passions. I have been a competitive show jumper for many years and still travel all over the U.S. to compete with my horses.

Horses keep me grounded, as does painting and creating. Tapping into the things that make my soul whole, is the only way I know how to live a stable and happy life. I am also committed to being healthy and active, whether its strength training, cycling, paddle boarding or hiking. Supporting my body and mind so that I can continue to do the things I love is of the utmost importance.

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"Horses keep me grounded, as does painting and creating.

Tapping into the things that make my soul whole, is the only way I know how to live a stable and happy life. I am also committed to being healthy and active."

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"It is so gratifying to be able to create a piece of art that celebrates our love and memories of animals that impacted our lives so greatly."

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"I am now a part of the Arts Commission in my home town of Lone Tree, where I work with our city to bring more arts and culture opportunities to our community."

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F L A V I A

Tell us about your upcoming projects.

I am currently working on a series of work inspired by childhood literature. I wanted to create a collection of art that featured classic story book characters represented in a way that I would imagine them to be in real life. The first piece I’ve been working on is a portrait of a stuffed Velveteen Rabbit on a Skin Horse, which is a large wooden horse on wheels. I love the memories that these characters spark, not just in myself but in other people that share a fondness for

"I am currently working on a series of work inspired by childhood literature.

I wanted to create a collection of art that featured classic story book characters represented in a way that I would imagine them to be in real life." these sweet story books. I will be including pieces featuring Corduroy Bear, Ferdinand the Bull, 3 Billy Goats Gruff and more.

Tell us about where you are based and how it impacts the art you create.

I lived in Tennessee for over 10 years when I began to paint full time. Being in a small town in the South largely influenced my work. After exclusively painting horses, I began to branch out into traditional farm life, painting cows, roosters, sheep, chickens and so on.

I could not keep enough cows and roosters in stock, they were so popular out there. I’ve since moved to Colorado, and I have found that my portraits of cattle and longhorn are more popular here. I think there is a more sophisticated art community in Colorado than in Tennessee, and that has been so inspiring to be around.

I am now a part of the Arts Commission in my home town of Lone Tree, where I work with our city to bring more arts and culture opportunities to our community.

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Share with us the back story of some of your projects.

I had the privilege of doing a painting for a woman who dedicated her life to rescuing dogs. With the help of her family we were able to collect photos of each rescue she took in and I was able to come up with a 36"x48” composition that included every single dog, as well as elements of her garden and backyard that she built for these animals to thrive in. It was the first time I’d painted more than 2 dogs in one piece and they were a wide variety of breeds, running and playing in different ways. It was so fun and so challenging and when I was done it just exuded joy and love.

When presented to her, she was overwhelmed by emotion and tears, and was so grateful to have something that immortalized these beautiful animals that meant so much to her. It is so gratifying to be able to create a piece of art that celebrates our love and memories of animals that impacted our lives so greatly.

How do you feel about art and its role?

I am excited about how accessible art has become, whether it be via social media, traditional media, or with the growth of public arts. I notice public art taking off in cities like Nashville, TN and now in the suburbs of my new home Denver, CO. Artists have opportunities beyond the canvas to share their work, such as murals, utility boxes wrapped in artwork, projections onto buildings, and so on. It’s wonderful to be in a world surrounded by creative expression.

www.stephaniejeanne.com

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How would you like your work to affect the viewer?

Because my artwork revolves around animals, my greatest joy is to hear the stories people share about their connections to each animal I paint. It could be a childhood memory, it could be an animal that reminds them of their own, it could be something that celebrates a place they visited or once loved. No matter what the connection is, it is my goal to evoke that memory or fondness in my viewers when they see my art.

J E N N I F E R P A Z I E N Z A

Tell us about yourself and background.

My appetite for the joys and responsibilities of living an aesthetic life, I owe to my mom. Although she died when I was nine, her good influence sustains me today. To my earnest pleas to take ballet and piano lessons she’d would tear open a large brown grocery store bag and tell me to draw! And draw and paint I did at our Italian-American New Jersey kitchen table while at the same time she’d be using the same kind of bag to drain the eggplant she was frying.

The dull brown paper transformed into glistening hues of Umber, Sienna and Ochre. The flour, egg and fresh breadcrumb coating insured a crispy crunch that would

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give way to creamy melanzane interiors developing in me a taste for contrasting colours and textures, sights and smells, sounds too.

A Jersey girl by birth, I left NJ in 1976 for Pennsylvania after earning a 4-year degree B.Ed. in art and waitressing. Between 1976 and 1989, in addition to teaching art in K- grade 12, I took a Masters and PhD in Art Education at the Pennsylvania State University with a minor in painting in both with esteemed AfroNative American artist Richard Mayhew. 1987, Texas Tech University in Lubbock Texas, was my first professorship where I learned to blow glass.

Then University of Wisconsin in 1989 and the last year I waited tables. 1989- 2014 I was a professor of art education at the University of New Brunswick, Canada. Always maintaining my painting and exhibition practice. The 26+ years have seen me live and paint from my beloved Keswick Ridge in Canada.

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In addition to Jennifer Pazienza’s extensive exhibition record her resume includes scholarly activities in art education, awards, and accolades. Her work is held in significant Public, Private and Corporate Collections in Canada, the United States, Britain and Italy. A Jersey girl from an Italian-American family she has painted, for nearly 30 years, from her beloved Keswick Ridge in New Brunswick Canada.

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Tell us about your work.

The stuff of the natural world has been my go to place for refuge, renewal, and for poetic re-creation since childhood. Within a world where handheld pixelated images arrive in nanoseconds, super human art installations challenge market economies and political landscapes—as polluted as the earth, air and water—threaten the survival of everyone and everything, I maintain an old-fashioned affair with paint. Oil paint. In the liminal space between representation and abstraction, I paint to know, to understand, to dissolve dualities and ease tensions.

Love and longing fuel my quest for a meaningful life.

Memory magnifies a poetics of place. These are some of the things that shape the figurative landscapes I make.

Why is your work a good investment?

Outside any discussion of why they are a good financial investment, which they are, how my work is a good investment has everything to do with the poetic effects my paintings have on the lives of those who engage with them. Whether on home, office, hospital, school, or corporate walls, over the years collectors have told me how living with my paintings is a sound investment in their health and wellbeing.

A law firm in Nova Scotia effectively placed Coming on Summer 1 in their mediation boardroom to instill calm! Stepping off an elevator at White Plains Hospital in New York, a hurried psychologist on her way to see a patient, suddenly stopped, captivated by Charlotte’s Roses. Afterwards she tracked me down to tell me the affect seeing the painting had on her, and by extension her patient. Collectors in Canada, the UK, the US and Italy have told me how in the company of my work they breathe a bit easier, take solace in their visual embrace, confess their love and sorrows, admit their fears and celebrate their dreams.

Tell us about some of your achievements.

Most recently, receiving an award of excellence for, Over the Pond Suite, four 20cm square oil paintings.

I exhibited in the Little Treasures group show of about 90 international artists at Galleria de Marchi, curated by Paola Trevisan in Bologna, March – April. The real achievement, however, was how our friends traveled from Sicily, Milan, Venice and the Netherlands to join us for the opening and to celebrate my husband’s birthday that same evening!

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What makes your work and approach unique?

No Payne’s Grey in my studio. I paint from a limited colourist palette; some yellows, reds, blues and white. Stylistically my paintings oscillate between abstraction and representation. They reflect and resist modernisms’ ideal of flatness and immediate space, and my natural inclination for threedimensionality. The visual dance between the gestural lines, and the atmospheric colours and shapes are signature features in my paintings.

"No longer able to resist the poetic call of the massive white space before me I asked, “What do you want from me?”

What are you passionate about?

Recreating my Italian heritage in art, food, friends and family.

Tell us the back-story of some of your projects.

January, the holidays behind us I traded my kitchen studio for my painting studio. No longer able to resist the poetic call of the 6+meter walls that frame my workspace I prepared a 244 X 188cm canvas. Looking up at the massive white space before me I asked,

“What do you want from me?” As is my practice, I looked out the window and loaded my brushes.

About five hours later Winter Sky 1 was well underway.

At about 25cm from the bottom of the canvas, an ache in my back awakened me from my reverie. Like “wax on, wax off” in the Karate Kid (1984) of my generation, it took another two and a half weeks of “paint on, paint off” for me to ground the sky and call the painting finished. Winter Sky 1 hangs in the Law Faculty at the University of New Brunswick.

Share with us your upcoming projects.

In October my work will be included in the coveted, McCain Exhibition of Atlantic Canadian Art at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery in Fredericton, New Brunswick’s provincial gallery. While continuing work on the Over the Pond series of paintings I will be teaming up with a young New Brunswick glass artist, Curtis Dionne to extend that series in hot glass.

I learned to blow glass as a young professor at Texas Tech University in Lubbock as I was finishing up my thesis. It was a great way to blow off steam.

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What are your sources of inspiration?

Life on the Ridge with my husband and our dogs is the fundamental source of inspiration in my work.

Colour, light, and air, the majesty and vulnerability of trees, and the inexorable return of the seasons.

Books. Poems. Politics. Food, philosophy, flowers, friends and the art of others inspire me. As do landscape and memory, love and longing, and the quest to belong. The sheer act of painting and the overwhelming privilege I feel for being able to do this work.

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"I maintain an old-fashioned affair with paint. Oil paint.

In the liminal space between representation and abstraction, I paint to know, to understand, to dissolve dualities and ease tensions. Love and longing fuel my quest for a meaningful life. Memory magnifies a poetics of place."

How do you feel about art and its role?

What I feel about the role of art in the world today is what I’ve always felt, coupled with a greater sense of urgency. I’m a veteran art educator, who within my twinned academic and studio art career have for over 40 years advocated for the power art has to transform lives. Politically and personally, that’s both exhilarating and scary depending on your perspective.

Think Plato and his desire to banish the poets.

That sentiment is alive and well. It’s why the arts continue to be under attack in schools.

Must Watch: Beautiful Dreamer: Landscape & Poetry of Place.

Jennifer Pazienza's YouTube artist video that portrays her life and work on Keswick Ridge.

How do you want your art to affect the viewer?

In December of last year, we drove the length of I-95 from New Brunswick, Canada to Miami, Florida to participate in Miami Art Week. I debated whether or not such a venue was right for my work. As this was a once in a lifetime experience I decided to go for it and build my corner within the cacophony that is Miami art week in the most Zen-like way I could, where visitors could transition into the space and breathe.

Fortunately faith won over doubt and my hunches proved true. To a person, viewers in a range of languages and abilities explained how in the presence of my work they were compelled to slow down.

They could take their rest. They could contemplate the landscapes of their lives and their place in them.

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Tell us about where you are based.

Atop Keswick Ridge, my home and studio overlook the Saint John River Valley in New Brunswick, Canada.

In the 2006 Rocky Balboa movie, bookend to 1976 Rocky, reflecting on his life Rocky says, “Ya know they always say if you live in one place long enough, you are that place” and so it has been for me. Readers will understand what I mean when they watch Beautiful Dreamer: Landscape & Poetry of Place, my YouTube artist video that portrays my life and work on Keswick Ridge. This video is embedded on my DESTIG website page along with additional content from me.

"All things are meltable, and replaceable.

Not at this moment, but soon enough, we are lambs and we are leaves, and we are stars, and the shining, mysterious pond water itself." - Mary Oliver Pixelated images appear in nanoseconds.

Superhuman art installations challenge market economies. Still, I maintain an oldfashioned affair with oil paint. Drawn from traditions of the past, yet wholly rooted in the present, I intend for my paintings to relieve us from the non-stop visual onslaught of contemporary life.

Love, longing, and the fluidity of time shape the poetic landscapes I make.

So too, my 35-year exploration of working with a limited colourist palette. A student of the ephemeral; of truth and beauty, of light and place and home I paint to remember, to belong, to understand - to dissolve dualities and ease tensions.

Photography Credits: Joy Cummings

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N I K I S T E A R M A N

Tell us about yourself and your background.

I am a self-taught artist and Medium born and raised in Colorado. I discovered painting in my twenties as a means to calm my “unquiet mind” and to bring myself joy and inner peace. Today, painting is an essential part of my life as it balances my mind and brings me clarity and enjoyment.

Tell us about your work.

My Inspiration comes from life and all that it brings emotionally, spiritually and physically. My Series have been inspired through personal inner struggles, successes, music as well as my journey in this lifetime.

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"I paint what comes to me through spirituality, intuition and what feels right and that’s what I enjoy painting."

I would say my work comes from a place of intuition and emotion. It’s my inner emotion that brings the art to life on the canvas. Once I start a painting, the music that I listen too amplifies that emotion which works its way onto the canvas. With each painting, I listen to a particular song over and over as I paint and name the piece after that song title. I have had many individuals who have purchased my paintings ask for the name and musical artist who I painted the piece to. I have been told from several collectors that this has created a deeper emotional connection to the painting.

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Niki Stearman is an internationally celebrated artist who creates thought provoking and emotionally charged abstract paintings. Her paintings have received numerous accolades and awards from art organizations, artists and curators from all over the United States and Europe.

Her paintings as well as commissioned works can be seen in collectors’ homes, executive offices, businesses and residences across the globe.

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"Once I start a painting, the music that I listen too amplifies that emotion which works its way onto the canvas."

Tell us about some of your achievements?

My solo show in July 2019 is a huge honor. It’s in Manhattan’s Financial District and I just love the vibe in New York. I also showed in London this February and I loved everything about the people and energy there. It was truly an amazing experience.

Collaborating with singer/songwriter Anastasia Elliot is also something that I will always cherish.

I was asked to show my work at the 2019 Cannes film festival, but was unable to attend. That’s on my bucket list now. I also sold a painting to fashion mogul and CEO Ann Taylor, which was my most surreal sale to date, but for me each time I sell a painting, regardless of the collectors resume or background, I am deeply humbled by the fact that they were touched in some way that they purchased my painting to hang in their space to enjoy. It’s an honor for me regardless of who the buyer is. I’m in a state of gratitude each day that I get to do what I love most.

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What is unique about your work?

I don’t have one particular style or body of work.

I paint what comes to me through spirituality, intuition and what feels right and that’s what I enjoy painting.

I don’t paint based on what I believe will sell or what collectors consider trendy at the time. I truly paint instinctively and intuitively which brings an honesty to the canvas and the finished piece. My pieces and styles do not represent a consistent body of work and I know many artists who strive for consistency.

Why is your work a good investment?

I have a hard time answering this question because I believe people should buy what they love, regardless of the end value of the piece. I’m an art collector and own over 50 original pieces from artists across the globe. Each piece ranges in purchase price and current value. While I love when my personal collection increases in value, it doesn’t change my love for the painting. I am very emotionally attached to the art I collect so for me, they were all great investments.

I will always buy what I love and feel people should do the same.

What are you passionate about?

Life and this crazy journey that we are all on.

I have spent many years trying to figure out how to truly live and I feel that as I embrace life and all that it offers, I find myself working on my authentic self in an honest and humbling way.

I feel so grateful to be doing what I do as a painter and a parent. I’ve had a crazy and amazing journey thus far with my children who are individually amazing and my husband, Gary, who is the most incredible and supportive person I know; and my dear friends who have become my family.

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What are your sources of inspiration?

Music. I always paint to music and name each piece after the song that I listened too while painting. The music I choose is based on my overall mood and headspace, but it’s really the song that I feel transforms the piece to make the final product what it is. Music really transforms my mood and with my gift as a medium, I have found that I can channel that energy on to my canvases.

I believe that is why people have connected so deeply with my paintings.

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"I feel that as I embrace life and all that it offers, I find myself working on my authentic self in an honest and humbling way."

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Tell us about where you are based and how it influences your work.

I live and work in Colorado, but am ready for a change of scenery. My dream is to live near the ocean. But for now, my studio has a continuous stream of music playing that inspires all of my creations. From opera to dance music, rap and alternative, I have a broad range of musical interests and I feel that shows in my diverse body of work.

How you want your art to affect the viewer?

I want my art to touch people in a way that is for their highest good, whatever that may be. My art may provoke an emotional response; it may bring them peace and comfort; or it may allow for a deep connection. Once the art leaves my hands, it’s not about me anymore.

Each piece was painted for that specific collector and I want the meaning to be personal for them.

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How do you feel about art and its role in the world?

I feel buying original art is such an undervalued part of our culture today. There are so many affordable artists today and many people still spend money on commercial prints for their home or office. Original pieces have a history, an energy, and they tell a story. This is why I encourage people to buy originals.

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"I want my art to touch people in a way that is for their highest good, whatever that may be."

Share with us the back-story of some of your projects.

I post my finished pieces on Instagram and tag the singer/DJ that inspired me for that particular piece.

A lot of them now follow me on Instagram and they love when I post pieces inspired by their songs.

This is what started my collaboration with a lot of singers/songwriters and DJ’s. Some of the top artists in the world respond to my posts and they are all amazing and it’s so surreal to know them and I feel very blessed. It’s very humbling.

Tell us about your upcoming projects.

Right now I am collaborating with singer/songwriter Anastasia Elliot on a few custom pieces. She has had me paint to her song, The Boy Who Cried Love and to her new song and video, which isn’t even out yet.

I’m sworn to secrecy, but it’s amazing!

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www.instagram.com/nikistearman

L I S A C O S S I N S

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LISA COSSINS | DESTIG TOP ARTISTS

Lisa Cossins is an artist from Penzance, Cornwall, U.K. She specializes in creating stunning, enigmatic and spiritual water colour images, drawing inspiration from the natural world.

Tell us about yourself and your background.

I grew up in the West Country with art and nature always influencing my development as a creative artist. I studied at Penzance School of Art which then led to a Creative Arts Degree at Bath Spa University specialising in printing and textiles. Having worked in various other sectors over the years, I never lost my desire to be creative; my freedom of mind is precious.

What makes your work and approach unique?

My frequently detailed response to the natural environment is very personal, with a kaleidoscope of colours, textures and forms and the techniques used to portray them. I engage with my subject matter emotionally on a conscious and subconscious level.

I enjoy illustrative work and an impressionistic approach. I see myself as an environmental artist, aware of its fragility and beauty.

Tell us about your work.

My work is an emotional, yet tangible, response to the world around me and is a constantly evolving process of observing, feeling, thinking, drawing and creating. I use a variety of media but my current work is mainly watercolour; the various techniques within that medium and the luminosity that comes with watercolour.

I am drawn to the open landscape and moorland punctuated by ancient landmarks as much as animals and flora and fauna.

Why is your work a good investment?

Colour brings joy and the natural world is soothing, restorative and healing. Bringing the natural environment through art into homes, working environments, hotels, restaurants, cafés and public spaces is a way in which people can relate and respond. It can create a quiet harmonious place within us and can enhance well-being and productivity. The scale of art can be created to fit any space, evoke different emotions and completely change an indoor environment in a positive way.

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"I am drawn to the open landscape and moorland punctuated by ancient landmarks as much as animals and flora and fauna."

Tell us about some of your achievements.

Taking part in collaborative group exhibitions has been very rewarding; no two artist’s representation of the similar subject matter is the same.

An invited solo show last year was a big achievement.

I get my real sense of achievement from the art itself.

Successfully creating an image that has been simmering inside me is ultimately satisfying.

By portraying subjects accurately but with personality and vibrancy (like my lobster series), lifts them out of a grey wet day and invites the viewer to have a closer look at these fabulous crustaceans.

"I get my real sense of achievement from the art itself. Successfully creating an image that has been simmering inside me is ultimately satisfying."

DESTIG TOP ARTISTS

What are your sources of inspiration?

Other artists are hugely inspiring; the Swedish artist Carl Larsson is an enduring favourite as are the Danish Skagen painters and the Newlyn School of artists, particularly Elizabeth Stanhope Forbes.

Mark Rothko is brilliant for reminding us how important colour can be.

Nature is a constant source of inspiration, especially things that remain unaltered by human beings like animals, flora and fauna and our changing seasons.

Walking and exploring West Cornwall’s fabulous ancient landscape is hugely invigorating, little pockets of woodland, moorland and rocky granite forms combined with the sea and its ever changing light always offers up some delight in an unexpected way; a flock of seagulls following the fishing boats back to harbour their white forms reflecting light; an unusual tree shape in the mist or a fantastic dragonfly suddenly catching your attention.

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LISA COSSINS

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"I have recently taken a new path combining my art with creative writing, using language and words to enhance and compliment the images."

"Art allows moments of introspection and peace whilst also having the ability to affect mood and emotion."Â

Share with us your upcoming projects.

I have recently taken a new path combining my art with creative writing, using language and words to enhance and compliment the images.

Tell us about where you are based.

West Cornwall is a very special place with its exceptional quality of light, majestic seas, islands and landscapes. It has beautiful sub-tropical gardens, a rich and diverse history and long links with art make it a privilege to live here. It is a brilliant place inspiring writers, poets, musicians and artists, not least the Newlyn School of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries.

How do you feel about art and its role in the world?

The subjective, individual and spontaneous response is always enriching, rather like having a conversation with a friend. Art allows moments of introspection and peace whilst also having the ability to affect mood and emotion. This is important in an ever-changing and complicated world.

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Tell us the back-story of some of your projects.

I become quite passionate about specific elements of the world that I inhabit and this is demonstrated in groups of images that I have worked on.

Working on individual drawings and paintings and realizing I was telling a story; the moorland works were inspired by my interest in ancient stones; the views from the moors above Zennor offer such an enormous horizon and suggest so much. The marine life images were the result of spending time in Newlyn at the fish market and talking to fishermen.

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"Nature is a constant source of inspiration, especially things that remain unaltered by human beings."

DESTIG TOP ARTISTS

What are you passionate about?

Painting, walking, growing plants and storytelling. Feeling complete and at one in nature and having a personal and spiritual connection with the land and sharing that joy.

How do you want your art to affect the viewer?

I hope my art achieves its objective of engaging the viewer, having a shared experience. Something to make one smile, think and relax.

Website: www.lisacossins.co.uk

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LISA COSSINS

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Ivana Masic Saric was born and raised in White Plains, NY. She graduated from Manhattanville College with a Masters in Art and Education & a BFA double major in Business Management and Fine Art. She proudly teaches at Valhalla High School in NY and continues to further her degree and knowledge of the ever-dynamic Visual Arts.

Tell us about yourself and your background?

I was born and raised in New York with proud roots to my family homeland of Croatia. I studied Fine Arts and Education at Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York where I earned my B.F.A. in Art and Business Management as well as my Masters in K-12 Art Education.

Currently, I reside and work in Westchester, New York.

I proudly teach Visual Arts at the High School level for nearly 20 years. As I grew up, I was interested in a variety of things, however the arts were always a

"I enjoy dedicating my time and efforts to intertwine art with other subjects such as history, science and math." dynamic and important part that helped mold me into the artist I am today. I can always remember being involved in music, dance, and visual arts. Therefore, my art today is a representation of my passion and love for the creative process and expression. While teaching art, I have the privilege of teaching and mentoring young minds about the phenomenal world of visual arts and how it links to multiple disciplines.

I enjoy dedicating my time and efforts to intertwine art with other subjects such as history, science and math. I stand by my passion and supporting the importance of expression and art within many facets of life as it connects to problem solving, compassion for the human experience, and a balance of mental, physical, and emotional well-being. Being mindful of our choices and expressing ourselves not only connects individuals to beauty but it also allows a communication of growth and understanding.

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What is unique about your work.

One of the things that is unique about my work is my connection to music and an expression of what music looks like to me. I listen to different types of music, depending on the feeling I have, and I allow it to help me transform the visual definitions of the objects, forms, and colors that I want to bring to life with an image on the canvas. I enjoy that connection of music and art and how the brushstrokes of color are enhanced with more vibrancy while I create.

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Tell us about your work.

I'm known for my expressive, colorful paintings that exhibit energetic abstract visual forms inspired by the human body, love and soulful visions.

I am also inspired by nature and its unforgettable beauty. I am most passionate about the exploration of color, texture, and pure movement on a canvas.

I enjoy using acrylic paint with feeling on canvas or wood as well as watercolor and ink on paper.

I have enjoyed Installation art, collage, and drawing as well. The interaction of humans is an intricate experience yet when we notice the emotions and energies of love and peace and the ever evolving use of such things, my art can therefore express things that are unnoticed or inexplicable. I am happiest when I notice an honest interpretation and exciting use of color on my canvas because it helps express something special such as the connection of the soul.

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"I am happiest when I notice an honest interpretation and exciting use of color on my canvas because it helps express something special such as the connection of the soul."

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Why your work is a good investment.

All of my work is unique, approachable, and done with passion and the expression of human emotion with honesty. I create with the intention of bringing positive energy which is healing to the eye of the viewer.

My clients are constantly telling me that they appreciate my work and that they enjoy seeing my new studies.

I create art because I feel it is truly in my nature and even when I am working on a commission piece, I do my best to incorporate my clients' vision as well as an energetic interpretation of something that will be forever memorable and special to them for years to come.

Tell us about some of your achievements.

My work has been on display worldwide at a variety of galleries and museums in settings of single and group show exhibitions such as NYC, Paris, Miami, Spain and Italy. Many paintings are also in private homes and settings that were created for personal commissions.

I have also been granted with a variety of awards from Spain, Italy, and USA such as the 2018 Woman’s Essence

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

I am inspired by expanding my learning experiences which therefore happens in a variety of ways.

I am inspired by things that move or shift my senses in a myriad of ways.

I am inspired by the energy around me, people, dreams, music, love, and this ever-changing and beautiful world.

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Award in Madrid, Spain and the 2018 Universal Artist Award from Italy. I have had the pleasure to collaborate with other artists such as musicians, film producers and literary artists. My work is currently published in over 30 books which includes illustrations and cover art.

I enjoy collaborating as artists inspire one another.

"As an artist educator I encourage my students to “be the change”. An artist has the power to transform and place ideas."

Tell us about your upcoming projects.

As an artist educator I always encourage my students to “be the change”. An artist has the power to transform and place ideas in various environments.

Currently, I was asked to work on various ideas for murals in the community. I plan to work on these during the upcoming summer months.

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Share with us the back-story of some of your projects.

I have enjoyed exhibiting at a variety of venues but I think the one that truly inspired me the most was when my art was selected to be displayed on large billboard screens in the middle of Manhattan in Times Square.

When I saw the image on a large screen I felt time stand still and the people around me felt a positive experience from viewing my work. I enjoyed sharing my work and I feel that art can bring a multitude of healing experiences.

Other projects that I have been involved with have been humanitarian projects for orphans in Africa, Ukraine and Japan. These were touching, I look forward to collaborate with more foundations to exude a sense of positivity.

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Where you are based and why?

I reside in Westchester, NY. This is about 30 minutes from Manhattan and it’s a great central location because it’s just a quick hop on a train to the center of Manhattan and various other intriguing places. I enjoy the location where I live because I am surrounded by nature, family, friends, work, and a culture rich city that is ever inspiring.

How you feel about art and its role.

Simply put, art heals. Art is powerful and it can change and transform everything.

Art teaches and art helps us remember.

Art motivates. Art innovates. I feel that art is crucial and I am grateful to be an artist.

How you want your work to affect the viewer?

I want my art to affect the viewer with positivity that helps them feel a spark. I’d like my art to inspire people and perhaps even help them feel a connection to a positive experience that they will always remember and feel good.

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"I want my art to affect the viewer with positivity that helps them feel a spark"

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Janetta Smith creates fine art from her gallery and studio in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

She enjoys working with composition, shapes and vivid colors in acrylic, mixed media and photography.

Your background is in tech – how did you become a creative artist?

To be honest, becoming an artist wasn’t on my to-do list. As a Computer Consultant, I have successfully owned and operated my business for the past 28 years. I enjoy working in the tech industry because it requires me to think outside the box.

Eleven years ago I was invited by a friend to attend a painting class with world-renowned American expressionist painter Bert Seabourn. In the beginning, I couldn’t draw a stick figure, let alone something that simulated anything one would paint. As I continued, I found a desire to create with intention.

This experience began my journey. Bert became a mentor and I continued his classes for over 10 years.

I am grateful my friend introduced this world to me.

What inspires you to create?

Life! Literally life. I’m a Christian and my faith in Jesus Christ is what inspires me, compels me, drives me and develops me.

I love this life.

Art allows me to share happiness and joy.

I choose to live every moment with intention and love. I believe this is reflected in my work as an artist.

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How does technology influence your work?

Working in technology is not all that different than creating fine art for me.

In technology, I provide easy solutions for difficult problems. This actually forces me to utilize the creative side of my brain.

In art, I work through my creative process with tools and techniques to help me create fascinating detail in my artwork. And, as with technology, I like to multitask and work on multiple pieces at the same time.

I love the movement and the flow so my work develops quickly.

The relationship between Painting and the Lens for you?

I enjoy working with creative compositions so my experience as a photographer segued smoothly into my work as an artist.

There are compelling similarities in both photography and fine art. Both require good design utilizing composition, working with thirds and establishing dramatic contrast and color. I apply this understanding when using my camera or my paint brush.

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You are also a photographer, tell us about this.

I developed an early interest in photography because my father was a front-line Marine combat photographer in Vietnam. Unfortunately, when he returned from Vietnam, he wasn’t ready to revisit his experience through his photographs so they went in storage not to be seen until he passed away in 1999. I have those photos now and am moved by the life he told through the lens.

Because of my dad I wanted to master photography.

Early in my career I invested in a professional camera to provide clients with marketing material for their print advertisements and website designs.

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You use several different substrates (acrylic, canvas, wood) – how do the processes and the results differ?

Working with multiple substrates allows me to grow and develop my style without being predictable. When painting on canvas/wood panels, I paint the normal progression of background, shadows, details and finally the highlights. When I paint on acrylic, I paint on the back side of the acrylic and paint in the complete opposite order. The results are absolutely different between each substrate.

Sometimes I use LED lighting behind my acrylic sheet paintings and sculptures. This allows my work to be illuminated in a way that is not possible with canvas or wood panels.

Each have their own purpose in my creative journey.

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"I love this life. Art allows me to share happiness and joy.

I choose to live every moment with intention and love."

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You own a gallery now – tell us about your place and how it influences your work?

This gallery has a working studio for 3 artists and is a dream come true for me. I have 2 other artists that create with me in this space. We realized having a working studio in the midst of a fine art gallery creates much more interest for our clients and those walking by. As an added bonus, I’m able to showcase my new work immediately in such a beautiful space.

It makes me want to be in the studio all the time.

I also get almost immediate feedback as I’m working on new pieces. Talk about a motivation.

And, if I need to do anything for a client needing help with their computer, I always have my laptop with me to remote and support them. This allows me to work from my studio with both businesses.

It doesn’t get much better than this.

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Where do you want to go from here or what direction are you looking to take with your art?

Recently, I took a leap of faith to move into a beautiful retail space to have both a gallery and working studio. My dear friend and fellow artist, Patricia Triplett, and I share this business.

North Gallery & Studio, in Northpark Mall in Oklahoma City combines the best of the studio and fine art gallery into one.

Also, this space allows me to offer workshops and classes to share my love for life through art.

And because the art scene is fluid and changing shape constantly, I hope to always be willing to try new ways to increase exposure to my work.

I sell online, in other galleries, and in a few favorite shows in Oklahoma. I also stay connected and involved with my local art community and groups.

Your favorite tool or part of your studio and why?

You caught me in a transition! I LOVED my floor to ceiling wall easels that covered most of my walls in my studio downtown. It made everything easier.

Moving into a fine art gallery will require a bit more refinement in my studio area. I will miss my wall easels immensely but hope to come up with another ingenious way to create and hang in a my new gallery & studio. Until then, I think I’ll hang some of my wall easels in an empty room at my house to have a backup creative space, just in case the urge to create hits me while in my pj’s.

"I want to encourage others they have a purpose and to live with intention even through the chaos of life."

What message would you like to share to the world through art?

Simply to live and love joyfully and fully. I want to encourage others they have a purpose and to live with intention even through the chaos of life. There is so much beauty to take in.

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www.janettasmithart.com

E R N E S T O G U T I É R R E Z M O Y A

DESTIG |Â TOP ARTISTS FOR 2019

Ernesto GutiĂŠrrez Moya, is an artist with a wild, urgent and ambitious desire to represent his personal world and present it to be known.

He has participated in group exhibitions, personals, magazines and books, and is still looking for more.

"I am involved in the magic of the lines and the simplicity that it offers."

What is the essence of your art?

My work I would say that in general it has been and is a constant search to represent a personal world. Although I have dabbled in painting and drawing; I have seen how my work has changed at each stage of my career but always with the same idea of representing a space, a world. Now I am involved in the magic of the lines and the simplicity that it offers. The ambiguity, the irrational, the metaphysical, the oneiric, and the strange are important aspects that I always carry with me on this trip.

What is the connection from you into your art?

Because it is what I love and believe. When you give 101 percent of what you're passionate about, it will never be a bad investment.

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What is the source of your work's uniqueness?

What makes my work and approach unique is that I believe in them. When you trust what you do, everything else flows by itself.

ERNESTO GUTIÉRREZ MOYA

"My most recent achievement is the publication of my first artist's book about my work."

Tell us about some of the highlights of your journey.

Well, my first achievements were in my native country, Cuba. The first was to enter the San Alejandro art academy and get to know the art in depth. Then I continued participating in group exhibitions. One of those experiences that marked me was participating in the 12th. Biennial of Havana.

My first personal exhibition was held in 2016 at the Carmelo González Gallery, the same year that I left my country to start life in a new culture; Miami.

In the year 2017 I made my second personal exhibition in the Vargas gallery. I participated in more collective exhibitions such as Spectrum Miami and in 3 art magazines such as Art and Music in the Saatchi Gallery. But my most recent achievement is the publication of my first artist's book about my work.

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INTERVIEW

"My work I would say that in general it has been and is a constant search to represent a personal world" Ernesto GutiĂŠrrez Moya

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DESTIG TOP ARTISTS OF 2019

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"When you give 101 percent of what you're passionate about, it will never be a bad investment."

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WWW.ERNESTOGUTIERREZMOYA.COM

"I would say that it is not the art of today, but it was the past and possibly it will be the future, it will always be that window of escape where we can enter and know a new truth."

What are your sources of inspiration?

My sources of inspiration are architecture, literature, animated series, art books, strange forms that catch my eye, ripples in the water, clouds or any aspect that I can use for the construction of my world.

What can we look forward to from you soon?

The last project that I concluded was the publication of my first book. But so far I have a personal show in New York for 2021. But what I have in mind is that this year I want to participate in some magazines and books, although I keep enrolling in some galleries to show my work... Â How do you feel about art and its role in the world today?

I would say that it is not the art of today, but it was the past and possibly it will be the future.

It will always be that window of escape where we can enter and know a new truth. Because art has always involved love, hate, expression, representation, presentation, money, business, truth, lie, freedom, censorship, passion. Â I honestly do not want my art to go unnoticed.

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What are your greatest hopes for your work?

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Nancy has been creating works of art since she was 8.

She studied Fine Arts at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado. Her work has won numerous awards in shows throughout the United States.

Tell us about yourself and background.

I started drawing faces when I was 8 years old.

My favorite subjects were elderly Chinese men with lots of wrinkles. I also started drawing portraits of Native Americans at an early age, which was influenced by living in the Western and South Western US. I began experimenting with pen and ink, and acrylics and learned basics about value.

Later on, I studied fine art at the University of Colorado, Boulder, however I earned a Math degree.

After graduating, I began my career in software engineering, but throughout my 38+ year career, I continued to create art and enter shows.

I first started with pastels over 30 years ago and have had a passion for them ever since.

Since my retirement two years ago, I have been able to focus more on my life’s true passion: art.

Tell us about your work.

My present work is a culmination of the different medias I have utilized prior. My work focuses on vibrant colors, strong lines and a good sense of value.

Technically, I try to produce high quality, high-contrast work, to evoke thought and emotion. I would describe my style as semi-realistic, with impressionistic backgrounds and strong-lined accents. My primary subject matter tends to be indigenous peoples, people with character and endangered or wild animals.

Why is your work a good investment?

I am always experimenting with the latest paints, papers and tools, and always strive to bring innovation to my work. I continue to show the depth, compassion

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What makes your work unique?

Technically, my work is a unique combination of realism, impressionism and line. I focus on showing the incredible beauty, love, compassion and innocence in my subjects, which brings out each subject’s own uniqueness. I work to capture the spirit of each of my subjects, animals included, and I believe that this attention is what makes my art unique.

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and beauty in subjects which I hope will enlighten the viewer through evoking mindfulness about them.

I am dedicated to producing high quality art, as this is my passion.

Tell us about some of your achievements.

I have won several awards for my portraits and particularly for my artwork with hands. The greatest achievement for me personally, is seeing improvement in my style, vision and depth of painting. I believe that simply living life with my eyes and heart open helps to improve my work.

What recognition have you achieved for your work?

I have won several first place and best of show awards over the years for my portraits and hands including at the Degas Pastel Society Annual Show (09’, 11’, 16’), La Fond Pastel Galleries National Pastel Competition (Honorable Mention 00’), Campbell Art Guild (13’, 15’, 16’), and most recently I received the honor of first place at the TRAC 2019 Online Art Competition.

Tell us about some of your past work.

One of my most awarded paintings is a portrait of a young African American girl titled, Hope in the Hood.

Her story is about coming from poor beginnings but working hard and rising to fame. My painting Identity is about a Native American dressed in cowboy attire, sitting in front of an old photo of his ancestors in traditional tipis. This portrait is about the bi-cultural struggles that many Native Americans deal with growing up in mainstream American culture and their indigenous cultures simultaneously.

Lastly, my painting, Honoring My Elders is about a transgender Native American who honors their ancestor by wearing their bracelet.

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What are you passionate about?

I am passionate about creating art that impacts myself and others on a deeper level, and I try to use colors and techniques to facilitate this. I sincerely want the world to respect and honor indigenous and minority people, which is why both subjects are a large part of my work’s focus. I am also very concerned about the eradication of endangered or vulnerable wild animals, so I am very passionate about showcasing their beauty and spirits in hopes that others will see it too.

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"I sincerely want the world to respect and honor indigenous and minority people, which is why both subjects are a large part of my work’s focus."

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"I continue to show the depth, compassion and beauty in subjects which I hope will enlighten the viewer through evoking mindfulness about them."

Share with us upcoming projects.

I hope to travel more and create sketches and photos of people and animals in distant lands.

From these sketches and photos I hope to share my insights of these subjects. I am particularly interested in portraying Mexican, Peruvian and aboriginal people as well as animals native to those regions. I am also interested in working on close-ups of plants and trees, trying to capture their natural spirit.

"There is of course a place and a need for digital art, but I believe it should be balanced with hand-made art."

How do you feel about art and its role in the world today?

I sincerely hope future generations will understand and continue to see the value in fine, high-quality art. I believe it is imperative to preserve the tradition of creating hand-made art as opposed to machine-made art.

There is of course a place and a need for digital art, but I believe it should be balanced withÂ

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Tell us about where you are based.

I am currently based in Monterey, California.

I create my work in my home studio.

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hand-made art. I hope that art will continue to inspire, teach, and change others’ lives as it did mine.

How do you want your art to affect the viewer/world?

I want the viewer to see the beauty that I see in my subjects.

I want them to feel where the subjects are coming from, see their spirit  and develop love and compassion for them too.

www.staintonart.com

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What are your sources of inspiration?

My sources of inspiration are nature, animals and people. I am inspired by others who help indigenous and minority people, and endangered wildlife. I am also inspired by the art of Picasso, Van Gogh, Edgar Degas, Leonardi di Vinci, and Dali among others.

My creativity is also fueled by beautiful music and dance.

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"My goal is to consistently create interesting work, and interesting work is the combination of color, form, and expression, and those are what I emphasize in my work."

Nick Noyes is a fine artist from Reno, Nevada, USA, who specializes in painting and illustration. He creates intricate, expressive, and colorful portraits, utilizing many mediums.

Tell us about some of your achievements.

I have shown work in Nevada and California.

What are your sources of inspiration?

I feel creatively obligated to refine or develop work each day. Knowing that I have been consistent and busy, and that I have some promising pieces in the works, motivates me in all other facets of my life.

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Tell us about yourself and your background.

I am 28 years old, from Reno, Nevada, USA, and I am a self taught painter and illustrator.

Tell us about your work.

I paint portraits. My mediums are spray paints, oil pastels, markers, and pencils. My goal is to consistently create interesting work, and interesting work is the combination of color, form, and expression, and those are what I emphasize in my work.

What is unique about your work?

I am, for better or worse, “married” to my format.

All of my work is on 18”x24” paper, done using the same layered process. I do not title my work. I prefer to not “color” it with any verbage. I number my work, which is– I think–interesting, because if you view them all sequentially, it's obvious what new techniques or styles I was experimenting with and incorporating.

Why is your work a good investment?

I cannot answer why my work is a good investment.

I have never been good at selling my work. I like and appreciate when somebody shows interest, or inquires about purchasing a piece, but I am frankly not that great of a salesman.

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"I number my work, which is–I think–interesting, because if you view them all sequentially, it's obvious what new techniques or styles I was experimenting with and incorporating."

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"Before, it felt almost like a chore to labor with other mediums, but with spray paints I am able to establish the forms quickly and broadly."

N I C K

N O Y E S

What you are you passionate about?

I am passionate about consistently creating new work, adding to my collection, developing my work within my particular modality, and creating an interesting catalog of unique work using new tools and techniques.

Share with us the back-story of some of your work.

A huge breakthrough to me was incorporating spray paints into my work. Before, it felt almost like a chore to labor with other mediums, but with spray paints I am able to establish the forms quickly and broadly. I prefer working on paper, and it may seem obvious to most people, but when I discovered on a whim that spray paints do not buckle paper, it opened up a very productive and experimental system for me that allowed me to create more work and not worry so much about wasting material.

I do not like canvas or brushes, and with spray paints I do not have to use either.

"Reno's seasons are stark in contrast, and I have always emphasized contrast in my work, probably because of that."

Tell us about your upcoming projects I'll continue to develop my work and create. I have a few shows I'm going to put work into this year and next year. I am trying to show more work in California, Oregon, and Washington, but it is proving difficult to make connections. Again, I am not a great salesman.

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Tell us about where you are based and how it influences your work Reno is temperate forest–lush and green–to the west, and high desert–very dry and dusty–on the East side.

In the winter we get a lot of snow, and in the summer it is what you would expect in the desert. Hot. Reno's seasons are stark in contrast, and I have always emphasized contrast in my work, probably because of that.

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A R T I S T S

"I feel very strongly about visual art.

It is the purest and most accessible form of expression."

How do you feel about art and its role in the world?

I feel very strongly about visual art. It is the purest and most accessible form of expression. I love music, film, writing, and animation, however, there are barriers to entry in all of those mediums. Any person can scribble in the blank spaces of a phonebook while they wait for an operator. Art is meditative.

How you want your art to affect the viewer?

There are a few people I know who really appreciate my work, and look forward to their thoughts, but, besides that, I am not particularly interested in affecting anybody with my art.

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www.noyesranch.wordpress.com

H A R O L D W E S T E R I N K

ÂŤ Whatever happens in the moment, enjoy it! Âť D E S T I G

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A R T I S T S

Singul art describes him as follows: "Harold Westernik is a passionate Dutch painter who has exhibited his work in the Netherlands. Interested in the sloppy, uninhibited way children paint, he undertakes an unplanned, free painting process, reacting with his materials moment to moment and creating bold works decorated with deconstructed text, striking figures and vibrant colours."

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Harold Westerink is an expressionist artist from Wieden, The Netherlands.

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""My work is away for me to survive and make sense of the world."

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"I dont know anything is my biggest achievement"

H A R O L D W E S T E R I N K

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"All = ART + ART = ALL

J U A N C A M I L O G U Z M A N

D E S T I G

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A R T I S T S

Juan Camilo Guzman is interested in shopping. He works with mixed media as a medium and as a subject as well.

His interests include art history and theory, painting, philosophy, design, advertisement and the role of the artist in the material world. He was born in Bogotá, Colombia where he lived until 2014. He received his MFA in Painting and Drawing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Tell us about your work.

I shop as an artistic practice. What I like about the things I buy is their attitude.

My work looks like something from now, something commercial, like a poster or a postcard, cold, playful, and attractive at first sign. I am interested in ambivalence and contradiction. I talk about the world in a paradoxical way. I choose images from mass culture to talk about politics, art, painting, cultural issues, taste, the material world, pleasure, power, sexuality, gender and the role of the artist’s external life in the larger culture. I’m interested in images and how they are a construction - in cosmetics instead of aesthetics - in the nature of all of these issues as images. By adding more

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Tell us about yourself and your background.

I am a cat person, actually cats are my favorite animals, they’re stealthy and unpredictable, I am intrigued by way they position themselves in the world, how they interact with everything, and the way they look at you, there is a big mystery in every single cat, or maybe not, but you’ll never know, and I like that.

I am a very academic and institutional person, and you can see that in my work. I did all my undergrad studies in Bogotá. My background is in art history and theory, and I also studied philosophy and design. So by that time I was more interested in words than in developing a visual language. But there was a lack of poetry and rules I didn’t want to follow that made me move to Chicago to pursue an MFA in painting and drawing.

I have always been a creator (or maybe a stealer), I enjoy making art, but I don’t like to get dirty, as a kid I always refused to get into the sandbox. Probably the only “crafty” labor that I enjoy is drawing, which is also my habit. So I guess I still work a little bit like a designer, and off course, writing is a very important part of my practice. On the other hand, being an artist is a little bit like fiction and it is also a privilege, I believe everyone is a potential artist and I wanted to be one.

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"I shop as an artistic practice.

What I like about the things I buy is their attitude."

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"I’m interested in images and how they are a construction in cosmetics instead of aesthetics in the nature of all of these issues as images."

What is unique about your work?

Throughout my life, I haven’t found a more intriguing and mysterious conversation than the one about taste. Understanding taste as something that is experienced between knowledge and pleasure, or between the illusion of truth and beauty.

I want to play in that mysterious space where a knowledge that is enjoyed and a pleasure that is known can articulate. As I just said I am interested in contradiction and ambivalence to question frames of reference and models of thought.

With my work I intend to approach from a historical perspective, and using referential tools within art language, the "enigmatic" relationship between knowledge and pleasure." Where this correspondence suggests not only a historical fact about the development of the western philosophical tradition, but also a kind of an utopian perspective: a possible "realization of knowledge" in the "double salvation" of beauty and truth, a tradition in which this promise of salvation implies not only an aesthetic-ethical

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and more layers, I distort what is already distorted.

If the world is so twisted at times, why not view it with a little bit of humor? I’m able to make jokes without smiling.

J U A N

C A M I L O

G U Z M A N

position, but also a political one , or even an "aesthetic state" in which all the old philosophical oppositions would finally be abolished.

Why your work is a good investment?

Because people still live between walls… so there’s room to hang stuff hahaha. I also hope it increases its commercial and cultural value over time.

What are your sources of inspiration?

That’s a hard question because I do believe in inspiration but not as something that possesses you and makes you create a masterpiece. I’m not the kind of artist that spends a lot of time alienated in his or her studio struggling and suffering while making.

I always think about work and language as the space and tools we use to create. In my case, I’m always working, because I’m always alert of what’s going on in the world I’m experiencing. Fortunately, (or not?), I have many different interests, so I guess my

"I’m always working, because I’m always alert of what’s going on in the world I’m experiencing."

What you are you passionate about?

As I mentioned before I have different interests, I like to read, to watch stuff, to get information and to acquire experience and knowledge in general.

But probably my single favorite thing in the world (beside burgers) is tennis. I consider myself a very rational person overall, and of course, when it comes to

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“inspiration” comes from all over the place equally.

All these sources can include a soccer match, an art exhibition, shopping malls, lectures, propaganda, magazine articles, small conversations, dinner with my parents, etc… That is also why to have conversation and institutions are important for my art practice to exist.

So as a part of my process, I’m not only experiencing, I also collect objects and “random” images from the internet, that I may or may not use latter in the studio, it depends on “inspiration” and if it finds me working…

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specific arena, I wasn’t ok with that because it would change the conceptual approach of the work, so the solution was to bring some people from the staff that were supposed to prevent the balls to spread too much and enter other rooms. The result was so funny; those guys became a key component in the whole situation.

I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.

Share with us the back-story of some of your projects.

My work in the show “Painting in Time Part 2” at the Sullivan Galleries was a minimalistic white cube filled with thousands of colored bouncing balls which were then to be released at some point by members of the crew during the performance. For me it was really important that the balls would spread freely through the gallery and the visitors were welcome to kick them, throw them against the walls, play with them or take them home. And I also wanted the balls to “invade” other people works and spaces, but off course, that was something I wasn’t going to mention ever. So aware than it would be hard for the curators to accept something like that, and because I had been rejected before with this same project, I applied with a totally different thing and then started the “negotiations”.

In the end they accepted the balls with it's hazardous component, but they wanted them to be contained in a

How do you feel about art and its role in the world?

The very notion of art is determined by decisions you don’t make, this becomes more evident if you are not from the Northern Hemisphere, the limitations to make decolonized decisions in the art field, show us that there is no way to alter the system or to be outside the system. Once assimilated the impossibility to make truly decolonized art. I explore these difficult matters not in order to solve them, but to implicitly highlight their deep entanglement with social relations of power and exploitation.

As an artist I feel that I need to understand what my place is in history and in the institutional system of production, the contemporary economic system in other words. As Latin Americans we understand our condition in external terms, so it is a problem of representation.

We can only use the media of representation that are available, and to use and question the media of

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tennis, I like the game, the tactics, the technical matters, the equipment and its aesthetical extension.

But I'd say that my approach with tennis is less rational and more visceral than my approach with art, for example. I also enjoy other forms of poetry like written poetry, Its my favorite form of literature by far. And I do write poems myself, I played tennis since I was a kid.

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representation you are already making a political decision. What are the possibilities of the medium?

It is hard to capture a subject through image, to show the content of the representation but the tools of representation itself. That’s why I try to bring everything to the surface and makes it look explicit.

I also find huge limitations of the art world’s identity politics, relational aesthetics, social practices, artistic activism or however you want to call it, that lies precisely in the fact that it overlooks contradictions.

The social and cultural positions that we occupy as cultural producers are far more complicated and determine a lot of changes we just can’t enact.

For that, because art is not the best way to say anything with big precision, and many other reasons, I see a clear impossibility to make art that can truly contribute to a tangible political change.

How you want your art to affect the viewer?

Well I treat my art as I treat my Facebook profile.

My work works in different ways. I think about different viewers when I make it; I want the people from outside the art world to enjoy it, and they might, because I use design and advertisement language, and pop culture imagery to make beautiful things. But I also see my work as philosophical propositions; I’m interested in proposing ways to getting to things. To question, to refuse the social system and to play with expectation.

I try to adjust peoples frames of references, and in that case, to establish an antagonistic position against the viewer. I want to give the viewer an active role and contrast what they see with their own experiences and preconceptions.

www.juancamiloguzman.com

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"Because art is not the best way to say anything with big precision, and many other reasons, I see a clear impossibility to make art that can truly contribute to a tangible political change."

HER GOAL? TO PROVOKE! To Francesca, art has the same importance as philosophy: its ultimate purpose is to provoke critical thinking in the viewer. She mostly focuses on social issues. She sees art as a way to reach, address and provoke original and innovative thoughts on common issues, rather than focused on what she believes has become an almost standardised, often excessive individualism.

Francesca likes to define herself as an EnvironmentARTist. Torn between optimism and surrender, she is haunted by the idea of mankind’s Â

Her aim is to awaken in the viewer awareness of our indissoluble interdependence with the ecosystem, and to protest against the dangerous disposable lifestyle we are currently leading.

Torn between optimism and surrender.

This shows particularly in her mosaics, mixed media and installations, which are created almost entirely from rubbish and "found" material. She thoroughly enjoys working within both the ethical and the material limitations which this choice entails.

Whilst keeping her carbon footprint to the bare minimum, it also allows her to provide a different

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FRANCESCA BUSCA

imminent self-destruction. Yet, she believes in a future for humanity of resourceful innovation through re-thinking, re-purposing and reducing.

She also has a true passion for mosaic, as it allows the use of a broad range of materials: she strives to show the beauty and significance of each material used, in each tiny piece, eagerly crisscrossing the boundary between mosaic and mixed media. She is on a mission to show the incredible - yet still lesser known and appreciated - potential of modern mosaic, as a fine art in its own right.

Ironically, her Little Things exhibition was censored within the first week of opening, as it was found to be “too controversial” by some of the estate residents.

She is currently working on the pilot project of her "Art for Trash" initiative, as part of what she likes to call the "ArtWORKivism" movement (of which at the moment she is the founder andsole member).

Francesca has also recently resumed her fondness for photography, which she decided to abandon before the digital era, due to the pollution involved in development techniques. She is currently working on layered artwork, where she uses photography to create multi-layered messages which develop around her 3D artworks.

The aim is to bring environmental artivism inside business offices, and to stimulate ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS and RESPONSIBILITY in the professional sphere, spreading the belief that they are pervasive and necessary in all aspects of our lives. It involves the employees to collect a selection of their office daily rubbish, and she uses it to make an artwork for their office. The first client is Bluefield Partners, a thriving business with strong ethical and environmental values, which enthusiastically embraced the initiative in their London City office.

She has recently launched the Payment in Kind(ness) initiative, whereby she accepts eco-friendly gestures (LiThs = “Little Things”) as payment in kind toward her artwork.

Francesca is happily available for pro bono collaborations with environmental organisations.

Making the world a better place through art, in all possible ways, is her biggest hope.

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perspective on what society generally sees as rubbish: in Francesca's world, rubbish acquires new uses and meanings, and becomes the undisputed protagonist of her artworks, as fun and beautiful a Cinderella as she can master it to be.

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ENVIRONMENTAL ARTIVISM INSIDE BUSINESS OFFICES. In her early life, Francesca challenged herself by focusing on things that did not come naturally to her (e.g. going into Law after studying Classics). Yet, she tried for years to placate her internal restlessness by living in different countries and cultures (Pordenone, Padua, Denver, London, Paris, New York...).

When she reached 40, with the responsibility of a mother, Francesca settled between London and Trieste and found her outlet in what she liked and did best, namely using her hands to create.

Art exhibitions, painting and modelling clay were regular hobbies which never satiated her inherent creative nature. Finally, she entered the Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli, in Spilimbergo: a whole new world of WONDERS opened up.

She then took a course in Roman mosaics at Scuola Mosaicisti del Friuli in Spilimbergo (Italy), another Certificate at Southbank Mosaics, other courses in Byzantine and Modern mosaics in Spilimbergo, one for families, and promptly enrolled on many others… Italy, Turkey, and what else!

She is now attending the Mosaic Diploma at the London School of Mosaic in London.

But that was only the first step towards what turned into full-on environmental artivism: whether EnvironmentARTivism, ArtWORKivism or else, she is often coining neologisms to describe her numerous original artivist initiatives and projects.

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THE AIM IS TO BRING

She wanted to learn how to do it properly.

She found a delightful place in London, Southbank Mosaics, where she obtained a first Award course.

Making the world a better place through art, in all possible ways, is her biggest hope.

She is part of the BAMM Committee in the role of Exhibition Officer, and has taken permanent residency at the London School of Mosaic, where she holds a shared studio and teaches short courses from February 2018 on the innovative subject of "Mosaic as Mixed Media". Francesca is also a member of the Governing Body of the London School of Mosaic, a member of The Artists' Pool and of the Circle Foundation of the Arts.

www.francescabusca.com

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She has participated in over 60 art exhibitions internationally in the last 2 years alone. She has received over 30 awards and appeared on a dozen publications.

SMARIN SIGN SYSTEM - A CONSTRUCTION GAME Sign System is a set of elements, on the basis of seven different forms. Two thick and slightly curved lines, one large and one smaller, a crescent-shaped half-circle, a disc, two curved elements, a point. These archetypal forms of a figurative and / or ornamental vocabulary, translated into small manipulable objects, allow a game without duration or age. play with shapes: All letters of the alphabet can be produced from these seven forms. It is about learning, or playing with the tiny writing (close to calligraphy) of all Latin languages.

Play alone or together, a tactile dialogue, whose hands are the organ. The a is made of the crescent stucked to the line, the b is the large line in front of the crescent, the c is the crescent shape alone, etc ‌

play with the language: To have fun composing words, to contemplate the words arrived by the manual play with the forms, to construct sentences, anagrammatic researches.

To make a slow conversation.

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play with languages: Let's add three forms and we can go from writing the Arabic language, or the Cyrillic language to that of the Latin languages and vice versa, Sign System will allow this complicity between the languages, on this basis of common characters.

The particularity of this 'typography' in volume is to be composed of autonomous signs to associate to form the letters of a lowercase script, and to be open to the imagination of variations beyond writing and language. Â smarin is a French design studio founded in 2003 by the designer StĂŠphanie Marin. smarin designs, develops and distributes design projects in the fields of furniture, set design and space planning.

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www.smarin.net

Filipino American Artist Directory is an independent initiative by St. Louisbased artist Janna Añonuevo Langholz to connect and make visible the broad community of visual artists of Filipino heritage living and working in the United States. It aims to increase the recognition of Filipino American artists through an online resource and series of publications, as well as group events, exhibitions, commissioned works, and collaborations with other artists and organizations.

The project is based in St. Louis at the site of the 1904 World’s Fair, which was significant for the Philippine Exhibit of 1,200 Filipinos that largely (mis)shaped American perception of the Philippines.

The directory reclaims that site and addresses its history by compiling a list of 1,200 artists actively exhibiting their work around the country, as opposed to being exhibited, and aims to culminate in a series of events and exhibitions in

15 FILIPINO AMERICAN ARTISTS YOU NEED 2 KNOW

St. Louis in 202X. The project was founded in 2015, first inspired by the book The Decolonized Eye: Filipino American Art and Performance by Sarita Echavez See. The directory has participated in the Filipino American International Book Festival in San Francisco, Pilipinx American Library Artist Retreat at Asian Art Museum, Guerrilla Alliance Night Market in St. Louis, Chicago Art Book Fair, and is a member of Common Field.

It has been featured on Inquirer.net, the Bad At Sports podcast, World Literature Today, and The FilAm. View the full directory at: www.filamartistdirectory.com

FILIPINO AMERICAN

Adrian Alarilla Cherisse Alcantara Brandon Alvendia

Cherisse Alcantara is a first

Brandon Alvendia is a Chicago-based

filmmaker, community organizer, and

generation Filipino American, based

artist, independent curator, and

film scholar. He was born and raised

in San Francisco who received her

educator. His interdisciplinary

in the Philippines and studied film at

B.A. in Art Practice at the University

practice engages spatial and social

the University of the Philippines Film

of California, Berkeley in 2013.

architectures by creating platforms

Institute, finishing his degree in

She had her first solo exhibition at

for experimentation, discussion and

Social Sciences and Communication at

Pence Gallery in 2017, and has

collaboration.

the University of Washington in 2010.

exhibited in numerous galleries.

He is the founder of multiple Chicago

He is currently pursuing his graduate

Themes of isolation, metamorphosis,

alternative spaces artLedge (2004-

studies at UW's Jackson School of

transformation, mythical quest and

2007 w/ Caleb Lyons), BEN RUSSELL

International Studies, focusing on

the search for identity and belonging,

(2009-2011 w/Ben Russell), The

Southeast Asian Cinema. He is the

as an immigrant, minority woman,

Storefront (2010-2014), art-publishing

founder of Diwa Filipino Film

and an adoptee, are explored through

house Silver Galleon Press (2008-

Showcase of Seattle, a community-

the figure in an atmospheric and

present), and attended The School of

based film festival directed in

moody space in her open-ended

the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA ‘03)

collaboration with the Pagdiriwang

narratives. She was recently awarded

and University of Illinois at Chicago

Philippine Festival.

a residency at Jentel Artist Residency.

(MFA ‘07).

www.adrianalarilla.com

www.cherissealcantara.com

www.alvendia.net

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Adrian Alarilla is a Seattle-based

FILIPINO AMERICAN

Gigi Bio Kimberley Acebo Arteche Julio Jose Austria

Kimberley Acebo Arteche is an

Julio Jose Austria is a visual artist

and fashion/surface designer based in

educator, cultural worker, and

born and raised in Manila, Philippines.

Brooklyn, New York. She received her

interdisciplinary artist working in

His works focus on urbanization and

BFA in Fashion from the Savannah

photography, installation, social

migration, provide a visual portrayal

College of Art and Design in Georgia,

practice, and performance. Her work

of his most profound life experiences

and AA in Fine Art from Florida State

explores the hybrid cultures formed

and narration based on observations

College in Jacksonville. Her artwork

by technology, movements of

of and assimilation to the foreign

has been exhibited throughout United

immigrants in America, and how

environment. He was the recipient of

States in New York, California,

these affect movements through

the 2009 Asian Artist Full Fellowship

Washington DC, Virginia, Oregon,

space and spaces. Arteche received

Award at the Vermont Studio Center;

Georgia, Florida, and Europe in the

her BFA from the University of

a Joan Mitchell Foundation grantee

United Kingdom and France.

Maryland, Baltimore County, and MFA

for the Ox-Bow School for the Arts in

Her artwork has been published in the

from San Francisco State University’s

Saugatuck Michigan in 2010; and a

books Newbrow: 50 Contemporary

School of Art. Amongst many awards,

Ruth Katzman scholarship awardee by

Artists, Street or Studio: A Photobook,

she was awarded the Murphy &

the Vytlacil Campus of the Arts

An Urban History of Photography, at

Cadogan Contemporary Art Award by

Student League of New York. His work

Tate Modern in London, and Click!

the San Francisco Foundation.

have been exhibited worldwide.

www.gigibio.com

www.kimarteche.com

www.juliojoseaustria.com

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Gigi Bio is an interdisciplinary artist

FILIPINO AMERICAN

Emma Noelle Buhain Roberto Jamora Kelvin Burzon

Roberto Jamora was born in 1987 in

Kelvin Burzon is an artist whose work

photographer and experimental

Annapolis, Maryland and grew up in

explores intersections of sexuality,

filmmaker who lives and works in New

Virginia Beach, Virginia. He lives in

race, gender, and religion. As a child

York City. She grew up in Manila and

Queens and works in Brooklyn.

growing up in a Filipino culture,

moved to Manhattan as a teenager.

He holds a BFA in Painting and

Burzon’s initial ambition was to

Emma is a student at Barnard College,

Printmaking from Virginia

become a Catholic priest. He is always

where she is currently pursuing a BA

Commonwealth University and a MFA

interested in religion’s role in culture

in art history and the visual arts.

in Visual Arts from Purchase College,

and familial relationships, and has

Emma’s current artistic practice

State University of New York (SUNY).

been drawn to its traditions, imagery,

consists of portraiture and

He was an Emerging Artist-Teacher

theatricality, and psychological

documentary photography. Her artistic

Fellow at Joan Mitchell Foundation

vestige. His work is inspired by

work, as a whole, explores the

and also taught at Purchase College,

cerebral influences growing up in and

omnipresence of duality.

SUNY. He was a 2014 and 2017 NY

around the church. “My cultural and

Her photographs and films are

Emerging Artist Grant Nominee at the

familial identity, my memories as a

reflective of her experience as she

Rema Hort Mann Foundation.

child, can not be separated from the

moves between the two worlds of

His work has been included in many

church. It was an integral part of what

Manila and New York.

leading exhibitions.

it means to be a Filipino.”

www.emmanoelle.com

www.robertojamora.com

www.kelvinburzon.com

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Emma Noelle Buhain is an analog

FILIPINO AMERICAN

Clarence Chun Crystal Z Campbell Alaina Hickman

Crystal Z Campbell is an

Alaina Hickman is a photographer

Tacloban and currently living between

interdisciplinary artist and writer of

based in Omaha, Nebraska whose

Manila, Philippines and Honolulu,

African-American, Filipino, and

work explores ideas surrounding

Hawaii. He received his MFA from the

Chinese descents. Campbell uses the

femininity, the body, and

School of Visual Arts and BFA from

internet as material, framing it as a

ephemerality. She works in a variety

the University of Houston. He was an

space in which everything and

of alternative photographic processes

Ellen Battell Stoeckel Fellow at Yale

nothing can be erased. What future

including traditional black and white,

University. Clarence's work was

narratives might these digital

tintypes, salt prints, tri-color gum

exhibited at the National Museum of

legacies reveal? Campbell's work has

bichromate, and lumen printing.

the Philippines; Jones Contemporary

been exhibited and screened

She also makes artist books. Her work

Art Center, Texas; and Honolulu

internationally at ICA Philadelphia

has been shown throughout Nebraska

Museum of Art, Hawaii. He was in the

(US), Artericambi (IT), Artissima (IT),

and has received regional and

Honolulu Museum of Art Artists of

Studio Museum of Harlem (US),

national student scholarship awards

Hawaii 2013 Biennale and was

Project Row Houses in Texas (US), De

from the Society of Photographic

selected as the John Young

Appel Arts Centre (NL), and

Education. "I take photographs

Foundation Awardee. His work has

SculptureCenter (US) amongst others.

because it’s the best thing for me, I’m

been exhibited internationally.

Her work has received many awards.

afraid not to do art. I’d go mad…"

www.clarencechun.com

www.crystalzcampbell.com

www.alainahickman.com

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Clarence Chun is a painter born in

FILIPINO AMERICAN

Janna Añonuevo Langholz James Bascara Katrina Bello

James Bascara was born in 1983,

Katrina Bello is a visual artist and

interdisciplinary artist born and based

raised in Millstone, New Jersey, and

curator who lives and works in the

in St. Louis, Missouri. Her work

currently lives and works in Brooklyn.

Philippines and the United States.

explores her identity as a second-

“Through my work, I am uncovering

Her works have been shaped by life

generation Filipino American and

building blocks for new myths.

experiences of natural environments

relationships to land and architecture

I explore the restrictions and

encountered during the course of

through photography, site-specific

possibilities of various materials and

migration. Topics including memory,

installations, performances, and

mediums, whether through painting,

landscape, time, ecology, and geology

participatory projects.

animation, zines, ceramics, etc.

are the subtext of her work which

Añonuevo received a BFA in Fibers

As a Filipino-American, I dwell on

take form in drawings, paintings,

from Truman State University in

ideas of colonization, lost languages,

installation, photography, and video.

Kirksville, Missouri in 2011 and

memories, and histories, as well as

She is also the curator and founder of

received a full fellowship to attend

the potential of forging of new paths

North Willow, an artist-run attic art

graduate school at SMU Meadows

and identities, by acknowledging

space in Montclair, New Jersey. It is

School of the Arts in Dallas, Texas in

both my heritage and my current

committed to site-specific art

2013. She received her MFA in 2015

place and time. The works provide

installations, and is founded on skill

with a concentration in photography.

another way of understanding.”

and resource sharing among artists.

www.jannalangholz.com

www.jamesbascara.com

www.katrinabello.com

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Janna Añonuevo Langholz is an

HOT PICKS DESTIG TOP 10

DESIGN SELECTIONS FOR 2019

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL / PARIS, FRANCE

MIRIT WEINSTOCK Mirit Weinstock is a fashion designer, jewelry designer and artist who lives and works between Tel Aviv and Paris.

Mirit has worked alongside masters, such as Alexander McQueen and Albar Elbaz. In their studios she specialised in couture fashion and its relation to crafts. She launched her own fashion label in 2004, and in 2011 her own jewelry label, both of which are successful internationally.

Website: www.miritweinstock.com

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Mirit Weinstock Jewelry is an international, high end luxury crafts jewelry label.

Drawing her inspiration from childhood memories, classic fashion periods and the natural world Mirit Weinstock presents an original, dreamy poetic jewelry collection with a touch of humor.

PORTO, PORTUGAL

BOCA DO LOBO METAMORPHOSIS SNOOKER TABLE A playful and remarkable design imagined for those who appreciate the good things in life and finding unique beauty in the most unexpected places. An extraordinary English snooker table of 10 feet playground size, founded by 8 statement designed black wood legs which portray unexpected chaos and high-end materials. Casted brass black bugs meet gold scorpions in an elegant way.

Website: www.bocadolobo.com

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BOCA DO LOBO furniture is an exclusive emotional experience, a sense of belonging and a state of mind. We strive to encourage sensational experiences by creating beautiful pieces which are passionately inspired and handcrafted in Portugal by staff that love what they do; experiences which pass on the feeling of exclusivity.

BEIRUT, LEBANON

NADA DEBS MARQUETRYMANIA: Seamlessly celebrating the values of design; traditional Middle Eastern craftsmanship reimagined within a playful contemporary setting.

Being respectful to the ancient and iconic marquetry techniques, Nada Debs has stripped back the ornate handcraft of intricately adorning objects with thousands of pieces of wood inlay to wrap forms in a kaleidoscope pattern, introducing postmodern features to create a collection of strikingly fresh designs.

Website: www.nadadebs.com

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Nada Debs is a Lebanese designer living and working in Beirut. Nada grew up in Japan, studied design at the Rhode Island School of Design in the United States and has spent time traveling the world, finding connections between different cultures.

MONZA, ITALY

EDRA

Website: www.edra.com

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Grande Soffice designed by Francesco Binfaré.

Soft lines, smoothed corners, perfect curves, fundamental elements to experience.

It fits in any environment thanks to its pure shapes. The patented smart cushion allows the inclination of the backrests to find the greatest relaxion. The padding is made of Gellyfoam® and goose feathers for comfort.

Edra is a company with a unique history.

It is a recognized leader, in the vanguard of its field. It has followed its own path, with courage, professionalism, respect and character. It has created a history that will last in time, thanks to production of the highest quality, never swayed by passing fashions and trends. A path that has made it a firmly established brand and a point of reference on the international design scene.

MONZA, ITALY

ANTONIO LUPI Gessati - fashion and design in a sink.

Research, innovation and leadership are synonymous with antonio lupi's philosophy, which for many years has presented a wide range of unique products along with peculiar and fascinating projects. Once again, the Tuscan company surprises with a new challenge on Carrara marble, an ancient and multifaceted material interpreted by GUM Design, a Tuscan designer that for the first time collaborates with antonio lupi.

Website: www.antoniolupi.it

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A collection that comes from the creativity and thinking of man and is achieved through the precision of the machine, a soft and sinuous volume with enveloping lines obtained by combining 1 or 2 cm of Carrara marble sheets glued together by means of a colored resin.

CHICAGO, USA

CHRISTOPHER GENTNER BRASS BOX AND WOOD RING These works of art were inspired by his muse, fellow designer Felicia Ferrone, and are an expression of the significant moments in their relationship throughout the years creating a physical timeline of the life they’ve shared.

Each intricately detailed, complex, and unique box holds an equally special ring.

Website: www.gentnerdesign.com

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With a BFA in metalsmithing from the Cleveland Institute of Art and learning under sculptors and jewelers, together with dedication to craft, Christopher Gentner quickly developed his reputation as a foremost authority of metal fabrication and furniture. His work is at the crossroads of design and art, transcending materiality and form through a rare combination of aesthetic dexterity and mastery of craft.

BARCELONA, SPAIN

EUGENI QUITLLET DUNE HYBRID BOAT: The boat is a hybrid between a sail boat and a motor power boat to create a completely new category!

The super tender. Taking the best of both, the elegance and the efficiency! It has 6 seats in it's interior all in gold finish, and is 196 feet long (60 meters). The deck is shaped as a dune in precious wood and features sculptural navigation panels to feel as free as possible in the middle of a sea landscape. A piece of power poetry coming from a “Pandora box”

Website: www.eugeniquitllet.com

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Catalan designer Eugeni Quitllet was born in 1972. He graduated from Llotja Art School in Barcelona. He readily describes himself as a ‘Disoñador,’ a Spanish contraction of designer and dreamer. His invented future is gravityfree, with incredible aesthetics summarised in a combination of precision and flowing curves.

SAN GIOVANNI, ITALY

IVV

Internationally recognised because of the high quality of its glass and the sophisticated and advanced design of its products, IVV proposes some truly original and interesting novelties: Small works of art, handcrafted by wise master glassmakers who create organic and unique shapes with their blow. IVV melts together aesthetics and functionality in its products. An imaginative, unusual but harmonious fusion of shapes and colors, to emphasise the quality of the collections. Â Website: www.ivvnet.com

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H&T: a different vase for any kind of style.

The flowerpot is the quintessential furnishing accessory of our homes. An inevitable object that underlines the style of the environment in which it is placed. The vase decorates and embellishes the surrounding space, becoming a real highlight.

FLORENCE, ITALY

K-ARRAY

Website: www.k-array.com

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Lyzard, the smallest professional built-in audio speaker in the world.

Lyzard represents a real revolution in the field of the built-in cases, a strong point in the constant dialogue in between the Tuscan company and the world of design and interior design. Lyzard and Azimut, the system it belongs to, represent an excellent model of sound architecture, conceived to meet the favour of architects and designers and to give concrete answers to their multiple needs, both planning and aesthetics. Â We can define Lyzard as pioneering, powerful and exclusive. Three adjectives that appropriately reflect the unique design of this mini speaker, which is developed in two different dimensions: Lyzard-KZ1 (2.2 x 3.7 cm) and Lyzard-KZ14 (2.1x10 cm).

FLORENCE, ITALY

POGGESI The outdoor is now conceived as a real extension of our living and commercial spaces. Large, pleasant, harmoniously and fully equipped living areas, that are totally flexible. In this sense, umbrellas are the most practical and versatile solution to create interior environments that are openair. Poggesi umbrellas are completely designed and realized following concepts such as usability and durability, but also aesthetic pleasure and harmony of forms and architectures, anytime and anywhere.

Website: www.poggesi.it

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JOINT represents a new concept of umbrella: an evolution in terms of technology and style, born from the processing and studying the design of one of the most recognisable and important cantilever umbrellas of the Florentine company, the “King� model.

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Furniture, objects and textile by De Padova, Fredericia, Stellar Works and Camira: 2019 is Jens Risom year!

Risom was a versatile and successful Danish-American designer and businessman who took the USA by storm from the 1940's onward.

SPECIAL FEATURE

As part of a new vanguard, he was one of the first designers to introduce the modernist aesthetics and values of function and craftsmanship to the United States, he created Hans Knoll Furniture in 1941 with Hans Knoll. He founded Risom Design after Hans met Florence Knoll and became partner to create Knoll International in 1946 and throughout the mid-twentieth century he became an important figure in establishing post-war America’s leadership role in the world of modern furniture design and manufacturing.

Risom believed that design should be subtle and not centerstage. He created furniture for the people, often in rustic, natural materials such as solid oak and colored textile upholstery, and for more than 75 years he meticulously practised a certain American version of Danish-Modern.

Today, many of his furniture are considered modern classics and examples of Risom’s designs can be seen in leading design museums around the world. Described by Wallpaper Magazine in 2016 as “America’s last surviving design star from the Mid-century modernist movement”, Jens Risom passed away later the same year, shortly after celebrating his 100th birthday.

A farewell to a legend, but the Risom legacy lives on through an admirable production of more than 1,000 designs, some of which are still in production today and some of which will be available through a range of upcoming re-issues ithis year and onward.

Jens Risom 2019 re-issues are possible thank’s to FORM, a company dedicated to preserve, protect and promote good design through storytelling and matchmaking, to build on legacies and breathe new life into the legends of our time through the authentic translation of iconic designer portfolios.

More about Jens Risom www.formportfolios.com

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FORM is guardian and conservator, guiding families and their acquisitions, as well as living designers and their works, along the path of partners to actualization. Form Portfolios presents to the world again, as curators of these archetypal treasures, a gallery of useful and globally appealing designs for today.

Modernism: American Cool Returns

Paul McCobb

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PAUL MCCOBB

Paul McCobb (1917-1969) was one of the leading contemporary furniture designers on the American design scene in the 1950s and 1960s.

Over a timespan of twenty years he designed an impressive range of furniture, accessories and textiles which made him the bestselling furniture name for years in America. Since his early death in 1969 his designs have not been in production, but are now making their way back to the market in collaboration with world leading manufacturers. Fritz Hansen and Karakter Copenhagen launched pieces from Paul McCobb during Salone del Mobile 2018 and many more were launched in Milan this year again by Fritz Hansen, Karakter Copenhagen, Schwinn Originals and Made a Mano.

Paul McCobb’s design aesthetic is simplicity of form with a lack of ornamentation. Inspired by his New England upbringing and influenced by Shaker Design, McCobb combined slender lines with sculptural forms.

He offered a playful take on traditional forms with hints of Scandinavian craftsmanship and International style clarity, often made with affordable and robust materials such as iron, solid wood and durable upholstery.

Paul McCobb first came to prominence in 1948 as a design and decorating consultant for Martin Feinman’s Modernage Furniture in New York City. While employed at Modernage, McCobb met B. G. Mesberg, his later business partner in the Planner and Directional furniture lines.

Paul McCobb received MoMA’s Good Design Award five times between 1950 and 1955 as well as of the Philadelphia Museum of Arts’ Contribution to Better Design Award in 1959.

Website: www.formportfolios.com

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Best known for his furniture designs, McCobb also designed radios and televisions for CBS-Columbia, Hi-Fi Consoles for Bell & Howell, along with other household items. He acted as design consultant to many leading corporations, including Singer, Alcoa, Goodyear, Columbia Records, and Remington Rand. For years, he traveled throughout America for speaking engagements, panel discussions, and appearances on radio and television talkshows, and he had his own syndicated design column in newspapers across the country. Besides his public engagements, he taught design at Philadelphia Museum School of Art.

PHIL AKASHI MYSTICAL ES VEDRÀ - IBIZA 2019 In the site-specific project Mystical Es Vedrà, Phil Akashi observes how modern Ibiza (Eivissa) became an intricate mosaic of cultures and a crossroads of civilizations.

Inspired by myths and legends of Es Vedrà, Phil Akashi created a monumental artwork integrating parts of the major ancient Greek epic poem, Homer’s Odyssey, mentioning the island to be home to sirens and sea-nymphs, who tried to lure Odysseus from his ship. The artist also incorporated numerous elements which recall the Phoenician past of the island such as letters of the Phoenician alphabet, replicas of Sa Caleta remains where the Phoenicians first settled, and representations of the Phoenician Tanit goddess worshiped as the goddess of fertility, life and death. The Tanit goddess is also said to be born on the holy island of Es Vedrà and became the symbol of Ibiza.

By doing so, Phil Akashi engages his audience with a reflection on languages, civilizations and cultures, and eventually pays tribute to one of the most spiritual, enigmatic and inspiring corners of the White Island.

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Founded by the Phoenicians who transformed the island into a strategic enclave in the 7th century B.C., the history of Ibiza has been enriched later with Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans and Arabs occupations. Since 1999, large portions of the island are registered as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

MONACO ART WEEK The second edition of MONACO ART WEEK took place earlier this year. Galleries and auction houses teamed up for exhibitions and artistic rendezvous in Monaco.

Synergies and exchanges were at the core of these cultural events, which highlighted and promoted Monaco’s art scene. Specialising in ancient, modern and contemporary art, participants worked hand in hand to welcome the public to their spaces and help their discovery of various art periods.

WANNENES ART CONTACT SERGE POLIAKOFF “Composition abstraite”

MONACO ART WEEK’s innovation lies in the dialogue between different artistic genres and movement covering nearly five centuries of artistic production.

In the Monte-Carlo district, Artcurial auction house opened an indoor / outdoor, large scale urban sculpture exhibition in cooperation with hotels from the Société des Bains de Mer group.

A.PALLESI Johann Jakob Frey “Vue de Roma depuis Monte Mario”

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At Condamine, NM>Contemporary presented five emerging Italian artists, whose works are based on the plasticity of powder and light through various mediums.

ABOVE: GALERIE 11 COLUMBIA PIERRE LE-TAN “14”

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RIGHT: MONACO ART WEEK POSTER

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SPECIAL FEATURE

At Galerie Grippaldi, an exhibition was dedicated to the founding years of the School of Nice.

On the same street, Wannenes Auction House showed an exhibition dedicated to the Belle Epoque, with various paintings presented for the first time in the Principality.

Galerie Bartoux, having opened a new space in Monaco last summer, dedicated its walls to prominent modern and contemporary artists featuring among others Raoul Duffy’s Nice bay series as well as works by Keith Harring.

ARTCURIAL: Georges Braque “L’oiseau et son ombre”

At Moretti Fine Art, Sotheby’s showcased several highlights from their three most anticipated Parisian auctions, featuring African artefacts from the Marceau Rivière collection and prestigious pieces of design.

At Larvotto, Kamil Art Gallery, specialized in Iranian art, will present for the first time in Europe works by modern artist Ali Akbar Sadeghi. Born in 1937, Sadeghi was one of the most prolific and influential Iranian artist of the 20th century.

G&M Design Gallery paid tribute to the striking work of David Bailey, the renowned British Counterculture photographer of the sixties.

Finally, Monaco Modern’Art presented a personal exhibition of Philippe Pastor that focused on the environment through the Antropocene perspective, whether with his big format abstract paintings or his bronze sculptures of calcined trees.

GALERIE GRIPPALDI: IPPOLITO CAFFI “La Girandola”

During the event, a free shuttle service was available to ease access to exhibitions, encouraging the exploration of the Monegasque artistic landscape.

Website: www.monacoartweek.com

Gallery View

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Complementing the dynamic cultural offering throughout the city were Exhibitions at the Nouveau Musée National de Monaco, Ballets de Monte-Carlo, artMonte-Carlo and PAD art fairs, as well as many prestigious auctions.

DANIEL KUKLA

THE EMPTY CIRCLE, BROOKLYN, NY

Man-eater, featured a suite of mirrored palimpsests constructed from polaroid emulsions, found and historic, that the artist digitally layered and then rephotographed.

These photographic membranes were delicately layered atop and also against one another on mirrored surfaces shaped like traditional daguerreotypes. The mirrored daguerreotype form recalls windows, portals, and byzantine icon works but speak to a more implicated relationship between image and viewer.

Kukla selected images depicting popular socially constructed myths of violence between man and nature such as the tipu tiger from the kingdom of Mysore and Tsavo man-eating lions of the Kenyan-Ugandan railway. These fictive stories functioned as imaginary analogs in which the carnage Â

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MAN EATER

Daniel Kukla’s artistic practice seeks to examine the intersections between the photographic form, public mythology, and ecology.

Daniel Kukla is a graduate of the International Center of Photography’s (icp) program in documentary photography and photojournalism.

Prior to his photographic education he attended the university of toronto and received his bachelors of science in biology and evolutionary ecology. His work has been exhibited at the

International Center of Photography, The National Art Gallery of the Bahamas, RISD Museum of Art, Aperture Foundation, Masin Museo de Art de Sinaloa, among others.

The Empty Circle, Brooklyn, NY is a space for creation and destruction, the melting drowsiness on the verge of sleep, that moment when the mind is free to let the body create. Home to two curators, one theater company, and a music series.

Also holds the studio of Claudia Doring-Baez.

"Like water filling a pond, which is always ready to flow off again, it can work its inexhaustible power because it is free, and be open to everything because it is empty."

EXHIBITION WAS ORGANIZED BY MATT NASSER.

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that occurs during the establishment of empire is depicted as being conducted by beasts exacting their own horrific vengeance. The enduring power of these public myths are rearticulated through film and news ossifying a narrative of nature versus public. Kukla’s works ask the viewer to reflect on and inside of these cultural and photographic metaphors while also interrogating the assumed documentary nature of the medium of photography.

JESSE TUNGILIK

CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF FINE ARTS

Presented by The Initiative for Indigenous Futures, the Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership SSHRC, the Milieux Insititute and Concordia University's Faculty of Fine Arts as a Concordia In-Residence Appointment.

Jesse Tungilik is an interdisciplinary artist based in Iqaluit, Nunavut. He has worked in many artistic disciplines, starting as a ceramicist at the Matchbox Gallery in Rankin Inlet (beginning at just eight years old, and continuing into adulthood) before working in Mathew Nuqingaq’s Aayuraa Studio in Iqaluit as a jewelry artist specializing in baleen, muskox horn, ivory and silver.

Tungilik also works in mixed-media sculpture, with pieces exhibited at the Nunavut Arts Festival, Great Northern Arts Festival, Banff Centre for the Arts and Creativity, and Oceanographic Museum of Monaco, among others; his work can be found in both public and private collections nationally and internationally, such as the Museum Cerny Inuit Collection in Bern, Switzerland.Â

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ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE

Tungilik recently worked with the Winnipeg Art Gallery and Government of Nunavut to commission new artwork and select collections based work for installation in the new Iqaluit airport; he was one of two Artists in Residence for the 2018 TD North/South Artist Exchange, and will be included in the forthcoming inaugural exhibition of the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s Inuit Art Centre, opening in 2020.

Jesse Tungilik discussed his artistic practice of creating conceptual art to draw attention to and explore contemporary issues that face Inuit in Canada. The social and political realities of the Inuit have changed dramatically in recent decades.

Colonization, assimilation, forced relocation and forced transition from a semi-nomadic subsistencehunting way of life to a sedentary wage-based existence in less than a century has helped to sow sociopolitical chaos in Inuit society.

Drawing on his experiences developing policies and legislation in government as an arts administrator, and reconciling his memories of his late father who was an outspoken residential school survivor, as well as his own struggles with his cultural identity, Tungilik has created conceptual sculptures that challenge preconceived notions of Inuit art and Inuit in today's Canada.

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Tungilik has served as both a Manager of Cultural Industries for the Government of Nunavut and as the Executive Director of the Nunavut Art and Craft Association; he is currently the Chairperson for the Board of Trustees for Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum (in Iqaluit), and is a member of the Inuit governance group of the Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership SSHRC Partnership Grant (2018-2025).

CONTEMPORARY ART OF THE CARIBBEAN ARCHIPELAGO

PORTLAND MUSEUM OF ART

Relational Undercurrents: Contemporary Art of the Caribbean Archipelago called attention to a region of the Americas that is difficult to categorise and often overlooked: the island nations of the Caribbean.

The exhibition proposed an “archipelagic model”—defining the Caribbean from the perspective of its archipelago of islands, as distinct from the continental experience—to study issues around race, history, the legacy of colonialism, and the environment.

The exhibition featured artists from the Hispanophone, Anglophone, Francophone, and Dutch Caribbean.

Relational Undercurrents emphasised the thematic continuities of art made throughout the archipelago and its diasporas, challenging conventional geographic and conceptual boundaries of Latin America. This approach draws particular attention to issues arising from the colonial legacy that are relevant to Latin America as a whole, but which emerge as central to the work of 21st-century

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RELATIONAL UNDERCURRENTS

This exhibition was organized by the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA), Long Beach, California, a project of the Getty Foundation’s PST:LA/LA Initiative.

Image 1: Nadia Huggins (Trinidad and Tobago, born 1984), No. 25 Circa No Future (detail), from the series Circa No Future, 2014. Digital photograph, 22 ½ x 30 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Image 2 (above): Tony Capellán, (Dominican Republic, born 1955) Mar invadido / Invaded Sea, 2015. Found objects from the Caribbean sea, 360 x 228 inches. Courtesy of the artist.

Meet the Curator Jaime DeSimone is the Associate Curator of Contemporary Art at the Portland Museum of Art. She came to the PMA from the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Jacksonville, where she helped grow the permanent collection and curated the Project Atrium series as well as featured exhibitions, including A Dark Place of Dreams: Louise Nevelson with Chakaia Booker, Lauren Fensterstock, and Kate Gilmore. Prior to MOCA Jacksonville, DeSimone served as Exhibitions Project Manager at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts. From 2005 to 2012, DeSimone was the Assistant Curator at the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, Massachusetts. She holds a master's degree in American contemporary art from American University (2005) and a B.A. in art history from Bates College (2001).

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Credits: Caribbean artists, including Janine Antoni (Bahamas), Humberto Diáz (Cuba), Jorge Pineda (Dominican Republic), and Allora & Calzadilla (Puerto Rico).

VERONICA JUYOUN BYUN

MONMOUTH MUSEUM NEW JERSEY

Byun’s large studio in Hoboken, New Jersey, is the site of her creative sculptured ceramic endeavors She believes in the notion that art is a language that can deliver a meaning of what is felt or sensed, but remains invisible.

What is invisible is always there in a work; it is a message that is mysterious and profound.

For Byun, working in clay allows her the opportunity to offer “tactile pictures” and a range of impressions that she has gathered over time. These include memories and the questioning of her own Korean identity.

While these impressions are unique to her experience, they also cross the lines of shared human experience.

“Things that I have seen, heard, touched, and tasted turn into subject matter for my work which narrates and patterns my memories.

The installations I create are dimensional reliefs that serve to enclose and protect.” www.veronicabyun.com

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TACTILE MEMORIES

“The colors and customs of Korea are a source of inspiration for my work,” said Byun.

The Monmouth Museum, an independent, nonprofit organization was founded in 1963 as a Museum of Ideas, presents changing art, history and science exhibitions to educate and entertain while providing a destination for creative expression and life-long learning to the diverse community it serves.

The New Jersey Emerging Artists Series consists of six annual monthly solo exhibitions to showcase the new work of NJ artists who have not previously held one-person exhibitions in our State. Â For more information about the Museum exhibitions and programs visit their website at www.monmouthmuseum.org

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The Monmouth Museum is committed to providing opportunities for local artists.

KUNTZEL + DEYGAS

WWW.KUNTZEL-DEYGAS.COM

Since 1988, Olivier Kuntzel and Florence Deygas create characters and objects that live adventures through other worlds: cinema, fashion, luxury and music.

Olivier and Florence meet in 1988 for a video installation at the Center Georges Pompidou: a wool carpet designed by Kuntzel, led by Deygas, whose graphic elements attack a young boy. After viewing the film, the audience rushes on the wool carpet, looking with their little hands to get out the reasons without understanding why the carpet remains inert. This will be the starting point and manifest of their journey between object and image. "A cross without Christ is a simple piece of wood. An object without its legend is

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CARACTĂˆRES VISUELS

The Kuntzel + Deygas tandem is part of the discreet aristocracy of the French visual creators whose work is known to the world: Catch me if you can for Steven Spielberg, Guerlain's La petite Robe Noire, the MiCha Lamp or the two Italian existentialist dogs Cap & Pep whose adventures made the beautiful days of Colette and Vogue Nippon.

Kuntzel + Deygas invent their own vocabulary, claim the simplicity of a design coupled with the highest technology, a luxurious hybridization in the service of emotion. "An organic creation enhanced by sophisticated technology. Our goal is always to not spoil the charm and power of the sketch. We were at the time like a haute couture workshop whereÂ

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nothing. Once loaded with history, it becomes magical. "To describe their approach to character creation, Kuntzel and Deygas recall that the word "character" is "character" in English; like the printing character, which gives these characters a dimension of a typographic sign whose purpose is to express a message. He is a graduate of the Decorative Arts of Paris, she made Goblins, the School of Image in Paris in animated film section, they are then the pioneering generation of video image with Jean Baptiste Mondino and Michel Gondry, custodians of an organic vision of the world set in motion by the digital world.

In 1998, began an intense relationship with Colette, concept store whose aura far exceeds Paris and affects the world. Colette exposes the Winney project in December 1999 (a fantasy-like fantasy-political-fiction project in the brain of Olivier since 1981, the date of the election of Ronald Reagan, a former Cinema actor who became US President.) then the first "pre-series" edition of MiCha lamps in 2000 (still sold at the Bon Marché), which will house the Cap & Pep project in its walls for several years.

In 2000, their photo studio is so full of workstations, drawing tables and computers that you have to push the furniture and put everyone in the dark to shoot. By walking their dog in the 18th arrondissement, Kuntzel and Deygas find an ideal place to install their factory and move into a former mirror of 400 m2 built all sides, wood and concrete, with a machine room in the basement and a corridor overlooking the Little Belt.

They combine their tools, their books, a ton of architect's gum and the stock of their productions of works in this new place whose configuration allows them to pass a course in the organization of their work.

They equip themselves with their own servers to calculate the images and work in autarky on confidential projects, as during the creation of the video clip The lover of Carla Bruni, then first lady and particularly scrutinized. It is in this workshop that they will create prestigious open-film credits starting with Steven Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can, followed by Shawn Levy's The Pink Panther, Laurent Tirard's Le Petit Nicolas, Valérie's Royal Palace Lemercier, Agathe Cléry and lastly Tanguy the return (released April 2019) of Etienne Chatiliez.

It is also in this sublime miroiterie that will be born and will develop the advertising saga for Guerlain's perfume La Petite Robe noire since 2012. A case study

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everything was handmade by conviction of beauty and not by economy of means. We have been good at staying ourselves instead of following trends." Success gradually spreads in the 90s; their universe slides on our screens: generic, clips and commercials. A simple gum of sculpted architect becomes the stallion of each of their animation. An eraser transformed into a simple and manageable buffer whose production will even have to be reactivated exclusively for them in Austria when this gum will perish under the thrusts of Apple Z Mackintosh. In the 2000s, there is nothing more to erase, but there are characters and objects to make alive. With these carved erasers, Kuntzel + Deygas invent the characters of Caperino and Peperone, socalled "Cap" and "Pep", black silhouettes of two existentialist dogs willingly practising the thesis and the antithesis in their conversations about the world.

in terms of image, creation and visual status, since a character drawn becomes the face of a perfume in the same way as an actress or a model! With the Little Black Dress, Kuntzel + Deygas are creators, gods and apostles of their own characters. Unique.

www.kuntzel-deygas.com

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The two accomplices presented Articulation at Joyce Gallery from May 28 to June 15, an exhibition of drawings, objects and music around movement and dialogue. Poster drawings, storyboard inks, anthropomorphic speakers and soundtracks were articulated and answered to compose the plot of an imaginary film sketched by these two great manipulators of images and sound.

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NINA HAROLD

Nina Harold is a visual artist whose practice is focused mostly on canvas and paper. She was born in Fairfield, CT and lives and works in Brooklyn, NY where she studies painting at Pratt Institute.

"I have built a sizable collection of ground scores walking through the city. Pages of notebooks, letters, postcards, children’s drawings of carrot monsters and raccoons, beaded earrings, grocery lists, keychains shaped like yellow roses, photographs of naked ladies and if I’m lucky, a playing card I haven’t found yet.

Sometimes the best discoveries are made by simply being in the right place at the right time. I hope to create a series of works that evoke this sense of walking along and finding things on the ground.

www.ninaharold.com

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Through drawing and sculpture as well as mixed media collage, I will use the same tools of observation and keep my eyes sharp. As a collection, this body of work will explore themes of discovery of the unfamiliar and how it can evoke our most personal memories or feelings. When I have nothing of my own to give, I can make something of these found, or go find something new. There is no use worrying over something you’re not sure exists."

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"Being Fast Takes Time"

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A journey that begins at the rubber tree and ends with the production of a tire, passing through a description of the farmers' lives and their cultivation and processing techniques, fundamental phases of natural rubber's production and supply cycle.

A Reportage on Rubber Production from Thailand and Indonesia

The project seeks to help understand how precious the natural equilibrium is and follows the path on which Pirelli embarked in 2017 with its Sustainable Natural Rubber Policy, born of the ongoing multi-stakeholder dialogue conducted by the company to govern the sustainable and responsible supply of natural rubber along the whole value chain.

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Aiming to build awareness of this precious primary material, share the commitment to the preservation of biodiversity, and support the development of the community and local economy, Pirelli has launched "Being Fast Takes Time" the digital platform you can access at the website address: www.pirelli.com/naturalrubber

It documents the meticulous and slow process of latex extraction (taking three hours to fill half a coconut shell) and the long wait for its solidification, in harmony and respect of nature's times and rhythms, through to the final product, the tire, a key element of the fast world of competitive motorsports. These two distant but deeply connected realities recounted to illustrate the steps that separate the work and rhythms of the farmers from those of the technological world, fast and complex, and industrial production.

"Pursuing sustainable development means always looking ahead to tomorrow, keeping it clear that economic, environmental and human capital are interdependent and should be managed as such. We have always worked to create enduring value, based on the passion and skill of our people, and this approach is also found in our sustainable natural rubber policy," saidÂ

Marco Tronchetti Provera, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Pirelli.

Alessandro Scotti is an Italian author and photographer.

He is a member of the Ordine dei Giornalisti (Association of Journalists) and the International Federation of Journalists.

His work has been published by major international magazines including: Time Magazine, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, Geo, Rolling Stone, Sportweek, Wall Street Journal, Expresso, Magazin Literario, Wired, Stern, Courier International and Afrique Magazine. He has covered European film and cultural topics for Italpress Press Agency and for the magazine supplements of the Corriere della Sera and Repubblica newspapers. He has produced articles and documentaries from over thirty countries, including: Afghanistan, the Antilles, Argentina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Egypt, India, Iran, the Philippines, Jamaica, Japan, Guinea Bissau, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Liberia, Malaysia, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Senegal, Serbia, U.S.A., Sweden,Â

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"Being fast takes time" begins with the reportage of the Italian photographer and writer Alessandro Scotti from Indonesia and Thailand, two of the major producers of latex extracted from rubber trees.

His work won the Amilcare Ponchielli Prize for the Best Photojournalistic Project. His project was chosen by the photoeditors of the major Italian print media, belonging to GRIN (Gruppo Redattori Iconografici Nazionale) on the following grounds: “Alessandro Scotti’s images are an exemplary example of reporting: they reveal, inform, disturb, demand reflection and appeal to both reason and emotion.

The author’s work is based on the categorical imperative of visual storytelling: creating a bond between different worlds and promoting dialogue, awareness and mutual understanding.” In Germany Alessandro Scotti won the Bronze Lead Award for Journalism and the prestigious Henri Nannen Prize, named after the founder of the magazine Stern.

In France he was honoured with the 3PPP, a prize for

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Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. For eight years he has mapped drug trafficking routes around the world. This led to exhibitions, books and articles in the the international press. At the same time he has worked as a columnist for the monthly magazine Rolling Stone. He has also been called each year to present his reports to Member States of the United Nations in plenary sessions of the International Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the International Crime Commission.

In July 2005 the Under Secretary General of the United Nations appointed Alessandro Scotti Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. This honorary role is conferred by the United Nations to "acknowledged figures in the world of arts, science, literature, theatre, sport or other fields of public and cultural life... whose influence extends beyond national boundaries".

Alessandro Scotti’s published books include: - Narcotica (Italian text) – the account of his experience on the drug trafficking routes, published by ISBN Edizioni, Il Saggiatore Publishing Group.

- Atelier la Scala (Italian and English texts) – visual research initially commissioned by Le Monde, which depicts the work of artisans in the world of opera, published by Il Saggiatore with a text by Enzo Mari.

- De Narcoticis Colombia (Spanish and English texts) – this work illustrates the situation of illegal drug trafficking in Colombia, published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

- De Narcoticis Golden Triangle (English text) – this work illustrates the situation of illegal drug trafficking in Thailand, Myanmar e Laos, published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

- De Narcoticis Afghanistan and Neighbouring Countries (English text) – this work illustrates the situation of illegal drug trafficking in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan e Tajikistan, published by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

- Chasing The Dragon (Italian and English texts) – this detailed, illustrated work traces the author’s investigations of drug trafficking. The idea behind it was a to create an easy to transport, portable exhibition.

With an introduction by the author and a preface by Roberto Saviano.

- Alessandro Scotti’s photography has been on show in museums and institutions, including the Triennale di Milano and the Biennale di Architettura di Venezia.

Website: www.alessandroscotti.com

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international authors, of all ages and nationalities, whose works, activities and commitment are recognised internationally and whose photo projects represent an important contribution to the understanding of mankind in the twenty-first century”.

CELBBRATING GLOBAL LEGENDS SERIES

EUZHAN PALCY

A TRAILBLAZING CREATOR Born in Martinique and an avid student of literature, theater, art and film, Euzhan Palcy is a pioneering film director, writer and producer.

"Sugar Cane Alley" was her breakthrough feature film, a portrait of native life in Martinique under French colonial rule in the 1930s.

Released to great acclaim in 1983, it won a 1984 César Award (the French equivalent of an Academy Award) for Best First Feature Film, a first for a woman and for a black director, and more than a dozen other international prizes, including the Silver Lion (Best First Film) and Best Lead Actress awards at the 1983 Venice Film Festival, more firsts for a black director.

In fact, Palcy has achieved a great many firsts in her storied career, perhaps most notably as the first black female director of a film produced by a major Hollywood studio (MGM). The film, "A Dry White Season," explores the injustice and exploitation of apartheid in South Africa. At great risk to Palcy's life, it was partially filmed undercover in apartheid Soweto. The cast includes Donald Sutherland, Susan Sarandon and even Marlon Brando, whom Palcy coaxed out of retirement and directed to a 1990 Best Supporting Actor nomination.

This made Palcy the only woman filmmaker ever to direct Brando and the first black director (now joined by Spike Lee) to guide an actor to an Oscar nod.

Although "A Dry White Season" was banned in South Africa, it earned Palcy a devoted international following, and the 30th anniversary of the movie's release was recently commemorated at CaribbeanLens with a showing in June, at Grauman's Egyptian Theater and proceeded by a Q&A with Palcy.

Euzhan Palcy Week closed with the screening of her third feature film "Simeon" on June 14 at the Writer's Guild Theater. Hailed by The Los Angeles Times as "one of the sunniest and most charming ghost stories ever told" Palcy's lively and colorful Caribbean musical comedy fairytale literally had audiences dancing in the aisles.

Palcy has guided many other notable and lauded projects, most of which focus on history and social justice, and have earned her numerous peer and political tributes – not least the French Legion of Honor – as an iconic humanitarian and cinematographer.

For more information on Euzhan Palcy, visit www.euzhanpalcy.net To learn more about her native Martinique visit www.us.martinique.org

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"Euzhan Palcy is a shining example of the creative and dynamic spirit of Martinique and its people," states Karine Mousseau, Martinique Tourism Commissioner. "We're thrilled to see her receive such welldeserved recognition. Congratulations as well to the Caribbean Heritage Organization for putting together this remarkable event where the Caribbean gets its due place."

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ANDREA BRANZI

Andrea Branzi: Genetic Metropolis Friedman Benda at Design Miami/ Basel “The distance between the natural world and the artificial world no longer exists today, because the latter has become second nature. So when I gather together nature, techniques, industry, arts and crafts, high technology and archetypes, everything seems much clearer.” - Andrea Branzi For Friedman Benda’s fifth annual solo exhibition at Design Miami/Basel, the gallery presented a survey of the seminal Italian architect, designer and respected theoretician Andrea Branzi.

Throughout his influential career spanning more than six decades, Branzi has held a lifelong fascination with how humans interact with their objects, and has sought to reconcile design and architecture with the evolving challenges of contemporary society.

This past year Branzi was awarded the Rolf Schock Prize in the Visual Arts in recognition for his significant contribution to criticism and research in the field.

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As a prominent theorist, Branzi has offered an analytical and academic approach to the discipline.

His radical poetic interpretation of the domestic space challenged the necessity of practicality and rationality, and moved the field of design away from function and towards individuality and expression.

Andrea Branzi was born in Florence in 1938 and graduated from the Florence School of Architecture in 1966. That same year, he became a founding member of the Archizoom Associati, a group of designers who embraced the fall of modernism to uncover the reality hiding behind an urban utopian dream. The group stipulated No-Stop City in 1969, which imagined a world taken to the extremes of modernism.

The Superarchitettura movement grew out of the theoretical framework put forth by No-Stop City on superproduction and superconsumption. By the late 1970s, Branzi participated in the influential communal efforts at revolutionizing design with Alchimia and, a few years later, the Memphis Group.

Branzi is a co-founder of Domus Academy, the first international post-graduate school for design.

He distinguished himself as a three-time recipient of the Compasso d’Oro, honored for individual or group effort in 1979, 1987 and 1995. His work has been featured in the Venice Biennale and at the Triennale Design Museum in Milan, where he has also curated several design exhibitions. His essays and monographs have been widely published.

In 2018, Branzi was the recipient of the prestigious Rolf Schock Prize in Visual Arts. Previously, Branzi was named an Honorary Royal Designer in the United Kingdom and he received an honorary degree from La Sapienza in Rome in 2008. That same year, his work was featured in an installation at the Fondation Cartier, Paris. His works are held in the permanent collections of the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Israel Museum, Jerusalem; and the Museum of Modern Art, New York, among others. He currently lives and works in Milan, and until 2009, was a professor and chairman of the School of Interior Design at the Politecnico di Milano. www.andreabranzi.it

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Genetic Metropolis showcased Friedman Benda’s collaboration with Branzi for the past ten years, and marked the first time Planks, Stones, and Trees was brought together into one installation.

Examples from these ambitious projects were presented in an honorary setting in 2017 at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and several were previously exhibited at his retrospective at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Bordeaux in 2014.

Highlighting fundamental anchor points from his oeuvre, the installation included representations from his groundbreaking Animali Domestici series and key works from Alchimia’s bau. haus II collection.

Through examples rarely shown outside of a museum context, such as Madri, an early painting from 1965, this exhibition showed the development of a methodology and visual language that defined his career. An innovative new body of work was unveiled, demonstrating the evolution of his practice.

The exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue with critical texts by Branzi and an essay by design historian Glenn Adamson.

DISCOVER ENDLESSLY CREATIVE BARCELONA www.barcelonaturisme.com