Fine art winter 2015 2016

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40th Anniversary Edition

Honoring Heroes of Creativity

GILDA OLIVER DIGITAL PAINTINGS AND PRINTS

Flying Into The Future Butterfly (2015), 48 x 48 inches. Gilda Oliver Digital Art Signed Prints

Oliver Painting And Ceramics Fine Arts

ART BASEL MIAMI Red Dot Miami, December 1- 6 2015 mscoliver@gmail.com

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am an, ent it, ure . It mto of nd ast ny he our ssy nce till ng

“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a movable feast.”

– Ernest Hemingway

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Letter From TheJAMIE Publisher ELLIN FORBES

EROES OF CREATIVITY is what we focused on in this 40th Anniversary for Fine Art magazine. Vic and I started our efforts in 1975. Many of our current readers were not born. Some friends and many greats have passed over within this time: Elaine de Kooning, Esteban Vicente, Blue Dog Rodriquez, Vladimir Gorsky, Phil Coffaro and original editorial contributors and great friends Ron and Joni Pacie, producers/writers of the Murder Mystery Dinners theater genre to name a small few. I remember my first faxed art from Ray Johnson, graffiti art, video art, pixels art, giclee art, environmental showcases; causes in general as fundraisers, go fund it, etc. web page, Face Book, tweet, post it, instagram experience …… all new avenues as means for expression. Spreading the word of the creative has been our work.

We saw press-type letters set in rows for printing our first flyers. Newsprint gave way to lithographic presses, lithographic to automated process and printing on a high speed 8 color press with end coating. We went from burnishing letters on lay out sheet, to small IBM typesetter, to our firm’s first computer and now virtually all of the elements we used in publishing are available on the Internet for free.

Creativity, costs nothing yet has a price. You have to sacrifice time, money and opportunity to be true to your art. The pay off is if you make it in general as a deeply rich satisfaction within the creative spirit you know you did it.

I guess we did. This is a new era; we have a social network, now necessary to spread the word. Victor’s sophistication in the Adobe product is grand (Ed. note: “lol”). But these are not the elements that make it click, the wheels turn or our product relevant to the many who still follow us.

Creativity is an itch that can’t be scratched, an impulse that cannot be silenced, a need to express that won’t go away. It is prickly, raw, painful, disruptive; silk-like, warm, flowing, comforting, and expansive. When achieved, creativity allows you to touch the vault of the sky while your feet are on the ground. If you can do anything else other than walk to the drumbeat of the creative nudging at your inside, do it. It is safer, easier, and more cost effective. But if you must externalize that thing that just won’t go away, know that creativity is not engendered or unleashed by you new Mac device or the newest facets of any new app by which you can repeat what you see others do.

For millenia the creative source, beauty and truth have been sought by cultures now being driven into the dust in the Middle Eastern desert. We are seeing destruction of the Assyrian culture, the births stories describing the oldest known seed to culture as stories of creation described in stone and on tablets. Later the Greeks prized beauty above all, embodying art as an aesthetic. Today in the USA many don’t like the freedoms that have become part of our artistic communities. A true creative spirit thrives in free societies, allowing for the voice of the creative to be heard without punishment. The alternative is book burning and blowing up things we don’t agree with.

The Creative Spirit is the solder, paint, canvas, camera, and musical instrument, all taken in hand by the artist as creator to impact and change the world in which they live. Enlivening an inner and outer landscape of the heart and spirit to cross the bridge of understanding one to the other. New metaphors are born. These images, words and art elements never draw blood, maim, or kill. They just describe feelings. It is not always pretty, happy fun as an end product. It can be awe-inspiring within the beauty of the depth and ring out of what chords felt or heard in multiple ways, one to the other through creative exchange. Art is a road, if taken, that can unite the concepts universally for/of all.

It’s the next forty years I am looking forward to. Why,? Because I have really enjoyed the last forty. We lived art for and with artists, being the mirror image for the story telling of their truth over these 4 decades of art history. The process of knowing so many heroes of creativity allowed me to live a life through art I dreamed possible. This issue we have had the great pleasure of following up on artist we have covered during our tenure as Fine Art Magazine publishers and editors. Carole Feuerman delivered an interview I found inspiring.

We know Carole for thirty-five years I was able to as she defines a soulful interpretation seen in her hyper-realistic works. We revisited old friend Orlando Agudelo-Botero and the growth this very special and gentle man displays. We met Jeff Vermeeren, a painter on metal, using fire to conduct his colorful pieces. We interviewed Marilyn Goldberg about her brand and history in the arts an as innovator and market maker. and were delighted to see her and so many others at our 40th Anniversary Party - pictures and story start on page 50.

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Upon their acquisition of a 1917-18 canvas known as “Nu Couché,” for $170 million: “Every museum dreams of having a Modigliani nude. Now, a Chinese museum has a globally recognized masterpiece, and my fellow countrymen no longer have to leave the country to see a Western masterpiece. I feel very proud about that. The message to the West is clear: We have bought their buildings, we have bought their companies, and now we are going to buy their art.”

– Mr. Liu Yiqian, Long Museum

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“We are on a one-year payment plan for the painting. If we had to pay cash upfront, that would be a little difficult for us. I mean, who has the money for that?”

– Wang Wei, Liu’s wife (who revealed he will be paying for the $170.4 million purchase with his American Express Centurion card on a one-year payment plan so his family can fly for free with the points).

www.fineartmagazine.com founded in 1975

PUBLISHER JAMIE ELLIN FORBES info@fineartmagazine.com

(631) 339-0152 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF VICTOR BENNETT FORBES victor@fineartmagazine.com 518-593-6470 SPECIAL THANKS To so many in the art and printing area who helped us to stay in the game for 40 years!

Network the Creative life … Join us online: facebook.com/FineArtMagazine youtube.com/FineArtMagazine twitter.com/FineArtMagazine www.fineartmagazine.com info@fineartmagazine.com PO BOX 404, CENTER MORICHES, NY 11934 original content © 2015 SunStorm Arts Publishing Co., Inc.

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Interior of gallery

Faustini Gallery, in the heart of Florence

Walter Coggio, Oil on Canvas, Untitled, 80x100 cm / 31.5x39.4 in.

Andrea Stella, Portatori di canne, Mixed Media on Canvas, 140x160 cm / 55 x 63 in

Dedicated to tradition, but thoroughly ensconced in the modern art world, FAUSTINI ARTE is an historical Italian art gallery founded in 1974 in Forte Dei Marmi by Giuliano Faustini in the heart of Florence near Borgo Ognissanti square and the most prestigious hotels and exclusive antique shops in the area.

As participants in many international art fairs over the years, FAUSTINI ARTE has brought a diverse and unique coterie of artistic talents to worldwide attention and acclaim. Artists such as Elio De Luca, Walter Coggio, Christina Gironda, Sergio Scatizzi, Andrea Stella, Remo Vangi and Uliviero Ulivieri (to name a few) create inspiring and original works that are highly sought after and eagerly anticipated. In addition, FAUSTINI ARTE, one of Italy’s pre-eminent galleries, is a well-respected reference point for those seeking fine figurative Italian art, offering an eclectic and enthusiastic collector base the comfort of 40 years of experience in the full range of modern and contemporary art. Looking forward to Miami Art Week, FAUSTINI ARTE is presenting sculptures, drawings, and graphics by prominent Italian artists at the Spectrum Art show, Booth #400.

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Uliviero Ulivieri

Sorvolando il mare con l’astronave, Acrylic on board, 70x70 cm / 27.5x27.5 in.

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Ci troviamo al Pellicano, Acrylic on board, 70x100 cm /27.5x39.4 in.

Miami Beach golf, Acrylic on board, 70x70 cm / 27.5x27.5 in.

Borgo Ognissanti 21/23r 50123 Florence Italy t. +39 055218021 www.galleriafaustini.it info@galleriafaustini.it Mare mosso Acrylic on board, 50x50 cm / 19.7x19.7 in.

Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015 • 5

40th Anniversary Celebration Museum Masters International and Fine Art Magazine

Marilyn Goldberg, awarded Fine Art Magazine’s “Hero of Creativity” gold medal, 2015

“I tend to think that all art is heroic. I think it’s a heroic enterprise from childhood, from the beginning, whenever it begins.”

– JASPER JOHNS

The paths of Marilyn Goldberg, President of Museum Masters International and Jamie & Victor Forbes of SunStorm/Fine Art Magazine crossed paths many years ago. Together we take joy in celebrating our careers in the Arts as we do our meeting at the NY Coliseum for Art Expo.

Victor and Jamie Forbes have followed my career and every product development from signed numbered prints to 3D sculptures to fine art tapestries to neon lights, porcelain dinnerware, silk ties, etc. They have witnessed all of my shows and concepts before they became a reality.

They have celebrated my work and I, today on our mutual 40th anniversaries, wish to celebrate their work, and the patience and time they have given to the creative world in addition to the ongoing memorial they have extended for each of these brand adventures.

A toast to Fine Art Magazine and Museum Masters International 6 • Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015

FINE ART MAGAZINE PublisherJamie Ellin Forbes, Marilyn Goldberg, Victor Forbes, Editor-in-Chief at Artexpo Hall of Fame dinner

Marilyn Goldberg

A Hero Of Creativity Leads The Parade

By VICTOR BENNETT FORBES With a dynamism unparalleled in the universe known as the art world, Marilyn Goldberg is a true hero of creativity and will be feted as such at Fine Art magazine’s 40th anniversary celebration, to be held at the World Bar in New York City November 9th, 2015. It is fitting that this landmark event will take place in a building across the street from the United Nations as Ms. Goldberg has fearlessly traveled the world, car ving out new territory for both her artists and for a woman in what was formerly (and may still be) a heavily male-dominated arena. With the alacrity of a lioness, the grace of a panther and the tenacity of a mountaineer ever in search of new summits, she has reached uncharted heights.

Almost single-handedly she has changed the course of not only art history, but of the relationship of art and commerce. By bringing the works of the great masters — Picasso, van Gogh, Dali, Matisse among them — into the homes of millions via her inventive concepts manifested in the presentation of art as utilitarian functionality, she has accomplished what she set out to do: make the infinite beauty of art accessible to all.

From where, one wonders, did this vision emanate?

“Every time I see a new space of raw land or old white dinnerware or fabric for upholstery in a particular room, the ideas click and I seem to see what should be rather than what it is,” stated Ms. Goldberg. “My karma comes from the international flavors of the Mediterranean from parents who tasted the luxurious colors and styles of their foreign heritage. I have taken my worldwide travels and personal experiences from nature and put them all together in a melange that feels so right.”

As an artist herself, Ms. Goldberg brings to the company she founded in 1980 expertise in sculpture, painting and graphics, and a total understanding of mediums and tech­niques. "She

has the uncanny ability to glean the best part of a work under con­ sideration for licensing and instantly de­termine what approach to take and what media will be most suitable to expanding that artist's market,” commented Harris Shapiro, of Fine Art Acquisitions, whose galleries around the country offered many Marigold art products.

Marigold’s initial success was based on a combination of test marketing techniques, large-scale advertising and promotions and the expertise of its founder who studied art history and stylization at New York University’s School of Fine and Applied Art and Boston University.

S he completed her post-graduate work at the New York School of Interior Design where her life-long interests in design, color, fabrics, textiles and architecture were refined. After a successful decade of serving corporate and residential design clientele (specializing in art and artistic accessories) Ms. Goldberg became a consultant to several graphics concerns. In her new role, she was responsible for the publishing of over 300 prints, including the selection of hand-made papers and appropriate printing ateliers for each project.

Her work designing professional space led to concentrated efforts of her major loves — art, sculpture and artistic accessories.

Her vision and insight, however, weren’t strictly limited to art.

Early on in her career she decided it was time to create a subtle yet powerful representation of the role of the sexes and she worked with a sculptor to develop a collection in lucite and bronze to express her thoughts in three dimensions. “The man,” she said, “has always been and will continue to be the strength of the union, but the strength can never be complete without the passion and fulfillment of his Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015 • 7

Her visions have no limits.

Marilyn Goldberg with Andy Warhol

woman at his side — each needing the other for completion of the dreams that an equal relationship can solidify.”

With that being said, we segue to the project that put Marilyn Goldberg on the map and paved the way for her inclusion into not just the Artexpo Hall of Fame, but into the very annals in which the great minds of inspired creativity will be immortalized.

In 1980, at the helm of her first business, Marigold Enterprises, Ltd., she conceived the idea to publish and distribute some 200 Pablo Picasso images from the many paintings inherited by Picasso’s grand-daughter Marina Picasso, his only “legitimate” heir (Picasso married her mother, Olga, a ballet dancer of great beauty. All the other descendants were from his many mistresses). When Ms. Goldberg decided to go into the business of creating such an artistic program based on Picasso’s images, she initially met with resistance from the heirs of Picasso, an artist to whose images she held copyrights on behalf of several international investors. However, when she personally presented the actual program, designed exclusively for sale in major museums and art galleries, Picasso’s representatives and heirs realized that her creation was not only acceptable, but represented the spirit of the artist’s work that was a tangible memory of the museum experience, and would bail Marina out of a very steep tax bill imposed by the French government.

“There was nothing to prove this could become anything,” recalled Marilyn in a recent interview. “In the US, only Mickey Mouse and Disney items were selling. I had to go to Japan, which back then was what China is today, where I could produce the scarves, watches, vases, ashtrays, candy dishes and candlestick holders which I then sold to small locations until suddenly Mitsukoshi saw the line. They flipped and invited me come aboard. I did on the condition that they had to make a museum on the top floor of their department store, which was the Saks Fifth Avenue of Tokyo, so people could see the original paintings and then see the estate-endorsed prints, signed and numbered by Marino Picasso.”

Marilyn was so dedicated to the tradition and quality of Picasso that in order to make these reproductions as authentic as possible, she engaged the finest ateliers Chroma Comp and Circle Fine Art (which ran a steam driven lithographic press from the early 20th century) and sought out Picasso’s long-time chromist Marcelle Salinas from Paris, who was the producer and platemaker for Picasso when he was alive to ensure the plates would be made the way he would have done them.

In addition, Marilyn went to Paris and bought the special craypas that Picasso used in order to color match his paintings and drawings 8 • Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015

for reproduction. She gave those color samples to the printers. For even more accuracy, Marilyn researched what kind of pencils and brushes Picasso used to make everything as authentic as it could be.

Her product designs, presented at the Negresco Hotel to Marina and her representatives, in 1981, were ultimately approved by the estate of Picasso, and the final deal was done between herself and Jean Krugier, the exclusive dealer for the Picasso works inherited Marina Picasso.

The resultant “Legacy of Pablo Picasso,” a limited edition collection of never­before published Picasso prints, as well as the Pablo Picasso Boutique Collection, became the foundation upon which Marilyn Goldberg’s empire was built. No one (except Marilyn) imagined at the time that this Collection would become an overnight sensation that would launch the birth of a most important and vibrant new industry — branding — that could be used for the development of many products: jewelry, watches, bed and bath, furniture and upholstery, porcelains, glassware, fashion items, mobile phone covers, fragrances and cosmetics…even masterpiece baby wear and elegant baby bedding.

That first Marina Picasso exhibition/merchandising program took place at Tokyo’s famous Mitsukoshi department store where Marilyn insisted that a legitimate museum be created on its top floor so that the original Picasso paintings could be exhibited in a proper setting. Featuring a full spectrum of art-related gift accessories with exquisite packaging along with the prints exhibited for sale downstairs, it was a smashing success.

Another major breakthrough followed when the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, which initially was quite reluctant to change its drab gift shop selling mostly posters, postcards and books, placed their initial order after Ms. Goldberg left a basket of samples.

An attractive boutique was soon developed, a template for museums around the world to follow. Ms. Goldberg’s companies, Marigold and now Museum Masters International, has created art merchandise programs for renowned institutions such as The Metropolitan Opera, the New York Philharmonic, the Mitsukoshi Museum, the Museum of Modern Art (New York City), The Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Royal Academy (London), The Hakone Open Air Museum ( Japan), and the Palacio de Bellas Artes (Mexico City) as well as department stores throughout the world such as Henry Bendel’s, Bloomingdale’s of New York; Harrods of London; Gallery Lafayette Paris, and the aforementioned Mitsukoshi.

The Picasso scarves, first advertised in VOGUE, were in great demand, not just to wear, but to frame and hang. They are highly sought after collectibles even today. Tiffany quality dinnerware featured Picasso images on cups and saucers.

From that point on, Ms. Goldberg became recognized in the art world as the innovative force in the licensing and publishing business.

She was the largest exhibitor at the Artexpos in New York, Dallas and California and single-handedly brought artists from all over the world to the marketplace.

“Before Marilyn started her programs, the art business was without a focal point and museums were dying,” Gerald Leberfeld, one of the Artexpo founders stated. “She single-handedly put many museums back on their feet by creating a wide variety of items for their gift shops at all price ranges. There was no copying her; she was and still is one of a kind. Now there are museum gift shops even where there are no museums.” Adds Marilyn, “What amazes me when I look at our ArtExpo exhibits is the incred­ible mixture.”

Indeed it was. Marigold Enterprises Ltd., moved quickly from the Picasso success to the art of another international superstar, John Lennon. After the shock of his tragic murder began to dissipate, Yoko brought to Marilyn a few shoe boxes full of John’s doodles on

napkins and scraps of paper. No stranger to the art world, Yoko was a museum-exhibited artist in her own right and actually met John at one of her shows, at which the focal point was simply the word “YES.” John and Yoko then produced the notorious Two Virgins suite of lithographs, which featured the lovebirds stark naked from the front and back and was banned just about everywhere just as the Beatles were breaking up. Marilyn immediately saw the potential of these scribbles and became Yoko’s trusted collaborator in developing ways to produce and market this work. Staring with limited edition prints from John’s sketches, the John Lennon Bouti­que Collection was developed which produced a myriad of ancillary products. These products were so hot that buyers would line up at the old New York Coliseum doors hours before they opened to make a beeline to the Marigold booths to stock up on product for their clients and galleries.

Yoko called her “My partner in design.” All these years later, images from that first collection are highly regarded on the secondary market and very difficult to come by.

Between Artexpos and international forays, projects and ideas would fly around the Marigold headquarters with a flurry. If it were an artist’s studio, it would probably be Pollock’s or Picasso’s — packed with frenzied, yet highly organized genius. Canvases strewn about, many being work­ed on simultaneously. All eventually completed, and when exhibited they would sell out. At the helm of all this, Ms. Goldberg thought nothing of spending a week in Paris negotiating with Chagall and Matisse rep­resentatives about handling the licensing of the estates, then flying to back to New York for an hour and a half business meet­ing at the airport before catching a con­necting flight to Palm Beach to meet Yoko Ono for an opening of a show of John Lennon’s art, all the while keeping in close contact with the Marigold staff in New York, who were busy prepar­ing for another exhibition. Even today, Ms. Goldberg at the helm of Museum Masters International, keeps an equally frenetic schedule. Off to Milan for a Tamara de Lempicka exhibition, then to London for the International Marketing Expo, back to New York to sew up the next deal.

Marilyn Goldberg has synergisticly blended the world of fine art with mass merchandising. Creating previously untapped markets and expanded awareness for both artists and manufacturers, Museum Masters stands above all others in bringing together the best of two worlds. The merchandising of art, for Ms. Goldberg, goes handin-hand with the creative process. While curating exhibitions and developing product for Picasso, Erté, Dali, Keith Haring, van Gogh, Tamara de Lempicka, Warhol, John Lennon, Muramasa Kudo, Giancarlo Impiglia and bringing an ever-expanding new group to market, she is sought out by artists today not only for her expertise and contacts, but for her reliability, honesty and unflinching resolve to do her best for the artists and estates she represents.

For an artist of great renown, she created extravagant lines not only from their famous paintings but from “Borders, designs and concepts that I feel would have come from them if they were alive to envision these products. I meditate on the space given to me and suddenly the finished designs appears in my mind. I then execute them on paper so the manufacturers can conceive how the products should look.

“Visuals are the shorthand of art merchandising technology,” continues Ms. Goldberg from her posh and stunning Southampton, New York headquarters, decorated wall to wall and floor to ceiling with paintings, prints, tapestries, sculptures and a plethora of gift items that she created. Sipping afternoon tea from a Monet cup and saucer takes on a special meaning when one is sitting in front of the authentic Monet waterlily pond at her Villa. Same can be said for enjoying a can of Pepsi from a Sid Maurer-designed Marilyn Monroe soda can in a room of Andy Warhol tapestries and Maurer’s original Marilyn Monroe painting.”

Even as we go to press, barely a week before the London Inter-

Marigold’s collection of Giancarlo Impiglia signed and numbered prints for the New York Metropolitan Opera in 1984 was one of the first color advertisements to appear in SunStorm Arts magazine. Thank you, Marilyn.

national Licensing convention, Ms. Goldberg is typing out a contract on a computer for an artist she has been admiring for years, Juan de Lascurain. He is already highly popular but has decided the only company that could properly represent him is Museum Masters International. His motto is “Dream big” and Marilyn is right there with that. She sees him as the next Peter Max or Romero Britto. Another artist new to the Museum Masters fold is Kevin Kelly. His work is powerful, colorful, romantic and representative of the times. “MMI,” he says, “are indeed masters at generating international merchandising appeal and have done so with Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Tamara de Lempicka.”

This success is largely based on Ms. Goldberg’s own ability to work with artists as an artist. She brings to her work an understanding of the artist’s life, from attitude to style. The artist and the company become one and the same, focusing on what the artist does best and what the market wants from him or her. “I work with artists who have multifaceted talent and comprehend my direction to develop the balance and harmony of what the market place de­ mands.” Likening herself to an actress who becomes a producer, Ms. Goldberg notes, “As an artist, I un­derstand the life patterns of artists, from their uneven schedules to attitudes and style. We are a cor­porate entity that handles the business aspects of art on the artist’s behalf, which frees them to create and be financially successful in the process of creating a program, the artist and MMI form a reciprocal relationship with mutual goals.”

An an art teacher for the era, bringing the market into play when she works Marilyn has “a lust” for programs that are creative.

“When I’m 80 years-old, I’ll probably have three new programs on the fire, and still be hav­ing fun. I’m exhausted, but sleep is secondary be­cause there’s always another idea.”

Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015 • 9

OPTIMISMO; EL ÁRBOL DEL MAÑANA (Optimism; The Tree of All Tomorrows) Oil on canvas, 72” x 36”, ©2015

ORLANDO AGUDELO-BOTERO Deep Roots, Great Heights “Since childhood, I have had a special connection with and understanding of those magnificent creatures known to all as the trees of nature. A rainy day in my life? Simple, I look for the presence and company of a peaceful tree and the sun shines once again, so as nothing else seems to matter. Eloquent with grandiose presence, poetic in the foliage and rhythmical in the variety of trunks, branches, flowers and fruit...one and all, I consider trees to be an inspiration to the creative human being which by nature's wonder, exist in me. By the works of a natural creative process in my studio which has been taking place for the last twenty months, these trees and our human condition, emotions and realities: brilliant, romantic and sad, have merged together to create a fusion which I call GROVE, THE INNER TREES." — Orlando Agudelo Botero© 2015 10 • Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015

THE SPIRIT AND SUBJECT OF THE PAINTING By ÓSCAR JAIRO GONZÁLEZ HERNÁNDEZ Art History Professor, University of Medellín

When a painter decides or determines, in a rational sense, to dedicate his life toward the layering and very substance of the paint itself, it is resolutely realized from said decision and determination; this doesn’t occur for Orlando Agudelo Botero, who has always been possessed by the extreme need to paint, making painting his life and what he does, as we observe, by way of what

I’ve called him and his work of intuitional restlessness and, thus, that restlessness, which provides that character and content to his painting of a revelation.

It’s the dramatic relation between what is meant for life and what is meant for the painting which is constantly being solved (or not) in Orlando Agudelo-Botero’s painting, and it is there where a superior and powerful Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015 • 11

PROCESIÓN DEL ÁRBOL DE LA VERDAD (The Tree of Truth, Procession), Oil on canvas, 48”x 48”, © 2015

“Love creates, the alternative should not be an option.” tension in which it is necessary to involve and apply the forces of rationality and those of intuition, which he creates and realizes by a medium of transcendental consciousness that he possesses and has constructed unto himself concerning the irrevocable destiny he has for himself and the painting.

It is a tormenting clarity and an unspeakable truth, but it’s also these same elements [of torment and unspeakableness] which make it more brilliant in its essence and whose transcendental truth is transmitted through his paintings.

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There are tensions and trances within the drama that come with being a painter and having the painting act as a form of communication with the outside world.

It’s as if an aspiration toward his destiny and that of humanity were untouched and indestructibly held him in it and, from there, his painting also performed the task for the construction of that new humanity he seeks and for which he paints.

Ever y artist, as E.H. Gombrich affirmed, makes his own personal history of art and it is he, who knows how to find and

thus construct a style which characterizes and differentiates him from other painters.

That is, that having illustrious and exciting relations in the sentient observation and critique of art history, being able to take the transformation of the same, and, from there, extract style and for the same reason then, we would be exposed to a new style.

This new style becomes evident when the painter settles himself (or doesn’t), he relates (or doesn’t) with other artistic styles. He knows how to trigger and suppress these qualities. He develops concoctions and new

combinations—extraordinary and unknown.

The new style, as Orlando Agudelo Botero also deals with, in his life and his painting, what we call, in them, the relentless style, which as mentioned, is immersed and internalized in his destiny as a painter. The painter provides a measure of his destiny as a painter and it begets a new destiny and adds meaning to his painting.

He has and will continue to go on that quest, certainly in this painting, which from its intricate symbolism and exciting asceticism, in color and line, in its form and content, in his spirit and matter, is realized in its possible and impossible movements, both visible and invisible, as their living work (so called by Rilke for Rodin’s works).

And this living work, we say because of Orlando Agudelo Botero’s painting, lives in it and makes us live; because he presents it to us, he proposes it, and encourages us as a result of the indelible and beautiful consciousness, which brightens, making his painting a revelation in areas we did not know or had not discovered, so it intensifies and becomes more powerful in the soft spot of each person.

And every painting is the result of a contemplation of humanity and its destiny, of the hope and bleakness of man, and how to dominate or transform these ideas in the serenity-inspired knowledge of oneself by way of his painting.

For that same purpose, the subject of this exposition, is innately related with that of Nature (physis) and within this Nature that is also ours, Orlando Agudelo Botero, has felt from his surprising life, full of astonishment both physical and metaphysical. The necessity to mediate with this nature, by way of the Great Tree of Humanity (of the Wanderers, of the Inner Trees, of the Genealogical Tree, of the Rebirth Tree, of Creativity) are within himself and us. From his life experience and through the painting, he reveals to himself and to us, the truth of the knowledge of life and painting as life, in an exclamatory way.

EL VESTIDO DOMINGUERO (Sunday’s Suit), Oil on canvas, 72” x 48” ©2015

CREATIVITY & ROMANTICISM

Creativity is a gift, a blessing and it is a joy… but it is giving birth and it is not free of anxiety, self doubt and anguish, sometimes pain. The fusion of these take me to a state where matter is replaced by essence.

There is a great deal of difference between “Creativity” and “The creative process.”

The first one is the gift, raw and omnipresent … the second one involves the use of that gift which should take the artist through labyrinths, dark or light...passages of romance and idealistic moments expressed to the best of one’s abilities…and in that process, I feel an overwhelming richness of emotions; some delightful and bright and some darker, somber, sobering and draining in so many levels…

Creativity is not always supposed to be a walk in the park…at times, it is even more difficult than the realities outside of the studio.

This is my own experience during my process. Whichever emotion, light or not, it is a part of life and subsequently, part of the process we call creative, an emotional, intellectual quest and then, a natural and sincere expression...released.

Romanticism is and always has been a radiant light in my life which has allowed me to see life, human beings and our planet under a crystal prisma which reveals the natural beauty in all.

Romanticism potentially could lead to idealism and to the realization of new cycles and realities.

Love is the strongest force and power that we posses; it allow us to conceptualize, to construct ant to realize our human potential.

Love creates, the alternative should not be an option.

— Orlando Agudelo Botero©2015 Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015 • 13

Ljubomir

MILINKOV

“Dalissimus,” 1997 acrylic and oil 39⅜” x 31⅞”

For further information about the works of Milinkov, e-mail milinkovl@free.fr 14 • Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015

Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015 • 13

Hung Yao – Snapping The Line

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he beauty of New York’s long-running Artexpo is the his line yet a certain necessary delicacy permeates throughout his international flavor of the Fair. Over the course of its art, presenting a vision as of yet unseen in oriental and western art. long history, artists from all corners of the map have It is a visceral onslaught of thought, tied together by the infinite participated adding to the allure of the city known order of a straight line, created by the artist via the machine he built as The Big Apple, oft-referred to as the “Art Capital to launch paint or ink onto a canvas or paper so that is shot out as of The World. In 2015, one of the featured exhibitions was preif from a cross bow whose arrows, instead of being points, leave sented by ARTOSItheir mark as a flat NO, an amalgam reline across the imferring to China, the age. The line is not ancient-to-modern necessarily perfect history of China, the — it breaks up culture of China, or and is sometimes the Chinese people. reminiscent of an Covering a complete antique Caslon aisle at the show, Arfoundry font — tosino hosted a varied yet it never loses and powerful collecthe artists’ intention of artists whose tion that it conwork is also displayed form and live up at their 37th Street to his “snapline” gallery in the heart of standard. mid-town New York, From the which will present a dawning of civilisolo exhibition of the zation, human beThe spirit of creings have sought ating art runs rampant to commemorate in the works of Hung their lives and Yao. His original style circumstances of tension, burst and through art. Pacatapult — “Snapline” leolithic paintings, — questions, reconfrom the caves of siders and revitalizes Lascaux, France, the aesthetic concept are embedded in of “line” in Chinese the cosmic conart history. He takes sciousness. Many “snapline” from anartists, notably cient Chinese archiElaine de Kooning, tecture and the craft whose husband of carpentry as a tool Willem was the and method of artistorch bearer of the tic rebellion — inAbstract Expresstrumentalized and sionists and who not hand-drawn —to was a celebrated form an intense tenartist in her own sion with other inkright, brought her wash elements, such interpretations of as ink and paper. these progenitors Rare is it that of all art to the foreyou find an apt use front in her penHung Yao for the word “genius” ultimate series of and perhaps the most paintings. Hyung accurate definition of that oft over-used and misapplied term is not Lao, through the use of powerful and subtle brushstrokes, limns inalways relegated to those who deserve it by being so far ahead of spiration from what was, one could say, written on a cave-dwellers their contemporaries. Few artists at work today are more deserving wall, but masterfully compounds the issue with his colorful geometof the term than Hung Yao who not only has created his own lanric additions, bringing to mind Joan Miro at times and also referencguage through form, content and design but also created his own ing the color field panoramas of Esteban Vicente, Ellsworth Kelly tools with which to convey his vision. and Mark Rothko who integrated black forms with brushy swirls On view at the Artosino Gallery, a clean, well-lit room that of color. Blurred edges, separated color blocks, and beginnings of shows art to its full advantage, Yao’s presentation is cutting edge yet rectangular registers can be seen, as well as some experiment with dedicated to tradition. His snapline technique successfully melds size and scale. Far from being merely abstract forms, however, these East and West concepts to blend modernity technique with ancient. motifs are objects imbued with life force — “organisms,” he called Operatic in scope and feeling there is bombast in the power of them, “with the passion for self-expression.”

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JAMIE ELLIN FORBES PHOTO

Artosino Group at Artexpo New York, 2015

With their Chinese effects, at first glance, one would surmise that Hung Yao’s paintings were modern ink paintings. “The description saying it was an oil painting surprised me,” writes Chu Ko, in a catalog accompanying the exhibition. “Stepping on the international stage with modern Chinese-style oil paintings brought in the future in which a truly international culture was about to appear. Such cosmopolitan human culture did not exist though Chinese oil paintings has been around for one hundred years. Artists created oil paintings of Eastern style, so Western artists also could do the same — not restricting themselves to oil paintings. Was that the supremacy of oil painting? The era of one world might come early.”

Hung Yao was born in 1939 and graduated from the Central South China Fine Arts Affiliated Middle School in 1958. In 1962, he graduated from the Department of Painting of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. He was a student of the Lingnan Style of Chinese Brush Painting master Guan Shanming and those lessons have stayed with him throughout his career.

His powerful monochromatic imagery is reminiscent of Franz Kline while never losing the continuum of his own culture. Ink, or rather oil, may appear splattered on the canvas but each element seems to coherently placed, carefully thought out, compositionally sound and offering space for the viewer flow into the work.

In delving further in to the synergy of the EastWest analogy, one discovers even more his capacity to, as the poet Eli Siegel often expounded, create beauty by making one of opposites”, a founding tenet of Aesthetic Realism. Upholding his artistic integrity is of utmost importance to Yao and he expresses this through his soulful renditions of pure abstraction that in combination with the tension and tactility of lines on the material presents the fluidity of inner space.

Hung Yao Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015 • 17

Quiet Bamboo, ink and color on paper, 30 x 33 in, 2015

“Soaking myself in the joy of art, feeling the charm that I had never felt before, I wept.”

In China, there is an explanation for life that is, according to Germain Roesz, chairman of the Europe-China Cultural Exchange Association “nothingness, namely breath or ‘Chi.’ With the development of scientific studies, we gradually understand that the nothingness is the source of energy that functions to ensure our activities.”

These elements are apparent in most of Yao’s paintings, though he can be playful (and historically accurate) as in his 1986 work, Termination of Easel Painting Part I in response to Kasimir Malevich’s White on White (1918) — in which a tilted white square against a white canvas symbolized “the end” of easel painting. 70 years later, Hung Yao pushed the minimalist concept one step further by casting a white dot on a white canvas thereby continuing easel painting.

“Senior artists such as Hong Yao have lived through an era of trial and tribulation,” notes Prof. Sun Zhen-Hua of the Chi18 • Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015

na Academy of Art. “What they have experienced and what they have felt cannot be expressed in thousands or tens of thousands of words.” Artexpo, it must be noted, was one of the first venues for Chinese artists as the reins of the Cultural Revolution loosened. Ting Shao-Kuang, one of the Yunnan School artists who was brought to Artexpo by Ron Segal in the 1980s and who rose to international fame, tells of having to paint all night and burn his work before it was discovered in the morning. One of his associates was taken away and returned a few days later — his hair and beard having turned white from the experience.

“Snapline,” continues Prof. Sun, “is the symbol of Hong Yao’s spiritual world. It symbolizes the resistance in the heart of the artist and the myriad relationships of repression, struggle, privations and protest in the outside world.” — VICTOR BENNETT FORBES

THE FOUR DAVIDS © MICHAEL CARTELLONE

MICHAEL CARTELLONE omewhere around his twentieth birthday, Michael Cartellone and his dad packed up the family van and drove to New York City where Michael and his worldly goods were dropped off at a friends’apartment in the pre-gentrification days of Harlem. The young man was ready to start a new life and after a brief stint as a painter in the art department children’s clothing company, he received a call from the manager of Tommy Shaw, a singer who was embarking on a solo tour after a very successful stint as

f ront man for STYX. In a true rock and roll fantasy, two weeks later, Michael found himself on stage at Madison Square Garden drumming behind Shaw as the opening act for Rush, playing to sold out arenas. This was 1988 and after the tour concluded, a record company executive had the idea to bring Shaw and Nugent together to write. Michael was the drummer for that very successful aggregation, Damn Yankees. The band had a strong concert following, and their second album went platinum. During their hitmaking years of 1989-96, they scored a double-platinum success with their 1990 self-titled debut album and a No. 3 hit with ‘High Enough.’

The all-star band of world class virtuousos reunited in 1998 in the hopes of recording a third studio record, but the material ended up on the members’ various solo projects. The next year, Michael joined forces with another powerhouse band, Lynyrd Skynyrd, who managed to keep the music alive after a tragic plane crash in 1977 took the life of their heart and soul, singer Ronnie Van Zant as well as guitar hero Steve Gaines, his sister vocalist Cassie Gaines, their assistant road manager and the pilot and co-pilot. Other band members and road crew suffered terrible injuries. The beloved band was at the top of their game with Sweet Home Alabama and Free Bird among their classic hits and a new album was released three days after the crash. Today, their music and spirit lives on, building on the past, living in the present with endless world tours and major concert events. We caught up with Michael, who is an accomplsihed painter, at his apartment in New York City for a video interview.

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Camden, NJ, July 2014: “This is my favorite moment in the show... the Military Tribute Video during Simple Man ... that is my Dad’s WW2 photo on the screen... I love you and miss you, Dad!”

Celebrating the life of Ronnie Van Zant 1948-1977.

“Ronnie was a true poet… a brilliant songwriter… who will live on forever in all of our hearts. God bless you, Ronnie.” — MC

By VICTOR FORBES “1890s New York scene with three heroes: Houdini, my dad Joseph and Charlie Chaplin.”

Music, Art, Magic & A Century of History are the hallmarks of Michael Cartellone’s life and career, separate yet indelibly intertwined. Certainly a life blessed with success, love and happiness based on years of hard work. He is regarded as one of the top rock drummers in the world keeping the beat for a band that represents survival, hope and power despite unspeakable tragedies. The Lynyrd Skynyrd catalog and spirit will live forever in the annals of music and while there is only one original member left, the spirit of the music transcends time. But somebody has to keep the beat and that somebody is Michael Cartellone.

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FINE ART: Hello Michael, it’s been a while.

MICHAEL: Yes, it’s been a few years.

VF: But I want to tell you your growth as an artist over these years has been remarkable.

MC: Thank you VF: It must be very satisfying. We know all about your other career - in the music world which is top notch — MC: My night job.

VF: Tell us about your new work, “The Four Davids.”

Visiting van Gogh’s gravesite

“I’m going to keep painting worldfamous recognizable statues within the context of a recognizable art style.”

MC: The Four Davids are my series of paintings about 100 years of art history. I took Michelangelo’s “David” (have you seen it? Have you been to Florence?) You know how powerful it is when you turn the corridor and see him at the end of the hallway in the arch. It takes your breath away. I was so moved by that I thought I needed to do something in tribute; to paint this statue and it took a few years just trying to come up with how to do that. I simply could not come up with only one way to do that.

VF: So you started with van Gogh?

MC: I came up with the idea of painting him four times, and then I thought, well, if I am going to paint him four times, maybe four different style, four different art styles, maybe four eras of art, so then I started doing some art history research in depth and created a list of about 20 different painters/eras and whittled them down to four. The four painters who were of inspiration were van Gogh, Picasso, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol. Upon looking through their body of work, I wanted to find images that they had done that I thought would be interesting to use as a starting point.

VF: And then…

MC: (For example) Let’s use the inspired van Gogh piece for starters. That was from a portrait he did in 1889, a very recognizable portrait. I have a coffee mug of that portrait on my art table in the other room. In essence, by utilizing the look of van Gogh’s self-portrait, I pulled him out of it and put David in place and painted David exactly in the way that van Gogh had painted that self-portrait. The same colors, all the swirls, the light, the shadow.

Everything was matched — van Gogh’s face to now David’s face.

The Magritte Condition

VF: Was it a scholarly experience or was it emotional ?

MC: Both. That painting in particular was a mountain to climb because it was so incredibly different stylistically from the way that I normally paint, which is more realism with a slight Pop colorful quality to it and none of that applies to a description of van Gogh so in essence, I had to throw everything away that I had really learned and what was instinctual to me as a painter and start over which was an incredible experience.

VF: And this is your new path?

MC: Yes, it’s been wonderful, Victor, because it has, with the Four Davids, enabled me to then paint in four styles that I never painted in before which meant I had to re-learn with each successive David a new way to paint. Living here in New York, of course, I have access to work of all of the above. So I was going to MoMA and looking at “Starry Night” and I’m matching paint colors and getting my face right up to it and looking at the thickness,and the texture and the brushstrokes then I would come home and work on my David. The reference material was incredible. So there was a lot of thought, a lot of research throughout. Before, during and frankly since. It has now created this whole new path of art I’m going to keep doing this. I’m going to keep painting world famous recognizable statues within the context of a recognizable art style. In essence, kind of mixing the two mediums — painting and sculpture.

VF: In addition to the Four Davids, that Magritte piece is quite a production.

MC: Thank you. “The Magritte Condition” I painted directly after the Davids. That was the very next thing that I did. Renee MagFine Art Magazine • Fall 2015 • 21

Sweet Home … Yonkers. Michael and his wife, Nancy.

ritte has always been one of my favorite painters and the “Magritte Condition” utilizes many of his well-known, tried and true themes and combines them together into one painting, putting a kind of contemporary spin on it. I should mention that same contemporary spin applies to the Davids. Even though those paintings are really a double homage (a homage to Michelangelo first and then whoever the painter of inspiration is secondly). What I am intending to do with the Davids is have the viewer realize I am tipping the hat to the masters, as it were. But then with my new works taking the viewer into a new kind of place that hasn’t been seen artistically.

VF: Seems like you’re setting it up like what they used to call record albums.

MC: I am, yeah (laughter) VF: Where Side One would get you involved and the last song on side one would make you want to turn it over to get to side two MC: Exactly to keep going. Too bad they’re not albums anymore, it’s a digital chip.

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VF: Vinyl’s is coming back MC: As vinyl should. Nice segue to the music business VF: Let’s talk about this for a second. Here you are a very sensitive handsome young fellow making these paintings MC: Handsome, young (laughter) VF: Why not? You played with two of the hardest rockin’ bands that ever set foot on the earth. A Jekyll and Hyde thing. I can only imagine you back there behind The old Amboy Duke (Ted Nugent) and the Lynyrd Skynyrd guys. How do you balance the two in your life?

MC: Balance is truly the key. Ever since I was a child I was painting or drumming. They have coexisted in my life. Art school, and music school throughout my youth. There always have been these two halves of the whole and it’s very difficult for me to separate them. In my mind, one could not exist without the other. They feed off each, they enhance each other, they motivate each other and balance each other. The night job — the drumming — is loud and public and in front of a lot of people and the painting is

Carnevale di Venezia

quiet, personal, introspective. So that, in essence, does give me the balance and I carry painting supplies during the tour and paint in hotel rooms during the day and then play that night. So it truly is a beautiful balance.

Could you tell us about your interest in Houdini and Charlie Chaplin and your collection of their artifacts?

MC: Sure. Chaplin and Houdini both are lifelong fascinations of mine. I was a magician when I was a little kid and I saw a Chaplin film in a film history class when I was young and maybe I was born in the wrong era. I think I was supposed to be from the Golden 20s and maybe I was, maybe I came back. There has always been magical thing about the twenties for me. So much so that the painting “New York” It is a 1920s era New York City street scene. In this painting I put my three heroes — my father, Houdini and Chaplin. I have a lifelong admiration for both which has turned into a bit of a collectible thing for me. I started by getting books and movies and now there is a Chaplin cane and a set of Houdini handcuffs hanging in the other room.

VF: How did you find them? Did you go to Las Vegas and visit the Pawn Stars place?

MC: (laughing) You know what? They actually find you when you start poking around and you find yourself looking at this kind of little collectible world. You very quickly and unknowingly get yourself on all of these mailing lists. I didn’t seek out either of those, they just kind of flopped onto my lap one day.

VF: Those are some nice shadow boxes. The were a specialty of Tony Curtis.

MC: Yes. The Houdini movie, 1953.

Classic. It was my introduction to them both.

VF: He was also a very good artist.

MC: Yes, a very good artist. I’ve seen his paintings, of course. I did not know he also made boxes. I did a painting of him — a scene from “Some Like It Hot” (at left) — in conjunction with my 20 year music equipment endorsement with Remo drumheads.

VF: What do you have coming up?

MC: An exhibition that begins December 7, 2015 at Soho Contemporary Art, 259 The Bowery in New York City.

To see more about Michael, check out his website www.michaelcartellone.com Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015 • 23

JEFF VERMEEREN Abstraction Unbridled

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By JAMIE ELLIN FORBES

ITH VARIOUS METALS AS HIS CANVAS and a combination of fire, ice, pressure, and a wide range of unstable chemicals as his media, Jeff Vermeeren creates unique, dynamic, sculptural and painterly works of art. His recent collection, comprised of such titles as Halcyon, Raging Whirl, Incubus, Antaxia and Passion, rocked Artexpo New York and jump-started his career.

The work of the artist is to envision. Vermeeren also enables the opposition of the compatibility between the two forms of media, fire and metal to reveal the face of the spontaneous imagery he intends through his guidance of the process when creating his works.

Something magical happens. The liquid quality of the paint is captured, as if splattered, then tempered for color and texture by the fire, the image then frozen in the moment of Vermeer’s choosing. The gamut between color hues is run, the cooler blue tones produce an icy feel to the images, clear and clean. The reds, oranges and umbers from yellow through gold flow into a cauldron, yielding from the vat powerful images of change.

Like the medieval alchemists, Jeff is looking for the philosopher’s stone — gold — which is found in the mixing of paint with fire. The mystery and the alchemy are merged in his artistic vision via use of the material to produce the cool blue vision.

Works such as Incubus provide a warm cascade, a swirl of color for the viewer to enter into. A personal experience for each, providing the optimum essence of abstract expression within the image to be observed…played with. The colors are clean, the process providing dimensional depth. One can walk in the point delivered to the imagination and see for oneself any thing revealed to the individual psyche.

Pollock may have dreamed of this freedom found within the mixing of elements and color by Vermeeren.

The essence Pop works exampled in the girl with sunglasses offers a suggestion

by Vermeeren of the opportunity to personally fantasize within his abstracted works, and a flirtatious fascination for what is held in the forging fire. The girl is crisp and sharp and a contrast to the abstract reflection in her glasses, compositionally providing a fun pop feel to the piece.

The blues which emerge from the installed wall hanging (in blue) belie the process. This should be ice captured or the blue ray glimpsed meditatively within the most searing fire. This would indeed make one of the opposites of the experience.

Again, there is a freedom captured and shared in all of Vermeeren’s works, possibly offered through the media of fire applied to metal not available to other forms of artistic applied media. The artist marries the process of his imagination to the possibilities revealed in scientific explanation, images or theories depicted as image. The imagery taken as the three-dimensional view of ALMA’s observatory shots of the carbon gases being emitted by the nearby stars in our galaxy look like the artistic captured images offered by Jeff in many of his works. The universes is seen and sliced into a small section of agreed union between art and science.

As Matta’s mid-20th century woks resemble the photons and other atomic fragments projected as art image, Vermeeren’s fire of the mind pierces through time and allows for his galactic glimpse into the process of energy moving in the cauldron.

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Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015 • 25

The Fine Art interview — Jeff Vermeeren “I Just Have To Mold Myself To The Work” The Vermereen Principles (and principals) of Extreme Abstraction first came to our attention at the 2015 International Artexpo on the Pier in New York City in April of 2015 at which Fine Art Magazine shared a corner of the exhibition hall with the aforementioned ( Jeff ) Vermereen and his able compadre, Dustin.

From a distance, a cascade of color emanated from their stall (a singular 10’ x 10’ booth), but none brighter than Vermereen himself, radiating that northwest Alberta vibe, surrounded on three sides with a panoply of his brilliantly colored and composed creations, wearing vibrant outfits that paled in comparison to his striking blue eyes and helmut of orange hair coupled with the phsique of a man who gets at it wholeheartedly.

Tell us about your Artexpo experience, we recently asked him over the phone from The Adirondacks to Western Canada.

“It was fantastic. Honestly, it was a blast. They contacted me a week before the show opening and next thing I knew I was on an airplane to New York City. Only a year or so before the Expo was when we built the website so I didn’t know what to expect. During the opening night, 25 gallery owners gave us offers to exhibit. They all wanted to work with us, which is really neat. About 125 galleries in all stopped by. Eric [ ed. note: Smith, Director of Artexpo + other fairs produced by Redwood Media Group] and I are talking about doing a piece for his new fair to coincide with Coachella this spring- the front sign. Opportunity is massive. He then asked me to create some electric guitars, maybe do 10 limited edition guitars for Eric to give as gifts to guitarists… Don Oriolo [Ed. note: who was at the adjoining Fine Art Magazine booth] and I have already created a new suite of Felix The Cat pieces and are working on guitar collaborations. Photo -shoots, getting crazy....

“We met thousands of peole, I don’t think I’ve had so much fun. It was neat showing off my work and people could see the creative side of me. I was one of a kind, the only one doing what I do on metal. A lot of people came though and said they’d never seen this kind of work. Is it glass? ceramic? Metal? People were just guessing. That’s the magic in it and these kind of art pieces are magic, a whole new look to the art world.”

What prompted this mode of expression?

I do demolition — projects big and small. Everything from sledge hammers to taking full buildings down. Once you demolish a building, you can’t come back and take down the same building. Neither can I make the same painting. I wanted to go from destructing to my creative side. I had a bit of free time and my hobby evolved into painting and it rolled into my passion and my passion grew and now this 26 • Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015

“Plunge” is featured in this dramatic view.

“Red Paint”

is something that is over-taking the demolition side My creativity comes out and my passion goes to the art work.

How did you develop your art-form?

Most of the series I do is with aluminum, for technical reaons.

I also work with copper. Initially, I have a vision of what I want to see and as the piece is going on, that vision may alter. What makes it so unique is that the paint is a very fast process that changes so rapidly that my vision from beginning to end of the process — with all coloring — changes what I am trying to do 50 times. Sometimes it works out ten times better than what I thought. I just have to mold myself to the work. These are not a landscapes or portraits. I go into it saying these are the colors I can use, this is the style I can use. Let’s see what is created.

So passion and creativity are taking over?

I’m a strong believer in knowing I can fail at what I don’t want to do, so I might as well take a chance on something that I love.

And now you’re riding the wave.

One of my things is I’m a very one-of-a-kind kind of guy. I don’t want to be going into a restaurant wearing the same shirt as anybody else. These works can’t be duplicated. The same color lines, or even how the bubbles develop and grow as they are being created would be impossible to do the same way twice.

Seems like you have carved out quite a spot for yourself in the art area in very sort space of time.

Before this, I started businesses and sold them — things like that. If I feel that something is not working, I will change it in a moment. My first pieces were ridiculous, goofy looking. If you watch how my art evolves, what materials I use inside and how the textures change, you would see that I’m doing stuff now that I didn’t even have at the Art show a few months ago. If I’m not pushing forward, I’m moving backward and I do not take any negativity forward with me. The art is always evolving, always growing. If I did what I did yesterday, I’d only get the same results.

— VICTOR BENNETT FORBES Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015 • 27

Raging Whirl

Auric Rise, 24” x 48” 28 • Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015

Pharos

Jeff Vermeeren is proud to participate in numerous charities.

A portion of proceeds from his creations are donated to those involved in helping children who are battling life-threatening diseases.

Visit Vermeeren Fine art on the web http://www.vermeerenfineart.com/ & Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Vermeerenfineart

Flaxen of the pale yellow color of dressed flax

Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015 • 29

THE PROCESS

“Very few are done with paintbrushes, most are made with a variety of spray guns that range from half-size up to 16x. This makes the colors flow and split nicer so that there are less bubbles, more shine, more glow. During the process of coloring, all my pieces are set on fire maybe two or three times. I also freeze a hand-full of them so that I get a diferent look as the chemicals change. In every color there are millions of shades. When you heat and feeze them, that’s when the shades come out. That red will split and you will see tons of different layers as more colors are joined to the original layer. It changes everyday depending on lighting or personal moods. I see something different every day. I used to paint cars when I was a teenager. Today I use 15 different kinds of paints working in my industrial facility. Each piece is a 3-4 week process from thought to shipping. I do all the colors, mixing of the paint, spraying — that’s all a piece of me.

I can’t recreate what I did before even if I tried.

That’s the joy in it. I take the things I learned from a particular piece and use it in a new one.”

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The process

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“I had an amazing experience at Heritage Heights School. The children were very excited to learn about Abstract art.”

The Vermeeren family 32 • Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015

Show Director Eric Smith, Jeff Vermeeren at Artexpo in New York City, April 2015

Initial phase of first guitar for the Coachella Festival

Jeff Vermeeren and Don Oriolo with one of their Felix The Cat collaborations for Dreamworks.

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Art Basel stages the world’s premier art shows for Modern and contemporary works, sited in Basel, Miami Beach and Hong

Ron Burkhradt 34 • Fine Art Magazine • December 2015

PHOTO BY JAMIE ELLIN FORBES

PHOTO BY JAMIE ELLIN FORBES

Kong. Defined by its host city and region, each show is unique, which is reflected in its participating galleries, artworks presented, and the content of parallel programming produced in collaboration with local institutions for each edition. In addition to ambitious stands featuring leading galleries from around the world, each show exhibition sector spotlight the latest developments in the visual arts, offering visitors new ideas, new inspiration and new contacts in the art world. For further information please visit: artbasel.com

PHOTO BY JAMIE ELLIN FORBES

Marc Spiegler, GLOBAL DIRECTOR Art Basel director, Marc leads a symposium at Art Basel Miami Beach in 2014.

PHOTO BY JAMIE ELLIN FORBES

Since 1970, Art Basel’s goal has been to connect the world's premier galleries and their patrons, serving as a meeting point for the international art world. Now, over forty years later, its three fairs – in Basel, Hong Kong and Miami Beach – rank as the premier shows of their kind, presenting 20th and 21st century art with a strong curatorial perspective. In Miami Beach, 267 leading galleries from North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia and Africa show significant work from the masters of Modern and contemporary art, as well the new generation of emerging stars. Paintings, sculptures, installations, photographs, films, and editioned works of the highest quality are on display in the main exhibition hall. Ambitious large scale artworks, films and performances become part of the city’s outdoor landscape at nearby Collins Park and SoundScape Park.

PHOTO BY JAMIE ELLIN FORBES

Sunflower, Richard Pousette-Dart at Art Basel Miami Beach

Rirkrit Tiravanija

Atmosphere at Art Basel, Miami Beach Fine Art Magazine • December 2015 • 35

Carol Valone & Bert Seides

Group shot in front of the restored Ketcham Inn, Center Moriches, New York

THE KETCHAM INN

Bert Seides Vision of Creativity & Preservation

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he Terry Ketcham Inn Restoration Celebration had several hundred happy party goers in attendance last July 3rd, to see the reflections of over 300 years of South Shore Long Island history brought to life. The careful selection and overseeing of detail by Bert Seides makes for museum-quality viewing for visitors to the restored Terry-Ketcham Inn. Once a stage coach stop connecting travelers from Manhattan to Sag Harbor from the 1800s on, today it is a living history Museum under the auspices of the Foundations’ President, Bert Seides and Board of Directors. Sponsors Martha Clara Winery, Weiss Nursery, Netty’s Bakery, Atlantic Seafood, Alice Schaub, Belle Brown, KC Collections and Carol Valone all made the evening a tremendous success. The twenty five years of community effort on behalf of all volunteers added to this a memorable occasion.

Bert’s efforts to bring about a place of historical cultural preservation has united Center Moriches, what was once the New York theater districts’ summer playground. I used to walk my dogs Fluffy and Pearl late at night down Montauk Highway where the billboard fundraising thermometer was a slow rise. Two generations of 36 • Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015

Zelda Seides with Bert

Bert Seides, Linda Stucchio and Thomas Cardoza

Loren Christian & Bert Seides

Frank & Chris Zambella with Bert

PHOTOS & STORY BY JAMIE ELLIN FORBES

Diane Schiwindt in the Inn’s kitchen

household poodles later, the Inn is complete. At times I, like others, thought Bert’s vision may not make it. After the Havens house was completed and the landscape began to change, the energy displayed as manifested.

The beauty and charm of old Moriches began to reemerge, making the bend into the Tryrell River and East

Ellen &Tom Williams with Bert Seides

Moriches one of the most beautiful on this stretch of road that runs all the way to the Ponds in East Hampton out to Montauk.

Applause to Bert for having this vision, leading others to join him and having the stamina to complete this job. I for one am looking forward to the

proposed Fine Art and Crafts center and the vision planned for the music, dance and theater waiting in the wings to emerge as a place where young and old may come to see and express themselves culturally in an environment of creativity and preservation.

ARTISTS OF

THE YEAR

Ed Heck’s Random Acts of Art can be found almost anywhere

ED HECK DonOriolo’s Felix is all about LOVE

DON ORIOLO

D T

Ed Heck and Don Oriolo accept Fine Art Magazine’s Artist of the Year Award

he paintings of Ed Heck first came to our attention a couple of decades ago when they were in the window of Tom Winer’s gallery on Columbus Avenue on New York’s Upper West Side — Seinfeld territory. They were cute, simple renditions of a very particular spotted dog, a canine who (we found out later) is a compendum of the dogs Ed has known. These paintings began to fly off the wall and Ed left his safe and thriving career as a painter of dinosaurs at New York’s Museum of Natural History to venture out as an inidependent artist. We have watched Ed avoid extinction continued on page 40

By ALEX TIRPACK

on Oriolo’s professional career can be dizzying, but the man fondly known as the “Felix the Cat Guy” wouldn’t have it any other way. After all, anyone who is familiar with the Felix cartoon character knows the cat is always reaching into his “magic bag of tricks” to find the next tool or gadget for the task at hand, and in many ways this signature action is symbolic of Oriolo’s professional and personal life. Don is an artist, a fixture in the music publishing and recording world, an owner of his own guitar manufacturing company, and a philanthropist — all the while his creative mind seems to have a never-ending bag of tricks to reach into for the next project on the docket.

When Oriolo’s father Joe —the modern-day Felix the Cat cocreator — passed away in 1985, Don took over the franchise and immediately sought to bring the iconic cartoon into the new era of media. By implementing modern licensing, merchandising, and marketing strategies, Oriolo launched Felix into a global market, complete with movies, television series, and even video games.

Under his watch, Felix became the number one licensed character in Japan. The goal, of course, was to get Felix out to a new and broader audience and to share the beloved cartoon character of Don’s youth with new generations around the world. Simply put, Felix the Cat has been Don’s “creative muse” since he was a child, and Don just continued on page 38

Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015 • 37

Don painting in his studio

Don’s compassionate nature doesn’t end with his fellow humans couldn’t help but propel that happy-go-lucky charm onto any and all mediums in hopes that it would spread the same joy to new and old fans alike.

Don’s artwork in every medium can be found in galleries all around the world.

His third painting book, Another Book of Felix the Cat Paintings, was released via a book signing on November 22nd at Macy’s in New York City. Don is a prolific painter, cartoonist, and writer. He paints several paintings a week and dedicates them to his deceased brother and sister.

But drawing, writing, and producing various Felix projects is only a slice of Don’s professional life. Don has also had a fantastic career in the music publishing world, having worked as a head publishing executive at a number of recording studios, including RSO Records, Twentieth Century Fox, and more.

He signed heavy hitters such as Meatloaf, Jim Steinman, and Lisa Lisa, and is credited with writing Jon Bon Jovi’s first charted single. His hard work in this business has allowed him to enjoy a number of ASCAP and BMI awards, and he was named Country Music Publisher of the Year two years in a row. Never one to keep his good fortune to 38 • Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015

himself, Don now passes along his expertise in the music industry to up and coming artist and musicians. Recently he’s worked with a young R&B musician from the Bronx named Qeuyl, showing the young man the “behindthe-scenes” nuances of the music industry.

Don’s love for music doesn’t stop at the recording industry; he also owns and operates the Oriolo Guitar Company — a guitar and ukulele manufacturing company that juxtaposes cartoon-inspired aesthetics with world class luthier quality. Featuring Felix the Cat and other illustrations ripped straight from Don’s sketchbook, the guitars are unabashedly Oriolo creations, and that’s exactly the point. Speaking recently about the instrument designs, Don said, “I wanted to put fun back into playing guitars, so when you look down at it as you play you go, ‘Oh wow! Cool!’ Putting fun back into playing the guitar, that’s what it’s all about.”

Don has used his love of music and the Oriolo Guitar Company as means to spread the joy of music to those who most need it. The Oriolo Guitar Company is a proud sponsor of the Guitars in the Classroom nonprofit organization, a charity organization that promotes using music as an integral

educational tool for all aspects of 21st century learning. The company has donated dozens of instruments to the charity and Don has personally visited the students that have received his guitars.

The Oriolo Guitar Company is also a sponsor of the Pihcintu Foundation. A nonprofit organization based out of Portland, Maine, the Pihcintu Foundation focuses on teaching musical choir to immigrant children from war-torn countries. By giving these children the gift of music, the Foundation helps these kids restart their lives with something positive after witnessing unspeakable atrocities, a cause Don is incredibly passionate about.

Maybe it’s due to his love of Felix the Cat, but Don’s compassionate nature doesn’t end with his fellow humans — he’s also a huge animal lover and has recently started a horse rescue barn in his hometown of Lafayette, NJ. Named after a nickname his father had given him when he was younger, the “Blue Arrow Horse Farm” currently houses a half dozen horses, and additional stables and facilities are under development to make room for more animals in need of a loving place to call home.

George the Horse

The Spirit of Felix Don Teaching Kids

Don with his Dad, lower left Left: Don with his custom designed Felix guitars Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015 • 39

Pray For Paris Pigeon

“We hope to expand this program to hospitals across the and, in fact, soar to international acclaim and recognition. All the country.” while, Ed has parlayed his success into not only random acts of art, More recently Ed became involved with The Felix Organizabut random acts of kindness on many levels.Teetering on the brink tion, which works to enrich the of international superstardom, a lives of children in foster care. la Britto and Rizzi, Ed uses his “This is another organization popularity to bring attention to a where I saw a great cause with myriad of causes, mostly involvgreat people trying to do good ing the needs of children. and was glad they approached Often asked from to donate me to be involved.” One program art works to different charities — Camp Felix — sends fosto help with their fundraising ter children to the country for a efforts and events, he finds it camp experience each summer. “I “a privilege to have my work be went to the camp last summer,” useful in this way and for me continues Ed, “and painted with to be able to be a small part in the kids in the art program. I fell helping these charities.” in love with these great kids and Although he donates to I will be back again this summer. many charities each year for We are launching a campaign all sorts of causes from animal with a t-shirt I designed called shelters to various health issues, ‘Rock On With Felix And Send some form a deep connection.

A Kid To Camp.’ We hope to inOne such charity is Artworks, clude more kids in this program “I was originally approached by in coming years.”

Artworks founder and ExecuRecently, Ed was asked to tive Director Daniela Mendeldonate some work for a charsohn when she first began the ity event to benefit a little girl foundation about 13 years ago named Eva. The Eva Fini Fund and I have been working with at RSRT was started by the parthem ever since on a program ents of Eva who suffers from Rett we started called ‘Surprise! SupSyndrome, the most physically plies’ that delivers custom-built disabling of the autism spectrum, mobile art carts to children predominantly affecting girls. suffering from chronic and life Symptoms usually manifest bethreatening illnesses.” tween 6 and 18 months of age, The carts are placed in when a frightening regression hospitals throughout New Finding a spot in the studio for the Artist of the Year award begins. Children lose acquired lanYork and New Jersey and used guage skills and functional hand use; movement deteriorates as other in pediatric rooms daily where children are able to work Rett symptoms appear. The Rett Syndrome Research Trust is an with the art supplies. An Art Therapist is on hand to enorganization with a single focus – to make Rett Syndrome the first gage the children in diversionary and therapeutic activities.

40 • Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015

The End Is Near

Go Boldly (Live Long and Prosper)

Song For Alicia

“While you do what you do, you can also help others at the same time.” reversible brain disorder. “I am donating a painting of my version of the Eva Fini Fund logo, a star with wings. I hope to get a little more involved and go a little further and raise as much as I can by offering to keep painting these winged stars until they find that cure and Eva can use her hands to paint one herself.”

From the beginning of his career, Ed has been involved with many organizations and his work and positive energy has served these causes well. A goal he set for himself this year is to make efforts to work even more with charities and do more. As part of this effort he started a project — Random Acts of Art. “This will not only provide me with a sort of umbrella for all the charity work I want to do but at its core is just a way to try and do good in general.

I recently read a business book that talked about ‘Doing good while trying to do well’ which basically means that while you do what you do, you can also help others at the same time.”

With Random Acts of Art, Ed leaves small works of his art in public places for people to find and keep for free. “All I ask them to do in return,” he says, “is take this act of kindness and pass it on by doing something kind for someone else and keep it going.”

Fifty Shades of Orange Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015 • 41

With Love, Compassion and Dedication, The Hampton Classic and ASPCA Rescue Last Chance Horses and Dogs

“I’m a wild Mustang who was rescued!”

“I love the Classsic! I jumped and had a great rider!”

ASPCA AMBASSADORS FOR EQUINES - Jill Rappaport, Georgina Bloomberg, Shanette Barth Cohen

ASPCA Rescue Ambassadors Brianne Goutal, Regina Bloomberg, Jennifer Gates

BY JAMIE ELLIN FORBES The ASPCA riders and great equine Champions came together with compassion, responsibility and caring to rescue horses from slaughter houses and kills at the Hampton Classic, which celebrated its 40th year, August 23-30, 2015.

More than 90 corporate sponsors drawn from virtually ever y sector of the business world — fashion, finance, luxury brands, publishing, real estate, such as: Longines, Douglas Elllman, IHeartRadlo, Land Rover, Jaguar, Royalton Farms and Campbell Stables participated citing a few.

With love and dedication 42 • Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015

Jill Rappaport of NBC TV and Georgina Bloomberg as ASPCA Ambassador, supported the ASPCA and the Project Sage Horse Rescue, based in Northport, N.Y., (founded in 2010 by Brittany Rostron and her cousin Steven Katz) all took part in the adoption day festivities and demonstrations.

“They have the same heart and soul as the horses competing here at the Hampton Classic.

And I believe that they know when they’ve been saved and they’ll thank you every day for it,” commented Ms. Rappaport, Grand prix rider Georgina Bloomberg implored the more

than 100 people in attendance, “This is you’re chance to learn some of the issues facing animals and to make a difference. It’s your chance to be a voice.”

The horse lovers come to the classic to be part of what is a truly amazing experience uniting one of the world s oldest domesticated animals with man.

Passion of the soul ignites while watching, the beauty of the horses and riders demonstrating their finely tuned communication between horse and man. This is where art, beauty and athletic line merge into a show of magnificence. The best of the best are showcased and seen in a very exclusive environment. All the while the organizers, Marty

Bauman, and Shannette Barth Cohen, bring the focus to local champions, young, disabled and finally the neglected, forgotten unglamorous animals making the Classic horse rescue and ASPCA efforts of long-lasting importance.

T h e Ham ptons I nte rnational Classic is the largest horse show in America. I originally went to cover the people and fashion anout seven years ago. It was to my great surprise late in life I was caught up in a love affair with these horses, their beauty, grace and intelligence shining through as efforts between human and horse arise to be the best in their field. Noting beats the mastery

Gimme Shelter Rescue of Sag Harbor

More Hats

James Lipton, Actors Studio

Leslie Weiss Marty Bauman George and Ami Kane with Public Relations man John Wegorzewski

Congressman Peter King and grandson Elisa De Staphano, News 12 Long Island

Shanette Barth Cohen

of a horse and rider topping the final hurdle.

I have walked the stalls to speak with the stable owners, seen the grooms people, met the dogs and watched the families grin with pride and saw disappointment. Over this time all animals have been loved.

Brushed with love, dressed ( hats on, manes braided) ridden, and showered with love.

My efforts this year were focused on the horse adoption day efforts as all stood in the hot field, relaying that these horses have this last chance to

be given forever homes. Brought to light was the US Government (according to the speakers) use of helicopters to round up the wild Mustangs. Wild Mustangs are not exempt from hunting. Once corralled by the government theses horses have two tries to be bought at auction, finally a third last purchase oppertunity while being led to the slaughterhouse.

The dedic ation, lov e and compassion of the Hamptons Classic and the ASPCA give these animals a second chance.

Some of these pictures are of these lovely animals.

PHOTOS BY JAMIE ELLIN FORBES

Making the jump

“Just ask me,.I love being at the classic.”

Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015 • 43

National Museum of Catholic Art and Library Celebrates Love, Families Ambassadors, Senators and Congress Members, Roman Catholic clerg y, artists, business leaders and patrons of the arts, gathered under the Patronage of the Ambassador of Italy to the United States and Mrs. Claudio Bisogniero, and under the Patronage of the Order of San Martin’s G e n e r a l Pr i o r, Pr i n c e Lorenzo Maria Raimondo de Medici, from Rome, to celebrate this year ’s springtime gala, “Celebrating Families and Love is our Mission” on the Feast Day US Ambassador Raymond Flynn presents of Our Lady of Fatima. The NMCAL Award to Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia. event was a huge success.

Christina Cox, NMCAL Founder received the Pope Benedict XVI Medal Award from the Pontifical Council of Families from Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia for her work in the arts and service to the Roman Catholic church.

The event was held at the Embassy of Italy in May, hosted by the Board of Trustees of the National Museum of Catholic Art and Library, Honorary Gala Chairs US Ambassador Raymond and Catherine Flynn and Gala Chairs, Christina Cox, NMCAL Founder and NMCAL Chairman, Timothy Barton and President JMJ Development of Dallas, TX, art fundraising to support a new museum near Catholic University of America.

The NMCAL’S Lifetime Achievement and Humanity Awards were presented to Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family, James Nicholson, Former US Secretary of Veterans, Former US Ambassador to the Holy See and Former Republican National Committee Chairman, was presented a Lifetime Achievement and Veterans Award and Thomas Prasil, Former, Senior Vice President of Investments at Paine Weber, UBS was presented a Lifetime Achievement and Art Benefactor Award.

The Environmental, Peace and Justice Award was presented to Daniel Misleh, Executive Director, and Catholic Climate Covenant.

Monsignor Walter Rossi, Rector of The Basilica of The National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception said the heart-warming invocation.

NMCAL Patron of the Arts Award was presented to Johnessco Rodriguez. Long Island artist, Steve Alpert received the National Military Artist Award. Luis Peralta received the Portrait Award for his canonization painting of Archbishop Oscar Romero, and Paul Gatto will receive the International Artist Award for his painting of “The Morsel” and his many religious artworks donated to NMCAL. We had a special unveiling of “Michelangelo’s St Peters’ Pieta”, a life-size marble reproduction sculpture from the Vatican Observatory, which was donated by art collector Thomas and Sandy Prasil.

The National Museum of Catholic Art and Library, Board of Trustees will be building their new museum in “Little Rome” in Northeast Washington, DC. Their museum is under the Patronage and protection of “Our Lady of Fatima.” Christina Cox, Founder and Nicholas Koutsomitis NMCAL architect are planning the new and exciting art galleries. Timothy Barton, NMCAL Chairman, is navigating the building, development and financing of the museum property. The NMCAL also plans an outdoor sculpture garden, visitors center and Mary’s Rosary walk.

44 • Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015

Christina Cox, NMCAL Founder, James Crowley Esq ( Middle), Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia

NMCAL Board Members JimPinkelman & Timothy Barton, NMCAL Chairman

Brother Joseph Britt, Luis Peralta Del Valle, Amanda Stephenson, Pauline Stephenson, Oscar Del Valle, Lilliam Del Valle

Honoree Ambassador Jim Nicholson, Suzanne Nicholson and Tim Flangan

VIP Unveiling of the St. Peter’s Pieta by Michelangelo Donated by Thomas and Sandy Prasil Monsignor Walter Rossi

Knights of San Martino, left: Lorenzo Ferrara, David Newren, Patrizia Puzzovio, Prince Lorenzo de Medici Frank Esposito and Milton Jackson of the Smithsonian, artist Steve Alpert.

Johan Schotte , Honoree Daniel Misleh, Lonnie Ellis

The museum will be located Catholic Family” and the reign and near the Catholic University of work of Pope Francis.

PHOTOS BY JAMIE ELLIN FORBES America and the Basilica of the NMCAL website: www.nmcal.org National Shrine of Immaculate Conception. Exciting exhibits like “Catholics in Washington, DC” which will display photos and artifacts from the historical sacred sites, Catholic Men of Faith, Catholic Women of Faith, President John F. Kennedy, Catholics on Capitol Hill and Papal visits to Washington, DC. Art galleries include “New Saints” canonized in Peter Miller, Johan Schotte , Johnessco Rodriguez, the last century, a gallery on “The Ambassador Nicholson, David Newren, Christina Cox

Dorothy Alpert, Steve Alpert and Susan Dyer

Monsignor Walter Rossi, Archbishop Paglia, Thomas Prasil Fine Art Magazine • Fall 2015 • 45

Author Gwen Reasoner and artist Loretta Shadow Owens at Old Post Office Museum book signing and exhibition of original art from Where Did the Day Go?

GWENDOLYN REASONER

On A Mission From God

“The earth was formless and void...and God said, Let there be light.”

(Genesis 1:2–3)

By Victor Forbes “With the pen of a ready writer” (Psalm 45:1) Dr. Gwendolyn Reasoner, Ph.D., sat down at her desk after a startling dream awoke her in the midnight hour. She began to transcribe the words inscribed on her heart by none other than the Creator of the Universe, God Himself. In this night vision that was much too intense and detailed to be a mere dream, she was given a mission clearly authorizing her to be the messenger to tell the world about the goodness of God and the infinite love and mercy of Jesus Christ. This was to be done in the form of a book to be composed primarily for the young but suitable for all. It was to be hip and modern — yet eternal — in its message. It was to be the story of Creation: all seven days compressed into 40 pages of delightful prose, enthralling illustrations and the simplest of prayers. Where Did the Day Go? is the stunning result.

Guided by The Spirit, Gwen saw how something — the Universe — was created from nothing. “An impossibility for all but not for the Almighty,” she said in a recent interview from her Southwest Louisiana gallery and headquarters.

“In 2010, when I had that dream, I had the outline and story line done in 30 minutes. I saw the basic progression of the book, and the illustrations as well.

I could clearly see all of the paintings — they were all about the Creation.”

A well-respected author in both scholarly and art literary circles, 46 • Fine Art Magazine • Autumn 2015

Gwen had never written a children’s book and knew she needed to come up with the perfect artist for this anointed project. Gwen cleared her business calendar and set aside time to refine the text. She was committed to however long it would take to complete the story.

Her methodology was to pray to God for that first day’s material, and that’s all that would come to her. “I told the Lord,” she recounted, “I’ll meet you tomorrow,” and by the end of seven days she had the entire story. “The message came directly from God to me. It was incredible. I couldn’t go past that one day.

I would have to shut it down and the next day I came back to work and He gave me just what was needed. I had it all. The book was finished.” Even more incredulous, if such a thing is possible, was the way the paintings came into the picture.

Somehow, in considering what artist to use, Gwen thought back to her early art gallery days, owner then and now of Re Vann Galleries, a thriving business on New York Avenue and The Boardwalk in Atlantic City, NJ. At the time it was a real-life boomtown of Monopoly board fame with casino gambling, major concert halls and the Miss America Pageant. It was the East Coast’s version of Las Vegas. “ The galler y business is awesome. It’s been a great ride for me. I love it and this is my 41st year selling art. On a good day in Atlantic we would have 2,000 or 3,000 people in our gallery We had long hours as the people in Atlantic City weren’t that much into sleep.”

One of those people was Loretta Shadow Owens, of Ruston,

Louisiana, who stopped in at the gallery with her husband while in town for the Miss America Pageant in 1990. Miss Louisiana was a friend of theirs so they came up for a week to see the pageant during which time they came into the gallery. “ Gwen recalled meeting Loretta in her gallery all those years ago and liking the small photos of her art. I showed her several Erté sculptures and we became friends. That they were from Louisiana and I was there was just gravy. She came back the next year and I sold her several more Erté bronzes and Loretta showed me photos of a few of her small works of art saying, ‘My life started at 40 because that’s when I started painting. It is a spiritual experience for me” A stalwart record-keeper, Gwen was able to track down the artist some three decades later and describe what she was looking for to illuminate her words. “During all that time, I only had the photos,” said Gwen. “I never saw any of her art in person. When I called her, she told me she had been doing all these paintings but putting them in her stock room so nobody could see them. She didn’t know why she was hiding them or painting them, but after I described the story to her and she described the paintings to me, it all made sense. It wasn’t the finished book, but it was a great start. I knew it was from God,” continued Gwen, “She already had those originals done, and we only needed a few more paintings. She had to paint God’s hand holding a paint brush, which I asked her to do as I saw that in my dream — it was all so vivid — and that was one of the few things she had to add. She already had a vision, and she didn’t know why.” Gwen went on to tell her it was all about The Creation and how “God wants me to be the messenger for this project.” Loretta responded instantly: “I’m in. I have 40 paintings done in my stock room, where no one has ever seen them. I knew I had done these for some reason, but never showed them, never talked about them.

Now I understand how Jesus led me to do them. I would love to do this project because it is led by the Holy Spirit.” Adds Gwen, “I knew then that God had prepared the road for us, prepared the journey. He doesn’t always call the equipped, but equips the called.

He chose us and put us together.”

But even with her great education, her many scholarly papers and the hard cover books she produced as a gallery owner on the famous artists she represented (among them Erté and Peter Max), Gwen still had trepidations. “First of all, I told the Lord, ‘Lord, I’m like Moses, I can’t do this.’ I said again, ‘Not me, Lord. I’m a gallery owner, I’m a businesswoman.’’’ But her love of the Lord was the deciding factor and she told Him, “The only way I can do this work is if you open the doors. I’ll walk through them, if you open the doors.” Finding Loretta Shadow Owens and her secret stash of Book of Genesis themed paintings was such a door. These paintings surround and bestride the text in glorious color, a flash of Fauvism here, classic but totally original naiveté there. Her renderings of solar systems, the Garden of Eden, menageries of brilliantly colored birds and mammals, even God asleep in his heavenly hammock, surrounded by angels, birds, sun, moon and sky with the words “And I blessed the Seventh Day and made it holy” create what can only be described as perfection. As Gwen says, “If it is, it is because it was created by the Master.” When she handed her final manuscript off to be edited, the proofreader came back and said “I only see two commas that may be changed, and that is entirely up to you.’ How,” Gwen asks, “do you edit God?” As the book in her spirit began to manifest into ink on paper, Gwen and Loretta made a commitment to have it done professionally, with a team of graphic designers and a top notch printer. “To really have a book that would make God proud, we worked on it for three years and flew up to Canada to have it printed. We were on press every day, looked at every page, and watched the process from start to end. We had a conversation with the staff before starting and I

Author Gwen Reasoner at Historic City Hall Opening Reception, Nov 6; with her National Award Winning Book, Where Did the Day Go?

told them the history of how this book came about. They were so attentive, and promised to do everything to make this as perfect as a human being, a staff or team of great printers could. We went in and just knew that God had His hand on the printing process and put it all together.

One of the first reviews came in from Ann Powell, of ARP Editing, Dallas Texas who w rote, “W here Did the Day Go? is a gorgeously illustrated ‘hip kids’ version of the Genesis account of God creating our wor ld, one day at a time, and the ensuing temptation and fall of man. Endearingly quirky but Loretta Shadow Owens recognizable flora and fauna romp in glowing Technicolor across pages of God’s running commentary on His daily handiwork, couched in kid-friendly jargon in a style that is relevant but not irreverent. This is a user-friendly, largeloving God who continually asks the reader for responses…Some are provided, in the form of short, spontaneous, single-sentence prayers, including a final one accepting God’s offer of rescue from the effects of the fall…”

On the heels of that accolade, Where Did the Day Go? was awarded the 2015 National Illumination Book Award, Silver Medal for the Best Keepsake/Gift/Specialty Book by the Jenkins Group.

With the motto “Shining a Light on Exemplary Christian Books,” the Illumination Book Awards are designed to honor the year’s best new titles written and published with a Christian world-view. In addition, Where Did The Day Go? was named the Gold Winner in the Religious Non-Fiction category of the 2015 National Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Catherine Goulet, Awards Chair at the National Awards Reception held on May 27th at the Harvard Club of New York City presented the Gold Metal to Gwen who attended the prestigious gala awards reception held at the landmark location in NYC during Book Expo America. Reasoner was personally autographing the book at the Book Expo America in NY on Friday, May 29th at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. “The book signing was overwhelming. Book buyers, librarians, media and industry professionals were lined up by the hundreds to obtain a signed copy.

When people see those award seals on the book, they grab them.”

Gwen returned home and immediately the book started selling Fine Art Magazine • Autumn 2015 • 47

Author and Artist at Historic City Hall Arts & Cultural Center Exhibition Lake Charles, Louisiana

itself. “As holiday time came around, we thought we’d have a prepreview. We had about 200 people come in and fellowship with us and right then a tornado came through the city of Ruston and took out the electricity. All we had were some candles on hand and power from a small generator. Despite 80 mph winds and pouring rain, we sold the book by candlelight. We knew God had His hand on the project without much advertising or promotion. God has given us this tool to promote His Word.” At another event, the Southwest Louisiana Family Book Festival at the Central School for the Arts in Lake Charles, there were 500 people in attendance and Gwen presented the Illumination Award she received to Mayor Randy Roach, the City of Lake Charles and State of Louisiana so that they could display it at City Hall for all the people to enjoy. “It was a real family affair for the people with about 30 or 40 local artists & writers.

We had paintings from the book on exhibit along with the book.”

Gwen is at the point where some would be thinking about retirement. “I’m planning to slow down,” she says, “But never retire.

I will always continue with my love of music and art. In the world of business you have to keep reinventing yourself and you have to be on the cutting edge of today’s technology and the art investment trends, including the primary and secondary art markets.” Gwen brokers art if her clients want to trade up and also handle estates filled with porcelains and paintings as a certified appraiser. She also wants to do more missions work, and keep Where Did The Day Go? going strong as sales proceeds are benefiting hungry children through a charity that puts actions to work called Feed the Children. Where Did The Day Go? is also designed to feed hungry children’s minds and bodies so they will have hope for the future. The book teaches all children to do the right thing and help them realize how God sent His son to save each and every one of us, young or old. “This isn’t just another story,” Gwen concludes. “It’s the real story from Creation to Adam and Eve’s banishment from the Garden of Eden and illustrates an awesome canvas of God’s love for his children.

Everybody tells me the same thing: ‘When I hear you speak this, I get cold chills down my arm. I want a book.’ They come back and buy several more. They cry for joy ‘I don’t really understand the scripture like I’d like to.’ They tell me that Where Did The Day Go? is so user friendly that they ‘get it’ now. One reader in Florida told me she reads it every day when she gets up to drink her coffee.

“I am so grateful to make a difference. Glory be to God, I give all the credit and thanks for empowering me to write and share His eternal message.” The message that Gwen and Loretta convey asks 48 • Fine Art Magazine • Autumn 2015

Southwest Louisiana Book Festival

“Are you believing God for something that seems impossible?” The answer is simply “We serve a great and mighty God and He can create something out of nothing! He can make a way when there seems to be no way. Before God spoke the world into existence, it was formless and void. If God can make the world out of nothing, He can take the empty places in your life and create something beautiful, too. He can speak light into your darkest hour. He can take your formless dreams and give them shape. He can resurrect your dormant gifts and talents! He can make your crooked places straight! Trust Him in all things because He can make something out of nothing!”

An exhibition of original artwork from the book is currently on view at the Lake Charles, LA Historic City Hall Arts & Cultural Center through Dec. 31, 2015. The book is published by In His Shadow Press and costs $ 20.00. For more information call (800) 821-4278 to order or email: InHisShadowPress@aol.com

Gwen presents 2015 National Illumination Book Award to Mayor Randy Roach - Lake Charles; pictured: Lena Roach, Mayor Roach, and Gwen

Peter Max and Gwen Reasoner at Re Vann Galleries Mega Max show, 1990

Re Vann Galleries – A Lifetime in The Art Business

Gwen with Erté, Master of Art Deco, at Re Vann Galleries Exhibtion and Gala attended by over 5,500

“I started in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and later partnered with my brother Ken in Lafayette, where there was a larger population and more of an opportunity for growth. He had a 16,000 sq. ft. gallery on Jefferson Street. We were located there until the mid-80s when Reese Palley, who had a gallery on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey called me. He was a renown gallery owner who had been in Atlantic City from the ’60s specializing in the porcelain sculpture of Edward Marshall Boehm.” Gwen and her brother sold a good amount of the Boehm Royal line and as Palley was going to be closing, “He called and asked if I wanted to buy the rest of his inventory, his client list and to fill a void in Atlantic City as there were not many galleries there at that time. I took the opportunity over the phone and said, ‘Yes.’” Initially opening a small gift shop and a gallery on the Boardwalk, Gwen left her home, planning a summer “test drive,” but by the end of the season, Re Vann Galleries had so many clients she decided not to leave. “We were at the epicenter of the art action and hosted memorable shows that were more like week-long celebrational galas than mere art exhibitions.” Two unforgettable events were for the legendary master of Art Deco Erté and America’s Artist, Peter Max. It took the Trump Organization in tandem with Re Vann Galleries to bring Erté in, working tirelessly with his publishers and agents in Paris to actually get him to come to Atlantic City and preside over this sensational exhibition. “Over a year of planning went into it,” recalls Gwen. “It started with an afternoon opening reception art exhibition. The gallery had nothing but Erté works: bronzes, original paintings, jewelry, serigraphs, objets d’art. It was filled to capacity. Millions of dollars were pledged in commitment to get such an important artist but that’s how it was back then. We invited people from every state in America and 20 foreign countries to the evening reception at the Trump Crystal Ballroom at the Trump Castle Casino Hotel. There were 5,500 people in attendance for the night, all black tie, and the star of “Stardust” show on Broadway was brought in (for which Erté designed the sets and costumes) with a large orchestra. We had food for a Royal wedding and ice sculptures which spelled out ERTÉ. The ballroom was unbelievable, it was amazing and the exhibition was sold out. The Art Exhibition benefited Erté, the Town and the Boy and Girl Scouts of Atlantic City.” A hard cover book was published for this show and the same for the “Mega Max” Art Exhibition by Re Vann Galleries and Harrah’s Casino October, 1990 with Peter Max meeting and greeting his fans and collectors.

“We had gone so high profile with Erté,” she noted, “We had to go for an even greater occasion the following year if that was indeed possible. People loved the Erté show and wanted us do something again so millions of dollars of Peter Max original art, serigraphs and bronzes were sold with 1,240 people at the Opening Reception at the Gallery and 3,400 in attendance at a Black Tie gala at Harrah’s Ballroom.”

Re Vann Galleries received Official Citations of commendation and praise by the citizenry of the 2nd NJ Legislative District, presented

by Dolores G. Cooper Member of the General Assembly. The show sold out and a substantial donation was made to the Mammal Stranding Center of NJ. The next major event continued in Re Vann’s porcelain tradition with a Vatican Museum Dedication in 1992 in which Gwen was selected to attend with Mrs. Helen Boehm and a group of 80 for the dedication of the Boehm Museum and for the presentation of the Dove of Peace to Pope John Paul II. After many successful years in Atlantic City, Gwen went back home to Southwest Louisiana (“Where my roots are”) to spend more time with her family and help take care of her parents. “I wanted to spend some time with them before time ran out.” Ever the business woman, she maintained all of her clients and sells more internationally than nationally, servicing the world over.

Fine Art Magazine • 49

Fisher Island

Isack Kousnsky Studio

The mixture of painting and photography that I employ has led me to experiment further with photography as a medium. I have developed a technique that combines photography with painting through the collaging of digital negatives. In turning to natural imagery, I have expanded the terms of my art. My current photographs convey a hyper stylized vision of nature and cityscapes, blurring the lines of reality. At the same time I employ an array of abstract compositional strategies that play with the viewer’s perception of pictorial space. In the looming, compositions of my oceanscapes, the viewers of my work are presented with the very image of infinity. In my flower pictures, we are left to wander through all-over compositions of blossoms and branches. My recent collage work has combined the two, creating surreal images that invoke the quality of a serene dreamlike state. There is also a bit of whimsy in my work. Unexpected colors might disrupt an otherwise naturalistic landscape or natural forms might cluster into suggestive shapes, stimulating the viewer’s imagination. The physical work itself consists of archival metallic prints mounted and laminated on UV protected ¼” of acrylic with an aluminum brace in the back.

561 Broadway 4B, New York, NY 10012 • Studio (212) 226-3798 • Cell (917) 405-4726 www.isack-art.com • isack@isack-art.com

Carnival Fantasy, Kodak Endura Premier Metallic Photo Paper, Acrylic face mount with aluminum backing, 1/4” plexi, metallic print, .020 aluminum back with metal frame, 20 x 30 inches

Raphael Avigdor

At the age of 18, when Raphael Avigdor traveled to Europe with Fashion photographer Ric Somekh he realized his strong passion for photography. At 19 already on his own, he traveled to the AMAZONS to shoot the indigenous tribes of Northern Peru, Colombia and Brazil. Ever since then, Raphael has been traveling the world shooting different cultures, and portraits, always looking to capture a story in his work. His most recent trips include 6 weeks trekking in Nepal, arriving to Base Camp at Mt. Everest, progressing to Tibet, and then the Trans-Siberian Railroad to Beijing China. Other recent trips include Egypt, Kiev, Kyrgyzstan, and other visits to China, six weeks in Tulum, Mexico and the Jungles of Belize, and scaled Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. Raphael is also a documentary film maker having produced over six full feature films. He sculpts in stone, and is a Samba Drummer. He speaks six languages fluently, and resides in Southampton, New York. His work has been exhibited at the Lawrence Gallery in East Hampton, N.Y., private exhibitions, and now at the Spectrum Miami art show. “I am trying to use photography to share the story of humanity. My desire is to bring different cultures on the planet closer to each other. Tragedy, strife, joy, comedy, hunger, luxury, wastefulness, or abundance, can all be read in the faces of my subjects. I have a strong aesthetic for beauty, so nature and graphical balance also make their way into my photographs.” www.raphaelavigdor.com • raphael@raphaelavigdor.com • 917 991 1077 50 • Fine Art Magazine • Winter 2015

Daria Deshuk, Buddha Pink Red, C-Print on metallic paper plexi mounted, 40”x 60”

Daria Deshuk Daria Deshuk exhibits regularly in both NYC and the Hamptons and participates in many Benefits. She received her BFA in Painting in 1978 at Parsons School of Design and soon found herself part of the exciting art scene in the early 80s, living in the East Village. Receiving a MFA in Painting from Hunter College, she was a member of P.S.122 Artist Space, working and exhibiting for 10 years. Daria met the artist Larry Rivers and in 1985 had son Sam Deshuk Rivers.

Group and solo exhibitions include: Henry Geldzahler’s Curator Show at Tower Gallery Southampton, (1982); Artist in Residence: Alos De Chavon, Dominican Republic, (1986); New Narrative, Curator, Helen Harrison, Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton (1989); Emerging Art, Curator, Sam Hunter, New Jersey State Museum (1990); Art in General, NYC Artist Tour, Tour Leader Carol Rosenberg (2001); New York and Russian Artist Detente, Curator Regina Khidekel, Dumbo, Brooklyn NYC, (2001). ART AND THE GARDEN Post War and Contemporary Paintings of the Garden, Group Exhibition Curated by Ronnie Cohen. Spanierman Gallery, East Hampton NY. ArtHamptons 2010 represented by Mark Borghi Fine Art Bridgehampton FLASHBACKS Street Scenes; The Larry Rivers Years 24 original paintings solo exhibition New World Stages 343 West 49th Street New York City curated by Bernard Stolt Hanging Art.org; Hampton’s Artists Then and Now, group show, Gerald Peters Gallery New York City, curated by Peter Marcelle and Gwynne Rivers.

Art Hamptons Palm Springs 2011 represented

by Gallery Sam of Berkeley, CA. Deshuk is in the permanent collection of Guild Hall Museum East Hampton 2014, Donated by Richard Demato.

Email: Dariadeshuk@gmail.com Website: dariadeshuk.com PO Box 2155 Studio 141 Maple Lane Bridghampton NY 11932 631 903 7785

Steve Zaluski – Sculpting for Peace and Love “I so love your themes. Your art makes me feel better. – Melinda Pahl Steven Zaluski has spent his entire tenure on earth to date living the Creative Life. His musical and artful improvisations in sound and sculpture — through lean and boom days — have fueled his journey.

With a child-like naivete he builds something smooth and sweet with his toys: air compressor, welding torch, sharp scissors — whatever. Then he packs them up in the over-sized van and takes them around the Northern Hemisphere to art fairs and clients from the Eastern-most tip of Long Island, to the West Coast and now north to Toronto. Zaluski has built upon a series of motifs that exude positiveness. He can work in reality as evinced by a Greyhound he sculpted for The Sweetest Way Home exhibition at CFM in Chelsea, or the elaborate Stella-esque musical staff wall-hanging that made its way to the Lake Placid Celebration of the Arts or in the orbicular, most evident in his larger than life Humanshpere, in which he parades within it’s welded steel frame around diverse locales making melody on his harmonica, singing along and occassionally finding a body-painted model to stroll along with him in his Sphere of Hope and Love.

So that is Zaluski — tireless proponent of joie-d’vivre, fabricated or not. Choice is up to the viewer. With ardent collectors and admirers around the world, Zaluski continues on, packing up the van and heading south with a new collection of his singular output. He is off to Miami for another art fair adventure, Spectrum, to make new friends and display his latest creations.

When you look at what he is doing 100% by himself, one piece at a time and compare it to the highly polished Koons pieces coming out of Tallix, it makes you wonder what the art world is really all about. – VB FORBES zaluskisculpturestudios.com

BRONZE SEED, installed at Isis Pharmaceuticals, Carlsbad, California

The rain stopped just in time for the installation of Steve Zaluski’s first outdoor public commission in Canada .... SILVER LEAF, 7’x 4.5’x 2’ welded and powder coated aluminum...at the Meadowvale Hilton and Chop Restaurant... western suburb of Toronto where all the corporate headquarters are – Mississauga, Ontario...thanks to Gallery 133 of Toronto.

Finished metal work at Studio Z, Ronkonkoma

RHYTHM & BLUES, 50” x 16” x 16”, painted welded aluminum, heading to Miami for Art Week

Steven Zaluski with John Thoreson, Director of The Barbara Sinatra Childrens Center in Rancho Mirage, CA at the installation of THREE DANCERS Fine Art Magazine • Winter 2015/2016 • 51

LAURENCE GARTEL

“Color Makes The World A Much More Beautiful Place” Laurence Gartel has been pioneering Digital Art for nearly 40 years. His career started out working side-by-side with video guru Nam June Paik at Media Study/ Buffalo in 1976. He started tweaking knobs and buttons and working on analog systems in order to generate images on a screen. Gartel saw this as a way to create new art that one day would replace traditional paintings on the wall. Was he ever right! A true forecaster of the future.

Gartel taught Andy Warhol how to use the Amiga computer in order to create the album cover for Debbie Harry (Blondie) in 1985. That same year Gartel delivered the keynote address to the First Pan Pacific Computer Conference in Melbourne, Australia. He landed on the front page of “The Australian” newspaper proclaiming “Painting was Dead.” Not exactly sure if it is, but Art and Culture have surely moved on to embrace Digital Technology and its methods of usage have permeated society.

Gartel’s work is unique to his own personal form of expression. It is autobiographical in nature and thus tells a story of his trips and travels, and his personal learning curve. Gartel was recently the Visionary behind the 3D Print Expo and Conference. He sees 3D Printing as the next wave. “Manufacturing will see a major change in the next 5-10 years,” he claims. “It is a revolution. Everything from automotive parts, to medical instruments, human body parts, construction, home furnishings, and of course fine art will all be available to the general consumer,” he says.

52 • Fine Art Magazine •

“I met a wizard at the conference,” continues the artist. “The guy was rolling around in a wheel chair with a steampunk hat and glasses with virtual reality goggles turned backwards. In addition, he was carrying a long wand that was a 360 degree video camera capturing literally everything!”

Gartel has been fortunate enough to celebrate success in his own time. His cover of FORBES Magazine in 1989 was the first Digital Art ever commissioned followed by his ABSOLUT GARTEL ad for Absolut Vodka which was released in 1991. It was the longest running ad in the history of the campaign appearing on several million magazine pages.

That same year Gartel did replace

painting at the Joan Whitney Payson Gallery in Portland, Maine. Director Judith Sobol launched an exhibition of Gartel’s work titled Nuvo Japonica right after the Gallery sold van Gogh’s Irises at Sotheby’s auction. Sobol felt that Mr. Gartel’s work was a fresh new beginning. It was quite controversial at the time to remove Impressionism for Digital Art. It drew a great amount of attention and media to which the skeptics were all completely taken by surprise! Like photography, which was looked at as a mechanical process 175 years ago, one could see how Computer Art might form some resistance. Such was the case when Gartel was the spokesperson for the Computer and Electronic Publishing Show (CEPS) in Chicago in 1990. He was

utilizing the very latest releases of hardware and software on the showroom floor. Gartel was interviewed by NBC Nightly News, watched by any millions of viewers. They had a counterpoint critic from the NYU Grey Gallery who said, “Computer Art had no substance and was likely to go nowhere.” (He is eating his words now. They experts don’t always know better!!)

With a 14-page resume in 10 pt type, the last years have been incredibly busy for the artist. What comes with it has been an enormous amount of notoriety. “After 40 years, it is very humbling that people are responding to the work,” smiles Gartel. “The goal is to always have fun along the way, meeting new people who have fresh new perspectives that keep the game interesting,” he says.

“Once there is nothing more to prove, the ride becomes much smoother.”

Visit the Artist's website: www.gartelart.com

Gartel, who created the official poster for the award, walks the red carpet at the 2015 Grammys in Hollywood.

FACEBOOK EXCHANGE GARTEL: Modigliani just sold for $170 million at auction. I hope you make sure your family members cash in on the acquisitions of my work you have purchased. “Thank yourselves!”

Victor Forbes Was he ever in an Apple ad?

GARTEL: Victor, you bring up a very valid point!!-))*

Two Bronx-born legends: Gartel and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Dion Fine Art Magazine • 53

Arica Hilton, Show Director Eric Smith Atrexpo veteran Yuroz hosted a special healing ceremony at Artexpo, spent the day in quiet memoriam to uphold his lifelong mission to celebrate romance, edify human emotions, promote peace, and advocate tolerance. Through the enchantment of Yuroz’ unique style, he encourages healing and growth while liberating love and compassion. Yuroz speaks through the medium of art to illustrate our human potential to embody the calm and eternal, honoring the sacrifices of our ancestors and shunning future tragedy. As the old Armenian proverb teaches, “Tears have meaning but only he who sheds them understands,” Healing requires cleansing and acknowledgement. Pope Francis urged the international community earlier this month to recognize the atrocities as “the first genocide of the 20th century.” Yuroz issued an appeal for worldwide support for this necessary step to healing. This appeal is non-violent, non-vengeful but a necessity for the nation and their nationals to be able to move on to celebrate creativity and life. Yuroz concluded with a final appeal to end genocide and abolish mass atrocities worldwide as “no one should be persecuted for their religion, cult or creed, not now, not 100 years ago and certainly not in the future.”

Krishna & Leonardo of Faustini Gallery

ARTEXPO NEW YORK 2015

Matthew Forbes with his dad, Richard Forbes

Asli Kutluay, Nihal Kececi, Arica Hilton,

Brett Loving

Claudia Hecht (in red, center) with family and friends 54 • Fine Art Magazine

Art Southampton 2015 Breaks Records

Hamilton Aguiar

Bansky

Record attendance and sales and a stunning new location at Nova’s Ark Project marked the fourth and largest-yet edition of ArtSouthampton. This leading international contemporary and modern art fair for acquiring investment-quality 20th and 21st century works of art, presented by Art-Miami, drew a record 21,000 collectors, art enthusiasts, curators and art lovers to the world-renowned pastoral site. Attendees resoundingly noted the distinguished array of contemporary artworks and installations, paintings, photographs, prints, drawings, design, video art, and indoor and outdoor sculptures showcased by more than 80 international galleries at the fair.

“We were extremely pleased with the enthusiasm and excitement that lead up to and continued throughout this year’s fair,” said Art Southampton Director Nick Korniloff. “From the location to the galleries represented to the breadth and depth of the contemporary works available, the feedback we received was resoundingly positive.

We are excited to return to the East End next year with even more cutting-edge works on offer.”

Some of the more noteworthy sales included: Hollis Taggart Galleries reported multiple sales throughout the fair, including two pieces almost as soon as the doors opened on VIP Preview night: Jack Tworkov’s House of the Sun Variation in the $200,000 range, and a Norman Bluhm, also in the six figures. Cynthia Corbett Gallery, representing works by Andy Burgess, Deborah Azzopardi and David Hayes, among others, noted “numerous six-figure sales,” as well as several Azzopardi pieces in the $10,000-$15,000 range, Klari Reis’ Webbing for $19,000, and several Charles Moxon works in the $9,000-$12,000 range.

Emerging artists featured Rubem Robierb, Julian Lennon (son of the late John Lennon), Bernie Taupin, and Banksy buddy “Mr. Brainwash.”

Many more also were in high demand, as were works by local artists Eric Fischl, Jeff Muhs, Eric Dever, and Bonnie Englebardt Lautenberg, among others.

Elga Wimmer, Liz Derringer, Peter Marcelle

Candy Ceravolo PHOTOS BY JAMIE ELLIN FORBES © SunStorm Arts Publishing Co., Inc.

Charles Wildbank, Beth McNeill Fine Art Magazine • 55

Bardot, Jerome Lucani, Digital C-Print on Wood, Resin, 65 x 55” Edition of 5, 2 A.P. The McLoughlin Gallery

‘The Two Souls’, Yann Houri (France 1990) acrylic on canvas, 79" x 79" 3" His work captures the chaotic elements of human passion; balancing chaos with tranquility through his subtle mastery of drawing. Perceptions of Yann Houri’s art are initially explained as a brilliant firework, as a chromatic explosion that is destabilizing yet intriguing. As this first impression passes, his color palette allows space for an emotional interpretation: spurts of sensation, ideas born from luminaries and intellectuals, examples of pure bliss. ZK Gallery

Art Silicon Valley/San Francisco Art Silicon Valley/San Francisco is Art Miami’s International Contemporary and Modern Art Fair on the West Coast, centrally located between Silicon Valley and San Francisco. The second edition, at the San Mateo Event Center, showcases important artworks of the 20th and 21st centuries in collaboration with some of the world’s most respected galleries and art institutions. In keeping with Art Miami’s high standards of quality, the Fair offers a sophisticated, curated setting that showcases blue-chip Post-War and Modern works as well art by top Contemporary, Emerging and New Media artists. he VIP Preview, sponsored by Ruinart Champagne, benefitted ScholarMatch. The fair is known for innovative cultural programming including on-site installation projects, interactive art, artist talks and fair tours for all audiences and taste levels.

Escapeland 2, Miguel Gelabert (Blanes, Spain 1979) oil on canvas, 58.5” x 55”, 2008, Franklin Bowles Galleries

Visit Art Silicon Valley website here 56 • Fine Art Magazine

FTH, Chris Trueman (US 7/3/78) Adah Rose Gallery

The best thing to hold onto in life is each other Audrey Hepburn - Alejandro Vigilante (Argentinia 1964 - ) Acrylic paint + Transfer on Wood 63” x 48” Amstel Gallery Fine Art Magazine • 57

GOING OUT IN STYLE

W

ArtHamptons Founder & Director Rick Friedman, Cindy Lou Wakefield

Presenting $10,000 check to Samuel Waxman’s Cancer Research Foundation at ArtHamptons

hen Rick Friedman, Founder and Director, launched ArtHamptons in 2008, little did he know that his fledgling fair would cause a cultural revolution in the tony world of Long Island’s East End. But it did. As ArtHamptons concluded its 8th edition over the 4th of July weekend — reporting massive attendance and record sales — news broke marking the transfer of ownership of the fair from Hamptons Expo Group to Urban Expositions, a leading event organizer that recently partnered with UK-based Clarion Events, and now manages 40 shows in the U.S. Whether a behemoth international organization can show the love and understanding that Rick Friedman and Cindy Lou Wakefield have for the Hamptons remains to be seen but now that they are liberated from the endless travel and work load of their ArtAspen, Palm Springs Fine Art Fair and Houston Fine Art Fair, we can only wonder what the future holds in store for this dynamic duo. For now, Friedman will remain involved in a consulting capacity with Clarion.

ArtHamptons paved the way for revitalizing the Hamptons art scene and as the first, holds a special place among those of us who care about such things. Rick and Cindy Lou always made you feel right at home in their massive museum-like setting and he was always there to take care of his exhibitors, his attendees, his workers and the working press. We are going to miss the warmth and ambiance of ArtHamptons and Rick’s willingness to pick up the phone, set up times for interviews and enthusiastically and energetically brag about the Hamptons — his hometown — to all within ear shot.

With that in mind, it is fitting that the Hamptons’ longest running fair demonstrated its strength as a leading modern and contemporary venue, drawing crowds of roughly 12,000 attendees with a record 5,000 visiting on July 4th alone, further establishing the fair as the cultural highlight of the most popular summer weekend in the Hamptons. ArtHamptons 2015 closed on a high note with the majority of exhibitors reporting robust sales, and a final sunny day illuminating the luxurious fair location behind the hedges on private estate grounds amongst some of the most exclusive real estate the East End has to offer.

Friedman, shared his sentiments about the success of this year’s fair. “I am honored that so many national and international visitors and local Hamptonites carved out a portion of their time to make us their cultural highlight.” Ultimately, ArtHamptons demonstrated sustained interest and high activity for art collectors. Nearly 75% of the 67 international exhibitors reported strong sales activity, citing acquisitions by prominent collectors. Exhibitors were also impressed by sightings of influential institutional representatives, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, and Guild Hall, as well as the 55th Governor of New York, David Paterson.

Friedman, who has served as founder and director of the four art fairs, reflected on the conclusion of his long-standing and influential art fair venture noting, “It has been with great pride and pleasure that we’ve returned to all of the amazing places we have operated in, year after year, to deliver the highest caliber fine art experience possible. Each fair aims to celebrate the unique cultural identity of its city, while drawing galleries from around the world to engage some of the most vital art collecting demographics in the country.”

CEO of Urban Expositions Doug Miller, elaborated on the company’s expansion into the art fair market, “The Hamptons Expo Group fairs are … important to galleries and the art community, and we believe we can leverage our activity across the fairs to deliver dynamic and high-quality events.” Urban Expositions will manage and produce all fairs from this point forward with the next being the Palm Springs Fine Art Fair, February 11-14, 2016.

— VICTOR FORBES 58 • Fine Art Magazine

PHOTO BY JAMIE ELLIN FORBES

PHOTO BY JAMIE ELLIN FORBES

PHOTO BY JAMIE ELLIN FORBES

Rick Friedman Says Goodbye to ArtHamptons

Art Miami – The Cornerstone Art Miami remains committed to showcasing the most important artworks from the 20th and 21st centuries in collaboration with a highly vetted selection of international galleries, and will continue to preserve its well-known reputation as Miami’s premier anchor fair in 2015.

Art Miami’s 2015 line-up will feature 120 galleries from 19 different countries, presenting important modern masters and blue chip contemporary artists, as well as the most sought after living artists.

Art Miami is the leading international contemporary and modern art fair that takes place each December during art week at the midtown Miami complex in the renowned Wynwood Arts District. It is one of the most important annual contemporary art events in the United States, attracting more than 82,000 collectors.

Robert Rauschenberg, Untitled, 1982 Acrylic, solvent transfer and collage on canvas board with objects 37 x 36½ inches. Signed and dated ‘Rauschenberg 82’ lower right James Goodman Gallery, New York

Monir Shahroudy Farmanfarmaian, First Family - Hexagon, 2010, Mirror and plaster on acrylic and wood, 41 x 47 x 5 inches, Haines Gallery, San Francisco

Jacob Hashimoto (Greeley, Colorado 1973) Mathematical Clouds, Histories, Past and Future, 2014, Paper, wood, acrylic and Dacron 54 x 47 inches, Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki Fine Art Magazine • 59

Cascade

Marcelo Holzinger - Distinguished Citizen of the City of Miami MARCELO HOLZINGER is a Contemporary Visual Artist from Miami who began his career as an Art Director and Adjunct Professor of Graphic Arts in his native Argentina.

In his early 20s he traveled throughout South America, Europe and the USA. In the mid 1990s he left Buenos Aires and moved to New York. He worked as a graphic designer for various publications, and continued to pursue his passion for art and design.

After several great years in New York, Marcelo moved to Miami Beach where he was a creative consultant for various businesses and organizations. His professional journey next led him to Houston, Texas, where he launched his career as a professional artist.

In the current phase of his evolution, Marcelo has returned to Miami. He’s been participating in large and renowned art fairs, shows and events, including: the Masters Mystery Art Show at the Ritz-Carlton South Beach; the Miami River Art Fair; and Spectrum (Art Basel edition 2014 and 2015) – among many other prominent galleries and selected venues.

Marcelo created the original artwork for the Unity Coalition’s Legends Ball Gala 2013 and 2014 at the Art Deco Welcome Center, and the Jackie Gleason Theater in Miami Beach. He was also selected as the official artist for both The Pink Flamingo Awards 2014 and 2015, and The Global Party 2014 benefiting the Global Charity Trust.

Marcelo participated in the 2nd Annual Ellen DeGeneres Art Show in Los Angeles. He has also painted for some acclaimed international entertainment personalities.

For the last two years Marcelo’s work has been exhibited in Monaco, Beijing, and Belgium and at the Carrousel du Louvre, (Louvre Museum of Paris). His paintings have been acquired by private and corporate collections, including the Art Collection of the City of Miami.

In 2014, Marcelo was honored with a Proclamation as Distinguished Citizen of the City of Miami “in recognition of his exceptional artistic accomplishments, his valuable contribution to the cultural life of our community and his extraordinary acts of humanitarianism and philanthropic spirit toward humankind”

by Mayor Tomas Regalado. ​In 2015 Marcelo was also appointed by the Mayor to serve as a Member of the City of Miami Arts & Entertainment Council. He was recently honored by the Honorable City Council of Santa Fe, Argentina, in recognition of his “career, artistic accomplishments and contributions as a Santa Fe native and ambassador of the city in the world.”

Marcelo creates his work with love, and with the intention of adding beauty and positive energy to the world. He wishes to share his work with as many people as possible, believing that “There can never be too much color, light and love. My intention is that the energy and passion that flows through me and into my work will continue to flow out into the world, and help enrich the lives of all those who come in contact with it…” www.HolzingerART.com 60 • Fine Art Magazine

“The Artist Of The Century”

Miami Welcomes “Walls of Color: The Murals of Hans Hofmann” For Art Basel Season at The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum A riot of color roars in Miami to usher in Art Basel season as the exhibition Walls of Color: The Murals of Hans Hofmann opens at the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum FIU, the Smithsonian affiliate in Miami.

This exhibition is the first-ever to showcase a vital aspect of the mid-century Modern Master’s art, his large-scale public mural projects. In his American Heritage magazine essay, the artist Frank Stella proclaimed Hofmann as “The artist of the century.”

From the PBS biography of Hoffman: “Students in America’s art schools today are reaping what he sowed through his 40 years of teaching. Artists around the world employ his color theories.

In 1933, Hofmann opened the Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts at 444 Madison Avenue in Manhattan. Over the next few years…its reputation continued to spread. Art students from all over North America heard of the unique teacher from Europe who imparted to American students what he had learned from Picasso, Braque, Matisse and Delaunay."

“He became known as an instructor who allowed his students to explore and experiment with their own technique while still encouraging them to take their visual cues from the natural world surrounding them.

His impact as a teacher is still palpable today, as his theories of the “push and pull” of color and of breaking up the picture plane are still being disseminated by art teachers all over the world.”

During Art Basel, the museum will feature six exhibitions: Walls of Color: The Murals of Hans Hoffman; Carlos Estevez: Celestial Traveler; Rufina Santana: Cartographies of the Sea; Carola Bravo: Blurred Borders; Ramon Espantaleon: The Temptation; and Weird, Wild & Wonderful – The Second New

Hans Hofmann (1880-1966), Lonely Journey, 1965, Oil on canvas, 50” x 40”, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (1989.397), Gift of Renate Hofmann, 1989, mage copyright © The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Image source: Art Resource, NY. Works by Hans Hofmann used with permission of the Renate, Hans and Maria Hofmann Trust

York Botanical Garden Triennial Exhibition.

The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum at Florida International University, the Smithsonian Affiliate in Miami, opened its current 46,000-square-foot, state-ofthe-art building in November 2008. Admission to the Museum is always free. The Frost

is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, and is located at 10975 SW 17th Street (across from the Blue Garage and adjacent to the Wertheim Performing Arts Center on the Modesto A. Maidique Campus). Hours of operation are Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. and Sunday noon - 5 p.m. Closed on Mondays

and most legal holidays. In association with the Smithsonian since 2000, the Frost Art Museum FIU is part of a select group of museums, cultural, educational, and arts organizations that share the Smithsonian’s resources with the nation. For more information, please visit thefrost.fiu.edu or call 305-3482890.

Fine Art Magazine • 61

The Radical Innovations Of Frank Stella In Mammoth Whitney Retrospective The most comprehensive U.S. career retrospective to date of the work of Frank Stella, co-organized by the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, opened at the Whitney on October 30, 2015.

Frank Stella: A Retrospective brings together the artist’s best-known works installed alongside lesser known examples to reveal the extraordinary scope and diversity of his nearly sixty-year career. Approximately 100 works, including icons of major museum and private collections, will be shown. Along with paintings, reliefs, sculptures, and prints, a selection of drawings and maquettes have been included to shed light on Stella’s conceptual and material process. With the close collaboration of the artist, Frank Stella: A Retrospective is organized by Michael Auping, Chief Curator, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, in association with Adam D. Weinberg, Alice Pratt Brown Director, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, with the involvement of Carrie Springer, Assistant Curator, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

The exhibition will fill the entire 18,000-square-foot fifth floor — the Museum’s largest gallery for temporary exhibitions. Selldorf Architects did the exhibition design for the Whitney installation.

This is the first comprehensive Stella exhibition to be assembled in the United States since the 1987 retFrank Stella, Gobba, zoppa e collotorto, 1985. Oil, urethane enamel, fluorescent alkyd, acrylic, and printing rospective at The Museum of Modern ink on etched magnesium and aluminum. 137 x 120 1/8 x 34 3/8 in. (348 x 305 x 87.5 cm). The Art Institute of Art, New York. “A Stella retrospective Chicago; Mr. and Mrs. Frank G. Logan Purchase Prize Fund; Ada Turnbull Hertle Endowment 1986.93. © presents many challenges,” remarks 2015 Frank Stella/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

Auping, “given Frank’s need from the beginning of his career to immediately and continually make new work in response to previous series. And he has never been timid about making large, even monumental, works. The result has been an enormous body of work represented by many different series.

Our goal has been to summarize without losing the raw texture of his many innovations.”

“It’s not merely the length of his career, it is the intensity of his work and his ability to reinvent himself as an artist over and over again over six decades that make his contribution so important,” said Adam D. Weinberg. “Frank is a radical innovator who has, from the beginning, absorbed the lessons of art history and then remade the world on his own artistic terms. He is a singular American master and we are thrilled to be celebrating his astonishing accomplishment.”

Throughout his career, Stella has challenged the boundaries of painting and accepted notions of style. Though his early work allied him with the emerging minimalist approach, Stella’s style has evolved to become more complex and dynamic over the years as he Frank Stella, Grajau I, 1975. Paint and laquer on aluminum. 82 x 132 in. has continued his investigation into the nature of abstract painting.

(208.3 x 335.3 cm). The Glass House, A Site of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. © 2015 Frank Stella/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. www.whitney.org 62 • Fine Art Magazine

Frank Owen at his opening, Nancy Hoffman Gallery New York City. Photo by Kevin Frest

Frank Owen’s “Next” At Nancy Hoffman

“I want the paintings to feel rambunctious, extravagant, unruly,” says Frank Owen of his collection Next, on view at Nancy Hoffman Gallery in New York City. “These new paintings are off the grid. Like somebody kicked the struts out, and everything is flopping or tumbling.”

His colors are vibrant and intense, gold, reds, oranges, blues, yellows, and more reds: they heat up a room, and like magnetic fields, draw us into his universe.

“All of these works are made in the far-flung way that my work has been made for several decades. That is, I work in verso on sheets of high-density polyethylene varying in thickness from 1/8” to 1”. Sometimes the heavy sheets are engraved and the painting is cast to effect a relief. Many of the forms are executed offside and then laminated onto the work in progress.

This process calls upon me to visualize the layers as they may appear in the finished work. I made my earliest paintings using this indirect technique in 1967 and it has remained a mainstay of my practice. The paintings produced this way exist in my imagination and are 95% complete before I mount canvas on the paint film and peel and flip it to be seen for the first time.

There is some surprise, but the overall feeling is one of homecoming. Besides, I can always paint on the front if there is a need.”

Owen is an artist always filled with new ideas. He says: “Most days provide me small discoveries and inventions.

A few of those have opened up worlds of possibility and new directions. I am always eager to glimpse the ‘Next’.”

Frank Owen was born in Kalispell, Montana in 1939 and resides in Keene Valley, NY where he maintains his studio.

Frank Owen’s Herald, 2012, acrylic on canvas, 112 x 150 ½ inches. For a great article on the artist visit brooklynrail.org/2015/11/art/frank-owen-with-alexi-worth Fine Art Magazine • 63

First Lady Michelle Obama speaks at the opening ceremony - Photograph by Filip Wolak

First Lady Michelle Obama Joins with Dignitaries and Artists To Dedicate the Whitney Museum of American Art New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Architect Renzo Piano, Director Adam D. Weinberg, and Whitney Trustees opened the new home for American Art and Artists at a festive ceremony held today in downtown Manhattan keynoted by First Lady Michelle Obama’s address. Thus officially opened the new Whitney Museum of American Art, now housed in a 220,000-square-foot building set beside the Hudson River at the foot of the High Line elevated park in the Meatpacking District.

“I fell in love with the building,” commented Mrs. Obama.

“It is an amazing space…One visit, one performance, one touch, and who knows how you could spark a child’s imagination....Maybe you can discover the next Carmen Herrera, or Archibald Motley, or Edward Hopper, or maybe even the next Barack Obama. That is the power of institutions like the Whitney. They open their doors as wide as possible both to the artists they embrace and to the young people they seek to uplift. That’s what happens and I am so proud to be here as we open these doors…I truly cannot wait to see the impact this extraordinary museum will have in the years ahead.”

Also speaking at the dedication ceremony were Adam D. Weinberg, the Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney; architect Renzo Piano; and leaders of the Whitney’s Board of Trustees: Co-Chairmen Robert J. Hurst and Brooke Garber Neidich, President Neil G. Bluhm, and Honorary Chairman Flora Miller Biddle, granddaughter of artist and Museum founder Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney.

The new building returns the Museum to the downtown area where it was founded in 1930. With indoor and outdoor spaces that offer panoramic views east across the city, west across the Hudson River, and south toward the Statue of Liberty, the building doubles the Museum’s previous gallery space, enabling the Whitney for the first time to present exhibitions and programs in the context of the world’s foremost collection of modern and contemporary American art.

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Mayor de Blasio said, “We already knew we were the center of the art world but just in case we needed to make it clearer, this museum does it. As New Yorkers, we are extraordinarily proud. We’re proud that people from around the world come to experience our cultural life.”

The Museum’s director, Adam D. Weinberg, stated, “The Whitney has always believed in the importance of the present—the capacity for artists to act in and effect the life of our times, to alter perceptions in such ways that might enable one to change the course of history…We are here for those artists as they are here for us. Our new home was designed for and is now re-consecrated in this belief.

This is our gift to our city, our nation, and the world as it was Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s in her time.”

Architect Renzo Piano said, “I love making buildings. I especially love making buildings for public use. Public buildings are the essence of cities because they are places where people share values. They stay together and enjoy the city. Especially among public buildings I love to make buildings for art and beauty. Because art and beauty make people better people…I’m pretty sure that beauty will save the world. It will save one person at a time. It will do it.”

CHARLES CARSON F C REA T

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Editor-in-Chief Victor Forbes presents Charles Carson with Fine Art Magazine’s Hero of Creativity Artist Award at a gala reception in New York City to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Fine Art Magazine

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At the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts Gala Academia XXI AIBAQ, Charles Carson was honored with the Gold Medal Academia by Umberto Bruni (1914-) Dean of Painting in Quebec, Governor AIBAQ

n November 9, 2015, at Fine Art Magazine’s 40th Anniversary accept his award with such grace and humility. He and his family gala in New York City, Charles Carson was honored with brought that Spirit of Creativity with them and the room was the publication’s first “Hero of Creativity better for it.”

Award” as an artist of special merit, a Grand Master.

Carson has been recognized by his peers in the It was a memorable evening of tribute with many world of art with numerous awards for the outstanding art world luminaries in attendance at the event held quality of his innovative artistic productions. He in the prestigious Trump World Tower, 845 United continues to create original and dramatic works to sustain Nations Plaza. Fine Art Magazine publisher Jamie and develop his flourishing career. His devotion to his Ellin Forbes, in her introduction stated, “Through art never fails and year after year he successfully takes his art, Carson demonstrates a unique understanding his role as an international ambassador throughout the of 20th and 21st century iconic imagery which he world to the highest levels. Rigorous criteria are used to combines into a formidable expression using paint establish an honoree. and application to unite the flow.”

“The Michel Art Gallery is proud to be the Editor-in-Chief Victor Forbes, in describing representative for Charles Carson in Florida,” commented the basis for such an award, noted “Over the years Gallery Director Mary Michel. “This collaboration has we have published and viewed the work of countless led to a great synergy between the artist and the gallery. artists. Each, as Jasper Johns pointed out, heroic in Receiving the Hero of Creativity In part due to Charles’ outstanding reputation and their own right. We recognized Charles Carson for Award from Fine Art Publisher masterful works of art, the Michel Art Gallery has grown this award because he represents the best elements of exponentially with the addition of many other international artistic creation. In this, our 40th year of continual and nationally renowned artists.”

A compilation of the work of some of the artists on publication, one visual artist was selected for this view at Michel Gallery is featured in the following pages. singular honor. Maestro Carson came to our event to 65 • Fine Art Magazine

CHARLES CARSON

A Language and Style All His Own…

BY JAMIE ELLIN FORBES & VICTOR FBENNETT FORBES “Beauty,” noted the founder of Aesthetic Realism Eli Siegel “is Therefore, we have found it a great honor to be involved with many the making one of opposites. ” “Genius,” said Dion DiMucci, Hall of gifted people in the arts. Some have risen to great acclaim and Fame musical legend for seven decades, “is how far one is advanced importance while others fall by the wayside, but the intrinsic stories from his or her contemporaries.” The “Beauty of genius” or “The of the artists are pretty much the same. Those who are special bring genius of beauty” are twin peaks sought to be conquered by many. their desire to communicate through a window they open to their To ascend the heights and come back alive, one must climb over soul to allow the viewer to experience something deeply personal.

We see that in the paintings of Charles Carson. The artist does treacherous drops, scramble around obstacles and take courageous this and such work is very important in all cultures. leaps of faith. If you are not totally focused on each step During this period of time, when people redefine of your mission, you could get hurt. With that in values, they will find it much more evident mind, one must carry in his knapsack a skill-set so that art and artists will become more beyond reproach. An innate understanding important than they have been in the last of composition, structure, layering of ten or fifteen years outside of certain color. A technique incomparable and collectible concerns. an understanding that the life you “My initial foray into are living is leased to you for a very discovering Carson’s art was like specific purpose. a food for me. Describing his These points are central experience and offering it to in understanding the milieu of people to enjoy continues to Maestro Charles Carson, a Grand be incredibly satisfying,” noted Master of Art. He stands in the Fine Art magazine publisher forefront of a crowded field in Jamie Ellin Forbes in her remarks which so many are fighting for i n t ro duci ng C ars on to th e dominant space on the trail, a audience as she bestowed on him place to stand on the summit. The the magazine’s Hero of Creativity Maestro leads the way, knowing that award. “Energetically, when viewing what sets him apart today may not be his work, Kandinsky, Mondrian, Picasso enough to keep him there tomorrow. and van Gogh come to mind. Although Carson is a legitimate contender one could say that there are those influences, for an important place in Art History. He Carson has a great respect for any artistic process is acknowledged with awards and prizes from that is authentic, understanding since he first picked many important international art organizations. up a paint brush that it is vital to avoid ephemeral fashions In 2013, he was named “Grand Master of Fine Arts” by The International Academy of Fine Arts of Quebec, among other and trends.

“Initially, it was difficult to discern what the abstracts were accolades. Art historians and museum directors around the world have deemed his personal artistic language — Carsonism — to be an telling me. Now I understand them very well. The language of the ode to his intricate and highly original works which are as punctual more Impressionistic pieces — the dreamscapes — is very unique and directed as the artist himself. He makes strong paintings in two with the interplay of color usage and balance. The florals and distinct styles. The” Carsonism movement,” as he calls it, is defined seascapes invite you into the space to taste the colors. You are part of as “a totally unique form of pictorial writing, transparency, clarity the process of whatever this moment is that the artist is describing. and juxtaposition of colors.” In The “Mosaic movement,” as its name You are welcomed into the imagination of the process, which is far suggests, we find a fragmentation of form and surface characteristic deeper than a mere snapshot. Here you will find the inspiration and of the mosaic style. In both instances the artist endows the surface mystique involving the colors combined with the rendering of the of his canvasses with great energy, creating an altered state in which line: defined and united, yet singular in their presence, made all the his powerfully metaphorical universe is expressed. Dimensional more powerful by their coalescence and shared space which not only paintings are built up of paint and then glazed so that they combine enrich the composition but enable the viewer to comprehend the logically and intricately to give the appearance of a polished sea of essence of the artists’ vision.”

The substance of Carson’s paintings is the application and creation possibility, glimmering mirror-like in a bath of pristine luminosity.

Christian Sorriano, Fine Art and Antiquities expert from Paris of the form married to the colors so that the compositions becomes very and President of Drouot Cotation, sings Carson’s praises. “Art holds free, very available for analysis and discussion to those who care about no more secrets or mysteries for a matured expert like myself. …Far such things and very open and available for those who simply like to from common trends and cheap visual effects, Charles Carson shows look at a pretty picture. The quality, the union — the synergy — brings each and every unique feature of his great poetic skills, offering in success as the artistic statement is there and quite inspiring. Researching his work a breath of life, his own life, therefore questioning and and reflecting on his inspirational body of work, it is evident that the delighting the minds and the trained eyes of the connoisseurs who artist has a great drive, capacity and enthusiasm to out-do himself with each new creation. The level of his painterly energy carries the hang it on the walls of their daily lives.”

Over the four decades we have been publishing Fine Art artistic statement through, bringing it to life and making it readily magazine, we have had the privilege of meeting many gifted people understandable. His colors serve the message even as the message over this generation-long space in time. Can you imagine what it serves the color. Carson, through his unique approach and visual would be like if people didn’t have art? It would be a terrible plight. language, lets people know immediately through the finished product 66 • Fine Art Magazine

Fleurs enéclats, 60” x 60”, Mosaic movement

what is that piece of the dream, that metaphor he is describing — his alphabet, as it were. When you do this successfully, you instantly have the viewer. As complex as his structure may be, in a way the paintings are concise, succinct and dynamic. Like Hemingway’s prose, they take you to a clean, well-lighted place, even to a moveable feast.

There’s a tempo to these works, a cadence that moves your eye through the structure. You can’t just move color around as if you’re Barnett Newman if your compositions are shoddy. You cannot extrapolate a message unless you know form. Carson applies the paint with a sense of color as if the light were coming through as if a kinetic activity in a stationery work of art. With this energy the form that results through this enhanced application of color is obviously from his subconscious yet well-studied intent. His vision allows him to step between the spaces and resultant colors not only emerge, but they vibrate. As one form transitions from dream to reality and reality to dream and the abstract in-between, Carson manages to keep the 67 • Fine Art Magazine

CARSON TO THE ISM Charles Carson is cited in the MultiDictionary Of The French Language 6th Edition, Québec Amérique Marie-Éva de Villers CARSONISM: Painting technique created by the Quebec painter Charles Carson. The Carsonism is characterized by a totally unique form of pictorial writing, transparency, clarity and juxtaposition of colors. This onomastisme, its definition and example that accompanies it, are taken from Martin Gabriel, Quebec onomastismes dictionary: words from our own names.

Récif, 60” x 48”, Acrylic on canvas, Carsonism movement 68 • Fine Art Magazine

transparency and the colors incredibly clean, which is rare. They are built, they have definition and there is a certain texture to the resultant paintings that is complex to arrive at. This combination of harmony and tempo is very complex and difficult to arrive at yet, via his painterly process, Carsonism emerges and it is unlike any other school of thought to date. He set out to be singular, to use the standard materials as no one before him has and he has succeeded. There are elements of this work not seen elsewhere nor has this technique been done elsewhere.

He is the only one in the world doing this style. Founding a process, a language and an artistic technique all his own, Carson is well on his way to taking his place among the great artists of the era.

Carson’s power comes from a strong sense of originality and independence. Born in Montréal in 1957, the artist’s first inspirations for the Carsonism and mosaic movements came from Quebec.

The stained glass windows of the region’s many churches as well as the color and transparency of the province’s spectacular autumn scenes fascinated him as a child. The image of autumn leaves reflecting in the river culminated in the mosaic movement. He did not attend a fine arts school despite a desire to do so. Neither his family nor social environment fostered such pursuits. Regardless, this did not inhibit his perpetual search for his very own mode of expression. “In my younger years, I was fascinated by sunlight shining through stained glass windows,” he recalled in a recent interview. “This image has always had a hold of my imagination which probably explains why I have always sought to replicate this transparency and luminosity and to create the effect of light coming from behind the canvas. Both the Carsonism and mosaic movements are reflections of water in motion.”

Fond marin, 30 x 48, Carsonism movement 69 • Fine Art Magazine

Bouquets de fleurs, 60” x 40”

Soleil d’automne, 40” x 60”, Mosaic movement

Charles Carson is one of the few contemporary artists who manages to forget himself to leave room for the creative process. His inspiration continues unabated over time as each of his paintings reveal a passion for life and nature. The forthcoming collection of new works will blossom under American skies this coming year.

Finding his passion for painting in the 1970s, Charles Carson began to work in the US and South Ameritraditional motifs, gaining inspiration from his environment.

These first works were figurative. He found in the end, however, they were inhibited and unsatisfactory in stating his own artistic needs. On the journey to create his own approach, abstract and figurative gestures were combined. This technique, along with his unique depiction of imagery as universal glyph, rapidly affirmed his creative vision as a talent distancing himself from other stylistically known motifs.

Carson has embraced his chosen mode of expression with the passion of a master, the nerve of an adventurer, and the intellect of a historian. Born in Montreal in 1957, he discovered his calling as he approached his teens. Frustrated at an early age with his own futile early attempts at originality, Carson, in adulthood, went on a quest to 70 • Fine Art Magazine

find his vision — to Europe, Asia, the US and South America fueled by the sea, forests and wildlife as well as his lofty personal ideals. He became infatuated with the world’s fragile beauty; indignant in the face of man’s lack of conscience. It did not take him long to find out that the world was upside down, and when he discovered this, he sought to make it right. His artistic palette as a colorist incorporates both abstract and figurative vision in image allowing Carson’s interpretive landscapes, marine scenes and still life works to be infused with an affirming passion, while remaining within the structure of classical composition. “ The stil l lif e paintings I was w o rk i n g a t d u r i n g t h i s t i m e w e re academic exercises. The subject matter was of little importance. These studies allowed me to explore space and depth, two elements that would be crucial to my future work. I was also

These enigmatic compositions, transformed in the laboratory of his fertile imagination, clearly demonstrate the mastery of the artist. doing glass etching with a diamond tip. By superimposing layers of glass, I produced the three dimensional effect that I was looking for. I experimented with various processes, including collage, copper, paint and glass. The inspiration came from my discovery of the magnificent Lalique crystal in Europe.”

Although this creative technique was received positively, he was not through searching. Kandinsky’s words from his immortal little book, The Spiritual in Art, published in 1910 (“The boldness of color in a painting must attract the spectator forcefully and at the same time mask the deeper content.”) left a lasting impression on the young artist. The impact of his colors were developed in Colombia and other tropical vistas, far away from the winter of his youth — those endless nights where different shapes haunted his compositions, giving them a certain presence of dimensionality. In those cold days, he learned to focus on that hidden dynamic which so energizes his work.

Continuing to perfect his technique for juxtaposing colors, he began using acrylic to create vivid abstract forms. On a linen canvas, he would spread pieces of colored glass, complemented by strokes of acrylic to create an impression of haut-relief. “I was fascinated and seduced by the art of the master glassmakers of Murano and to emulate their artistry, I heated huge, multi-level ceramic ovens, created moulds and inserted my glazed pieces at a temperature of 2,000 to 3,000 degrees.

Desperately wanting to reproduce with paint, the textures, forms and transparency of stained glass windows, he incorporated oils, acrylics, pastels and charcoals in the artistic process. Then, to make the colors explode, he highlighted them with an ultra bright lacquer.

Carson spared no effort during these years of experimentation with special effects and contemporary art. “I would drop bags of paint from the roof of the house and rush to see the splatters they created on the sidewalk! I would use a drill to spin a panel I had coated with different colors of acrylic paint. Not to mention the balloon filled with paint that I would burst over a canvas… I even used an old bicycle wheel to spread colors on a canvas to see the effect it produced,” he states. ”Once, I nearly burned my house down experimenting with a special lacquer. This misadventure brings a smile today. I learned that paint and fire do not make good partners. In my efforts to recreate the “Murano effect”, the wooden roof of my studio as well as the work in progress were reduced to ashes. This incident, as is often the case with fortuitous scientific experiments, allowed me to perfect a mixture of glass and epoxy finished with a blowtorch. I lost count of the number of plaster moulds that were sacrificed for the cause. Not to mention the kilos of glass tiles used during the mosaic experiments. Since those days, I have used an acrylic paint that is more malleable for the textures, dries more quickly and allows for multiple layering of color. My first subjects were bouquets of flowers, done in an abstract style.” In the mosaic technique works he consolidates miniscule droplets of floral energy complex solutions of color, in a process that must be akin to Pollock’s drips or Vincent’s creation of the cosmos in Starry Night. No one can say for sure, but what Carson does share with the aforementioned artists is total devotion to painting. “Daily, faithful, obstinate, continuing to this day encompassing the discipline that art requires amidst the ups and downs of life.” He works, more often than not, in complete solitude and has no specific intention when he approaces the blank canvas. It is a wolrd waiting to be invented. Forms and figures are esoterically rendered and well-preserved, showing themselves to the artist after a few moments of concentration.

“For me,” concludes the artist, “The message necessarily had to be communicated. I strove to find a language that was personal. It was both a quest and a challenge.”

One in which, as time has surely shown, he has emerged victorious.

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Magic, 16” x 16”, Mosaic movement

Fish, 12” x 12”, Mosaic movement

Flowers, 16” x 16”, Mosaic movement

Claudio Souza Pinto

Welcome To The Theater Of Life “I transform situations of everyday life with a surreal filter and create fantastic and humorous images,” says the Romantic Surrealist painter Claudio Souza Pinto.

Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil in 1954, Claudio at the age of four began working in clay under the guidance of his uncle, the painter Bernardo Cid de Souza Pinto. He sold his own art while studying for a degree in industrial design at Mackenzie University 72 • Fine Art Magazine

in Sao Paulo. In 1990 Alan Aouizerate, the French art collector, fell in love with Souza Pinto’s work and invited him to exhibit at Le Bains and The Opera in Paris. Souza Pinto lived in France for many years where he acquired solid formal training in oil painting and started his career in earnest. This contributed to a very strong European and particularly French influence in his work.

For the artist, life is a great play. “All

of us have different behavior masks,” he says, “and they emerge depending on the occasion... in the theater of life!”

Painter/poet/humor ist, the definition given to Claudio Souza Pinto’s style by the artistic and intellectual communities of Paris, accurately translates this Brazilian’s fine art paintings, which transform daily situations into surreal, romantic and funny images.

“Life is a great play.

All of us have different behavior masks, and they emerge depending on the occasion...in the theater of life.”

– Claudio Souza Pinto

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“Claudio’s paintings have a fantastic realism and a visual discussion about melancholy and love.

Sadness or happiness is always present, even if in spirit”.

– Jacques Bral, move director,

His works are the result of very elaborate preparation. The detail and the technical quality along with the execution and perspective are his hallmarks. The paintings are layered with glazings and meticulous details that reveal Claudio’s perfectionism.

Claudio plays with our imagination and our feelings in a pleasing, delicate and elegant ways. His paintings are joyful with exuberant colors that are exquisitely balanced to create beautiful compositions.

He is able to build a bridge between a fantasy world and reality, inviting us to disconnect from the world that surrounds us to unleash our own imagination.

Claudio’s paintings create an atmosphere of joy and happiness in a very relaxing way. They have a calming effect and one never tires of looking at them. His work is not only his joy but ours as well. He is as much a himorist and poet as he is an artist and this combination serves him well.

The defining characteristics in the style of Claudio Souza Pinto are thus an unusual amalgam but undoubtedly translate well in the universal language of art.

At first, his paintings are seen as a fantasy world, but the artist explains they are deeper than that. “I paint the robes of the human being, because society only values​​ the appearance. Only these camouflage feelings.” For him, the masks are more than fruits of creativity, “We all have different shades of behavior, which arise according to the occasion,” he says.

His style is artistic, surreal, romantic, an humorous. The boldness of colors, fantastic realism, and evidence of emotion captures viewers from far away and leaves them entranced. Many respected architects and art collectors have delighted in Claudio’s works.

The large scale of his paintings, along with the magic posed through both context and artistic quality is truly admirable. Surreal, romantic and funny images are at the core of his work, revealing his interest in love and human happiness. Painting is a silent poetry and some dreams will happen only if spoken in a work of art. As Keats so aptly put it, “Truth is beauty.”

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Mary Michel Mary Margaret O’Donnell Michel was born in Quincy, MA. As the eighth of nine children, one-on-one attention was not common. One day, her older sister, Kathleen Anne O’Donnell Dugan (who is an artist in her own right) took her on a special day. There were Swan Boats, The Boston Commons, popcorn and cotton candy. And then, in what would be a life-changing event, they went to The Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Mary will never forget that day. It will always be her favorite for the exposure to a world she had never seen and for a dearest sister’s love and attention.

From that day forth her life was altered in many ways. She was exposed to a beauty she had not known. She was captured by the colors and the brushstrokes.

She saw the balance and the counterbalance. When she walked through the hushed marble halls, she entered a world where one can stop and stare.

Mary was mesmerized by the beauty that surrounded her and felt enveloped with a quiet peace. She saw the world through many eyes; the architects’, the sculptors’ and the painters’. Some were one, some were all. All were beautiful. All were combined.

Mary entered the world of art at age 11. She has worked

with a variety of media and styles including oil, acrylic, watercolor, stone, metal, wood, fresco, trompe l’oeil, casting and ceramics. She has also extensively studied virtually all major art movements and has executed works in the variety of many artistic styles.

Mary attended FIU and Stetson University as a Fine Art Major with a background in Art History. She also studied art in New York City, Italy and France. Upon completing her education, Mary returned to Miami where she continued creating artwork and supplemented her income by working as a freelance artist creating and installing exhibitions at various venues such as The Tides, The China Club, Club Nu, The Coconut Grove Playhouse and The Miami Museum of Fine Art. Struggling financially and upon the insistence of her father that she get “a real job,” Mary obtained employment at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital. It was there that she fell in love with medicine and after a five year engagement, she married her ex-husband, Dr. Jack Michel. She then left the VA to manage her husband’s clinic. As the business grew, they opened several more clinics and had the good fortune to acquire Larkin Community Hospital. Mary served as COO for seven years and left the hospital to pursue her home-life and to return to her true passion: art. Mary is the mother of five beautiful and God-sent children.

As she began her new creations, she decided to introduce her collection entitled, “New York City Series.” She debuted these works for Art Basel, 2014 and was subsequently thrilled to be honored by her inclusion in Art Palm Beach, 2014; Spectrum, 2015 and ART Palm Beach, 2015 both as a gallery and participating artist.

New York City series

New York City series

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Moreau Moreau was in born February 13, 1950 in Canada. He came from a large family of six boys in which he had to work to be heard and to define himself. His father was a career psychologist who believed the art field was not a viable career and he should study a traditional education. His mother, however, ignited his love of art.

She was a painter and ran a ceramic studio.

Moreau was a shy and dreamy boy who couldn’t easily integrate into school and family systems. He, therefore, retreated into his artwork. His school books were full of sketches as he left his imagination transport him into a world defined by art.

In adolescence, he was sneaking into visual art classes, giving little thoughts to his academic studies. Yet, he developed a deep friendship with his art teachers and they took a special interest in his growth and development as an artist.

At the age of 17, Moreau was exposed to the “Terre des Hommes l’Exposition Internationale des Beaux-Arts de Montréal Canada.” He was dazzled at the site of great works. It was the moment Moreau received his epiphany that he would one day contribute to a great artistic movement.

He was fortunate to be able to admire the prestigious works of great masters such as Georges de la Tour, Rembrandt, Velázquez, Vincent van Gogh, Modigliani, Edgard Degas, Munch, Chagall, Paul Gauguin, Cézanne, Kandinsky, Paul Émile Borduas and more ... in his own hometown. He was overjoyed to examine and scrutinize the works of these all-time great artists.

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Moreau absorbed himself in the art. He nourished his artistic spirit and growth becoming even more determined to continue painting and sculpting in order to share his vision and perspective with the world of visual art. Although Moreau always returns to painting, his also satisfies his immense need to create and express his vision though sculpture. He has worked extensively in clay. At one time, he operated a ceramic studio creating utilitarian ceramics and sculptures.

Although life has thrown him many twists and turns, he never forgot the promise he made to himself when he was young. He learned how to recreate, to press through his creations, and to project his vision on the world.

Moreau likes to retain only the elements that seem marking in sublime decor. In his landscapes, he makes a pictorial metamorphose from impression to abstraction. He admires the microscopic beauty and immensity of the universe. This nourishes his inspirations and feeds his dreams.

Moreau has been fortunate to have a mentor, Charles Carson, the internationally renowned artist who has been a guide and motivator to Moreau and continues to inspire Moreau with his experience, artistic talent, drive and creativity.

Moreau believes that the art lover must feel the energy contained in the paintings. This energy is captured and transposed by the artist in his artwork.

Les battures

He admires the microscopic beauty and immensity of the universe.

This nourishes his inspirations and feeds his dreams.

NuditĂŠ automnale

Ile de fish 79 • Fine Art Magazine

Cynthia Fleischmann

Charles Carson

Charles Carson

Garsot

Robert Swedroe

Michel Gallery, In Blossoming Midtown Miami, Exhibits Vibrant Collection of International Artists The Michel Art Gallery is proud to present national and internationally acclaimed artists to the South Florida Community. This unique collection consists of world renowned and distinct artists from a variety of origins. Each one bringing their own personal vision to life through their chosen modes of expression. Upon entering this Gallery, one will be transported by the pure beauty of the brilliant use of color in the works of Grand Master Charles Carson. The gallery also features extraordinary works by Claudio Souza Pinto, Robert Swedroe, Steven Zaluski, Cynthia Fleischmann, Mary Michel, Garsot and Piero Zangarini. Mary Michel debuted her “New York Series” for her own solo exhibition for the Art Basel 2014. Due to overwhelming interest by acclaimed and enthusiastic artists, she decided to expand her artistic venture by acting as a venue through which other artists are able to present their unique expertise and vision.

The gallery is conveniently located between the Design District and Wynwood, in the heart of Midtown Miami. It creates a retreat into a world of beauty and elegance, the likes of which are not found elsewhere in Southern Florida. It has over 5,000 sq. ft. and is beautifully accented by the works of established artists.

Please come to the gallery to view and appreciate such an incredible collection.

3300 North Miami Avenue, Miami, FL 33127 - (305) 335-1998 e-mail - info@michelartgallery.com (parking in rear) 80 • Fine Art Magazine

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Fine Art Magazine • 81

Fine Art Magazine 40th Anniversary Party Honors Artists of the Year, Heroes of Creativity

2015 Artists of the Year, Ed Heck & Don Orioilo

Hero of Creativity, Christina Cox

Hero of Creativity, Charles Carson

Ed Heck (center) presents his painting commemorating Fine Art Magazine’s 40th anniversary in a gala soiree at World Bar, United Nations Plaza, New York City, Nov. 9th, 2015. From left to right are: Jeanette Gorsky, who accepted her late husband Vladimir’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Fine Art Magazine Publisher Jamie Ellin Forbes, Ed Heck, Victor Forbes (Fine Art Editor-in-Chief) and Christina Cox (Hero of Creativity awardee).

Hero of Creativity, Marilyn Goldberg

Don Oriolo with son Michael Oriolo

Marilyn Goldberg with son Garett

Many thanks to Kenneth McClure and all at World Bar for their outstanding hospitality and beautiful environment,- making our event so very special.

Zoe Counavelis Matthews, Richard Forbes, Joanne Matthews Forbes, Mitchell Meisner, who created the beautiful awards at his Long Island foundry 82 • Fine Art Magazine

Fran and Bobby Geier of Mid Island Bindery, Farmingdale, NY who have performed heroically in stitching, folding and gluing Fine Art since 1975

Artist of the Year Don Oriolo addresses the crowd

Andrei Protsouk, Anatoli Kharlanov Mick Gaffney and Rose Gunter perform as Jamie looks on

Marilyn Goldberg

Azalea Marie, Franklyn Mena, Victor Forbes

The Carsons

Jeanette Gorsky, Charles Bottita

Charles Carson, Jamie Ellin Forbes

Deena Wolf, Marilyn Godlberg, Joseph Sprung

Marilyn Goldberg with friends and family

John Haffey, Sarah Seamark

Charles Wildbank, Mary McGuire

Michael Albert, Ed Heck

Don Oriolo Marilyn Goldberg

Michael Cartellone, Eric Heck

Don Oriolo with his Felix guitar

Jeanne D’Brant, Rose Gunter, Victor Forbes, Deb Forbes

Select photos courtesy Agnes Rizzo www.agnesrizzophotography.com

Anatoli Kharlanov, Felix drawing Fine Art Magazine • 83

Art on Paper Miami and Miami Project will take full advantage of The Deauville Hotel’s beachfront location as the two well-known art fairs converge under one historic roof with galleries exhibiting the best in modern and contemporary art. The former home of NADA’s Miami art fair will now include a food and beverage program highlighting Miami and New York City based chefs and cocktail programs. The fairs will offer visitors trendsetting food and drink in an exciting new lounge adjacent to the Deauville’s popular oceanfront pool. The Deauville will also play host to several public installations, featuring innovative work by both Miami Project and Art on Paper artists.

Visitors to the fairs will also be invited to visit SATELLITE, a series of onsite and offsite projects and events fostering experiential and exploratory interactions with art. SATELLITE will populate The Deauville and its parking garage along with several out-of-the-box Miami Beach properties, transforming an entire neighborhood into an experiential art destination — Deauville Beach Resort in the heart of Miami Beach.

Building on the momentum of New York City’s acclaimed Art on Paper Fair, Art on Paper Miami will feature exhibitions of paperbased art presented by twenty galleries. Art on Paper’s singular focus affords exhibitors the opportunity to innovate, to show a unique facet of a program, or to highlight a specific body of work in a venue dedicated to the inspiration of ideas, conversation, and patronage.

One of The New York Times ‘must see’ March 2015 art fairs, Art on Paper New York welcomed over 18,000 visitors and played host to compelling, largescale installations and critically acclaimed exhibitions over four buzzing days. The Fair’s fresh Miami counterpart will be a similar forum for intimate conversation between exhibitor and collector with a refreshing focus on the artwork itself. Sasha Wolf, of her eponymous Lower East Side Gallery, returns to the fair, and James Stroud, of Boston’s Center Street Studio, joins Art on Paper to direct the fair’s tightly curated print program, bringing several of the country’s top publishers into one accessible, collector-friendly space. For further information, visit these websites: www.thepaperfair.com/miami www.miamiproject.com 84 • Fine Art Magazine •

Miami Project’s paper balloon

B

The Deauville Hotel hosts Miami Project and Art on Paper

uilding on three years of success, including 2014’s record attendance of over 25,000 visitors, Miami Project’s fourth edition will feature 55 galleries from around the world showcasing their wares to representatives of museums and cultural institutions as well as an audience of important international collectors, directors, advisors, and an extensive network of art world insiders over the fair’s five days.

At Miami Project, visitors are met with an impressive survey of work by Modernist masters, providing fairgoers with the unique opportunity to acquire work by truly established painters, sculptors, and photographers who have shaped major artistic movements. Important contemporary artworks shown by galleries with decades of industry experience are also presented in meaningful exhibitions, giving visitors the opportunity to truly engage with the best in modern and contemporary artwork from around the world.

Miami Project’s previous three editions have consistently been named some of Miami Art Week’s “most highly sought out events,” as Miami Project has secured its reputation as “the most cutting-edge fair” that succeeds “without succumbing to sensationalist tendencies.” Named “Best Art Fair” by the Miami New Times in 2013, “Miami Project demonstrates the richness to be found if you look past the main fair.” Building on The Deauville’s momentum as a known venue for top art fairs, Miami Project will be a true destination during Miami Project December’s Miami Art Week.

Ailene Fields’ BABA YAGA EATS An Homage to Mediocrity & Hype

Baba Yaga Eats Damien Hirst

BABA YAGA is a middle European fairy tale character that has

had many incarnations. For Ailene Fields, Baba Yaga is a witch that lives in a house made of skulls with no doors or windows which moves about on chicken legs. Entrance or egress is gained through the chimney. Most importantly, “if you are not good, Baba Yaga will get you!” A sculptor who often depicts mythology, fairy tales and fantasy dragons in her work, Baba Yaga was a natural.

The first Baba Yaga was a simple depiction of Baba Yaga’s house going for a walk on its chicken legs. Where the thought to put a shark in the chimney and call it “Baba Yaga Eats Damien Hirst” is lost in the mists of time. It came about as a result of a conversation with her gallerist decrying the current state of the art world; a world which, in their opinion, placed importance on hype and personal favorites. One where the opinions of a small cabal of art dealers, critics and museum curators drive a market where talent is too often subjugated to whim.

Neither Ailene nor Neil Zukerman, with whom she was having the discussion, recall who first came up with the idea. A very funny discourse began as they imagined which other artists should be grist for Baba Yaga’s mill. What began as a pastiche took on a life of its own as Baba Yaga’s voracious appetite began its hunt for subjects. To qualify an artist had to fulfill the criteria of, in Ailene’s and/or Neil’s opinions, being lauded for creations that were not in their lexicon ‘art’ but rather what they began to quantify as homages to mediocrity and hype. The formaldehyde filled shark being the perfect example.

Upon completion of the series, Fields called upon Leo Feroleto, tireless curator of alternative venues, to introduce the project. , Captivated by the content Feroleto replied, “When confronted with certain aspects of the art world, I feel a reversed peristalsis, the protagonist being the sinful amalgamation of human creativity and the behavior that should be reserved for certain ruminants…for me this project is a commentary on some of that feeling, and instantly makes this one of the most important artistic statements I have seen in five years. It must first live among the people — around but not yet in — a gallery or museum.” Within weeks New York City was treated to 16 relevant venues hosting Baba Yaga in the Meatpacking District near the Whitney Museum, with more shows on the way.

Feroleto said this is a normal and necessary temporary departure of Fields’ prolific portfolio which encompasses escape, joy and hope. For information on the Baba Yaga Eats project visit www. sixsummitgallery.com.

Baba Yaga Eats Edvard Munch: The Scream PHOTOS BY JOE HOSIE

Baba Yaga Eats Andy Warhol Fine Art Magazine • 85

Between Dreams

The Magical Visions of Stephen John Smith As an Australian living in the United States, I’m so far around the globe from my birthplace, Melbourne, the night sky seems more than a little strange. I grew up with the Southern Cross as my after dark companion, and I guess that conditioning still runs deep. Years before I learned art had a definition, it was already an integral part of my life. Drawing filled all my childhood days and, in my late teens, segued naturally into a formal art education.

I painstakingly create each original fantasy fairy painting using a unique combination of traditional oil and egg tempera painting skills applied within the new creative arena of digital art. My main painting technique is to lay down an uncountable number of tiny brush strokes, one on top of the other, with the addition of many intermediate transparent glazes For decades I painted in oils, egg tempera, and acrylics, but now I paint digitally.

Meditation is a spontaneous, unfettered journey into your greater self. While meditation can work wonders as a healing balm to ease the stresses of everyday life, that benefit is actually just a side effect. At its core meditation is nothing less than a supreme portal through which you can access the infinite possibilities of your life.

Consider this: Busy days, endless frenetic activities, and when the sun finally sets, the knowledge that even more of the 86 • Fine Art Magazine

Special Delivery

same awaits tomorrow. And… Spontaneous periods of inspiring and rejuvenating rest.

Is it possible? Can they coexist?

Without a doubt your life is bursting at the seams with a million pressing tasks that you do your best to complete. But there’s never enough time. Precious few opportunities present themselves where

rejuvenating rest might be taken. Your mind is in constant overdrive as you think and plan and scheme, trying to bring order to the chaos that is your existence. Even holidays offer little relief. Your constant worries and concerns continue to crowd out any possibility of quality downtime.

Yet all the while you know in your

Interlude

heart that if you are to survive, stay healthy, and prosper, you need regular periods of peace and calm. You’re stuck, but you feel there must be a way out.

Contrary to common belief, you can indeed have both…the busy life and rejuvenating peace. It’s just a matter of discovering how to go about temporarily sidestepping your daily headlong rush through life. You need to somehow solve the mystery of inspiring yourself to take those needed breaks.

I create art prints that have a rather special quality; they can help you disconnect for a time from your worry center. One of the first things you’ll notice about them is the incredible attention to detail. Each time you look at a print you’ll probably discover something new and intriguing. As your mind wanders a gentle path through enchanted, imaginative lands, it will naturally find both comfort and inspiration. But that’s only part of the allure.

I craft these uniquely engaging images in what one could call a deep meditative state. The resulting powerful yet subtle energies permeating each completed art print encourages the mind to unwind, let go, and relax. Displayed on a wall, such art can serve as gentle daily reminders that a pause is in order. The prints act like attentive life coaches that every so often prompt you to take a little time out from your daily concerns. “Relax,” they whisper. “For just this brief moment, let go of all that worry and allow yourself to float serenely free.” They provide a space to rejuvenate. The cumulative healing benefits of such repeated periods of quiet and relaxation are nothing short of miraculous. My goal is for my work to potentially become doorways though which you can regularly access profound inner peace.

Read more at: https://stephenjohnsmith.com © 2015 Art of Stephen John Smith Fine Art Magazine • 87

MAXFIELD PARRISH

Paintings and Prints at the Nassau County Museum of Art Works by the American imagist Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966), one of the greats of the Golden Age of Illustration, will be on view at Nassau County Museum of Art through February 28, 2016. The works are drawn from the National Museum of American Illustration, Newport, Rhode Island, and curated by Judy and Laurence S. Cutler, co-founders of the National Museum of American Illustration.

Maxfield Parrish: Paintings and Prints from the National Museum of American Illustration embodies the artist’s long career and extraordinary accomplishments, displaying Parrish’s lush coloristic effect with amazing detail. The exhibition includes original artworks as well as a large collection of vintage prints. Through this showing of artworks and vintage reproductions, today’s viewers will have the unique opportunity to see the way that viewers of an earlier age observed these images, comparing the mass-produced reproductions against the original luminous canvases.

Parrish described himself as “a businessman with a brush,” and was proud of his ability to market his artwork to the public. In 1904, a time that that the average annual income for an American worker was $500 or less, Parrish signed a six-year contract with Collier’s Magazine for $1,250 per month. His fee rose to $2,000 a painting, but each Parrish cover was a guaranteed sell out for that month’s edition of Collier’s.

Parrish’s universally popular and instantly recognizable images were produced between the late 1890s through the mid 1960s; they were seen on magazine covers, greeting cards, art prints, calendars, novels, advertisements and packaging. Clear and bold, with uncomplicated subjects, Maxfield Parrish’s art prints papered the walls of American homes for decades.

Nassau County Museum of Art is offering public programming to enhance the experience of viewing the exhibition. There are daily screenings of a 30-minute documentary, Parrish Blue: An American Art History that includes images of many of Parrish’s original canvases as well as comments by the artist’s son, Maxfield Parrish, Jr., and Norman Rockwell, a friend and fellow artist.

Nassau County Museum of Art is chartered and accredited by New York State as a not-for-profit private educational institution. Docent-led tours of the exhibition are offered at 2 p.m. each day; tours of the mansion are offered each Saturday at 1 p.m.; meet in the lobby, no reservations needed.

Tours are free with museum admission Visit www.nassaumuseum.org 88 • Fine Art Magazine • 2015

Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966), Moonlight – Deep Snow, 1944, oil on panel, 13 1/2” x 15 1/2”, signed lower right, (c) Copyright 2015 National Museum of American Illustration, Newport, RI, Photos courtesy Archives of American Illustrators Gallery, New York, NY

Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966), The Desert Without Water, 1902, mixed media on paper laid on canvas, 17” x 11 1/2”, initialed lower right, “The Great Southwest” by: Ray Stannard Baker, Century Magazine, 1902, (c) Copyright 2015 National Museum of American Illustration, Newport, RI, Photos courtesy Archives of American Illustrators Gallery, New York, NY

Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966), Villa Scassi: Genoa, 1903, oil on paper, 16” x 11”, initialed lower left, “Italian Villas and Their Gardens,” by Edith Wharton, Century Magazine, October 1904, fp. 173, and Italian Villas and Their Gardens, by Edith Wharton, The Century Company, New York, 1904, (c) Copyright 2015 National Museum of American Illustration, Newport, RI, Photos courtesy Archives of American Illustrators Gallery.

Mitchell Meisner of Meisner Gallery and Meisner Acrylic Casting, Farmingdale, NY Board President Angela Susan Anton PHOTOS BY JAMIE ELLIN FORBES

At the opening reception

Mitchell Meisner, Jamie Ellin Forbes

Caryn & Christopher Pusey, Mitch Meisner, Debbie Miraglia

Board Member Harvey Manes with guest

Constance Schwartz (red sweater) and a group of supporters of the Nassau County Museum of Art at the Maxfield Parrish exhibition opening, November 20, 2015.

Laurence & Judy Cutler, guest curators of the exhibition, founders of the National Museum of American Illustration

Constance & Hank Schwartz Constance is Director Emerita of the Museum

Artist Christopher Hart Chambers (on view in Contemporary Gallery) with Laurence Cutler Fine Art Magazine • 89

Orange Halo Computer Hardware Butterfly Angel, 44” x 44” © Gilda Oliver

Gilda Oliver Fulfills Her Destiny One Tile At A Time What really makes an artist’s work of lasting value? Of course, one must have the requisite skill sets as outlined in legendary New York gallerist Neil Zukerman’s maxim: “Exquisite technique coupled with artistic vision.” When you add “heart” to that, and compassion — then you have Gilda Oliver. The artist, from her Baltimore, MD, studio base, has worked tirelessly to incorporate challenged youth and adults into voices of hope and strength in the small towns of America. By engaging the creativity of diverse groups of people her work transcends not only gender boundaries, but other barriers as well. She makes those she works with feel good about who they are, though they may be struggling. The primary media of this work is in the form of mural sized panoramic designs exhibited in a production consisting of thousands of tiny tiles. These mosaics are in community

centers, public spaces and hospitals and form but a sub-sampling of her artistic output.

Oliver also nurtures promising creative potential within the individual and sees that returning participants arrive with an advanced skillset, and responds with designs that are slightly more challenging.

She has circumvented the traditional paradigm by expanding art education outside of the classroom, and into the community with its diverse age groups and cultural identities.

She is in the minority of women who have succeeded within an international art community that favors men. Last summer, the art world reexamined gender bias with guest-editor Maura Reilly crunching the numbers and leading the discussion in the June edition of ARTnews magazine revealing that women are featured Fine Art Magazine • 91

Cat Poem Digital Paintng © Gilda Oliver2015

Oliver designs, organizes, and contributes her signature painting style to mosaic murals pieced together by a rainbow of volunteers. in a stingy 30% of gallery shows (few of them solo), paid roughly 22% less than men, and passed over by biased collectors.

Reilly also revisited Linda Nochlin’s seminal essay; “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists” neatly shifting the conversation towards institutional inequality.

Although Gilda is familiar with the discriminatory tactics of the art world, she is respected for powerful multi-media paintings launched in cosmopolitan solo shows as well as the aforementioned community murals that travel to venues that include other audiences in its optimistic message. With recent wellreceived exhibitions at art fairs and galleries, and with a serious intent to see gender parity in the business of art, Gilda Oliver is a modern day Guerrilla Girl. Every so often the art world assesses the enraging statistics, and the gender Billie Holiday 9’ x 5’ Mosaic mural panel from Gilda Oliver’s JAZZ mural measuring 9’ x 50’ disparity in its midst. The resurgence of feminism is already fading, and a period of amnesia is sure to follow regenerative power of creativity. until the outrage is again fueled. In the meantime, Gilda Oliver Her work leads you on a journey to the future — an evolution continues to adapt her creative style to speak through the channels of the spirit represented in her Butterfly paintings — and the need of social media, now inviting a global community to celebrate the for us to open our eyes and see the world in a different way.

92 • Fine Art Magazine

Blue Last Days Butterfly, Digital Print, 44” x 44” © 2015 Gilda Oliver

Gilda’s positive outlook has not been lost on collectors in international art circles from Moscow to Miami. Her recent exhibition at the innovative and dynamic 25Kadr was featured in Modern Painter landing her at the top spot of that magazine’s Daily Blog. http://blogs.artinfo. com/modernpaintersdaily/2015/05/15/ gilda-oliver-at-the-port-discovery-museum/ Her luminescent multi-media paintings tap into hidden creativity. While Oliver employs high-fire, heavy duty, ceramic tiles for the community mosaics, she uses lightweight glass tiles in a labor-intensive process that produces iridescent, ethereal

paintings. She has recently explored digital painting with some of the results featured on these pages.

Oliver designed, organized, and contributed her signature painting style to the 9’ by 25’ mosaic mural pieced together by a rainbow of volunteers. She also plans to donate Jazz, her fifth mega-mural, to the Reginald Lewis Museum in Baltimore. Both projects mark critical milestone moments for the artist. In Prisms of Color in Outer Space, as well as in Jazz, the artist not only designed and organized her community projects, but also lent her signature painting style to them by painting on top of the mega-mosaics.

Moreover, Jazz is the first of Oliver’s megamural created for an adult audience more likely to identify with her mature purpose and passion. The community designs are intended to fuel a communal appreciation for beauty in unexpected places,..

The breadth of Gilda Oliver’s skill, her giving spirit and unique creative sense has lent itself to success — unlimited possibilities within diverse communities, as well as the international art world.

For further information, contact Oliver Painting and Ceramics Fine Arts Gallery Owner Marc Oliver mscoliver@gmail.com Fine Art Magazine • 93

Jamie Ellin Forbes: For The Love Of Creatures

“M

Pink Flamingos

y pictures are of creatures that fly, are endangered or rescued. Animals and insects become subjects within the portrait snapped. I celebrate my experience and time spent them. When shooting, I seek my subjects quiet response, their permission to capture. When possible, I make eye contact to lock in to moment’s energy to capture the life force, the beauty of the Zen now.

The butterflies were shot in late summer 2011, when hundreds swarmed 94 • Fine Art Magazine

Orangutan In Tree

on my front yard tree. This summer I possibly saw 50 during the migration season. Honeybee’s were once plentiful on all Long Island. Now they are very scarce, hard to find, difficult to shoot. The Wild Mustang was rescued, up for adoption at the Hampton Classic. Horses are hunted by helicopters, rounded up by the U.S. Government into holding pens for sale or slaughter.

The Goat was also at the Hamptons Classic. She is an ASPCA rescue animal. I have no idea what was her abuse. She loved the camera and

I’m A Wild Mustang Who Was Rescued, 27” x 39”, Moab metallic pearl face mounted on acrylic Seagull Watching Me, 18” x 24”, Moab metallic pearl face mounted on acrylic

Butterfly Trio,16” x 20”, Moab metallic pearl face mounted on acrylic

Rescued Goat Visits Hamptons Classic, 27” x 39”, Moab metallic pearl face mounted on acrylic

came up to the lens. Seagulls are plentiful; this one was over my house and hovered to watch me in a very cold winter sky. A flock came in for cat food. I was the kid who brought home every damaged or wounded small, homeless creature left on the roadside much to my mother’s dismay. I hope my love of animals is evident in my photographs. With each creature that goes extinct, we will lose the unheard sound of his or her beauty. Hopefully my pictures will bring to mind the fact most of us love nature, and find the diversity food for our souls.” –Jamie Ellin Forbes

Llama At The Hamptons Classic, 30” x 30”, Moab metallic pearl face mounted on acrylic

Honey Bee, 24” x 30”, Moab metallic pearl face mounted on acrylic

All of these images (and more), photographed by Fine Art Magazine Publisher Jamie Ellin Forbes are on view at SPECTRUM in Miami and also online at The Blue Poodle Gallery in a variety of sizes and media © Jamie Ellin Forbes/2015 SunStorm Arts Publishing Co., Inc. Fine Art Magazine • 95

CYNTHIA

Bodypaintography: ‘Eiffel Tower’ FL 2015

FLEISCHMANN

‘BODYPAINTOGRAPHY’ www.CynthiaFleischmann.com

96 • Fine Art Magazine

Michel Art Gallery (in historic Midtown Miami)

Presents Charles Carson, Grand Master Cynthia Fleischmann Garsot Mary Michel Moreau Paul Olivera Claudio Souza Pinto Steven Zaluski Piero Zangarini (Murano)

3300 North Miami Ave. - Midtown - Miami, FL 33127 - (305) 335-1998 e-mail: info@michelartgallery.com (parking in the rear) 81 • Fine Art Magazine