say studio abba_yearbook

StudioAbbaYearbook

EditorVito Abba

Catalogue editingCarlotta Marzaioli and Lara Cox

© 2012 Studio Abbawww.studioabba.com

© 2012 Carlo Cambi Editorewww.carlocambieditore.it

www.studioabba.com 3 [email protected]

Welcome to the first edition of the Studio Abba Yearbook!

As many of you will know, Studio Abba is involved in the promotion of living artists and the organisation of solo and group exhibitions for them. By producing an annual publication dedicated to the recent work of some of these artists, I can reach a still wider audience of interested (and interesting) people.

Indeed, the opportunity to present the first Studio Abba Yearbook 2013 at Art Basel Miami and to send it to more than nine hundred prestigious recipients including gallery owners, museum directors, collectors and dealers, together with Fish Eye magazine, comes about thanks to a long-standing collaboration with Carlo Cambi Editore. And I would like to thank Carlo Cambi for publishing our exhibition catalogues and for distributing them in the circuit of museum bookshops. Over recent years we have produced a large and successful range of catalogues for solo and group exhibitions, such as for OpenArtCode or WorldArtVision, catalogues that can be purchased online (paper version) or viewed online for free (digital version).

Another big ‘thank you’ must go to all the artists who have chosen to entrust Studio Abba with the promotion of their art, both those who have followed us over the years, as well as those who have just joined us.

Carlotta MarzaioliVito Abba


Studio Abba’s artists understand the importance of promoting their art, working in a team when they participate in my group exhibitions and even give another artist their back to rest on!!

They generously help others too and that is why we were invited to take tea at the Royal Academy by the charity AGBI! The OpenArtCode artists have sustained charities on more than one occasion. In the above—mentioned example, we organised a successful exhibition at the gallery@oxo on the Southbank, London in June 2010, where OpenArtCode supported AGBI, a British association that helps artists in need and whose Patron is H.R.H. the Prince of Wales. At OpenArtCode Montecarlo, the group supported Gemluc, an association composed of Monaco business companies engaged in the fight against cancer and whose Honorary President is H.R.H. Princess Caroline of Hanover. They have also united their talents to exhibit together in Paris at the Grand Palais and in Shanghai at the Pudong Library and at CEIBS (China Europe International Business School).

I would like to mention another larger-scale exhibition organised by Studio Abba: WorldArtVision. It has now been held in two prestigious locations and due to its success, we are already working towards the third edition. The first edition took place in 2008 at the Cancun Center in Mexico and the second edition in

OpenArtCode Grand Palais, Paris 2009 Marely Becerra’s performance at WorldArtVision Party Madrid 2012

Eugenio Riotto at Giardino Garzoni and Parco di Pinocchio

Collodi - Tuscany, 2007

Photo: Danish Saroee

2011 at the Real Círculo Artístico Barcelona, Spain. Both exhibitions were enriched by a very successful vernissage, a gala dinner which gave the artists the opportunity of meeting art critics, journalists and important local figures, and a series of complimentary collateral events including lectures and concerts, at which the artists and public could both participate. To give a few examples of solo exhibitions that Studio Abba has organised in exclusive locations in Italy, I should cite the Garzoni Gardens in Tuscany, the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence and the Arcetri Observatory that overlooks Florence.

Now I come to the practical aspects that affect our work to promote artists. Primarily I want to emphasize that from 2008 - when the global art market suffered a strong downward turn - to 2012, a year in which unfortunately the effects of the economic crisis continue to be seen, events organised by Studio Abba have been highly successful, have grown in number, the percentage of artists who have sold their works has increased and indeed, many artists have seen their prices rise. The choice of prestigious exhibition locations, from London to Paris, with a particular focus on cities with stronger or growing economies, such as Brazil or China, rewards our efforts. We have also fought the crisis by creating more opportunities for exhibitions, at the same time increasing the productivity of each event.

WorldArtVision Barcelona 2011OpenArtCode London 2010 catalogue signing at the Royal Academy


I will not hide that it has been, and still is, a great effort. Working at the rate of ten hours a day, often on Saturday and Sunday, we have been able to gain market space while other competitors are left behind. We have also seen that the opportunities offered by the evolution of the web and social networks for the promotion of artists are of fundamental importance. Our increased productivity is also due to the fact that it is now possible to work anywhere and everywhere. We issue press releases, post images on the web, inform our social network contacts and stay in touch with the artists, in real time. Given that at the moment of writing 50% of internet access is via smartphones and tablets, we have optimised our use of tools such as Blogger, Facebook, multimedia presentations for tablets, Flickr, Tumblr, Youtube, etc. We want the artists we collaborate with not only to be visible and noticeable, but we also demand that their work be beautifully presented: it is not only essential to use the latest technology but also the style, format and graphic design of the promotional piece must be eye-catching. Every day there is a new tool, some of these spread and are successful, others have a fleeting fame; if they offer valid opportunities for our artists, then we are eager to use them.However traditional methods (the successful ones anyway!) must not be left aside and for this reason I felt it important to create a Yearbook.

Finally, I would like to thank Carlotta Marzaioli, who all the artists working with Studio Abba know, not only for her graphic design skills of the catalogues and this Yearbook, but also because she is always ready to help the artists in any aspect of the exhibitions we organise.I also want to thank my partner Lara, whose passion for art is not only demonstrated in her having worked for three auction houses (including the contemporary art department at Sotheby’s London), but also in the help she gives me in my work.

I would like to thank Danish Saroee, who, with his incredible photos has documented many of our exhibitions; Fabrizio Pivari, not only for helping to further promote the artists through the portal Art & Artworks, but also for all the tricks of web marketing that he has taught me and secrets of the trade that he continues to reveal to me (and as you know the magicians rarely reveal their tricks!); Luisa Noriega, editor of Llei d’Art, who has collaborated with Studio Abba on a number of artistic projects with great energy and always with a smile.

I hope our Yearbook will be of interest to you and I wish all the artists and readers a succesful year.

Vito Abba

OpenArtCode London 2010

Danish Saroee WAV Party Madrid 2012 WorldArtVision Party Madrid 2012

WorldArtVision Cancun 2008 - Rina Lazo (Diego Rivera's assistant) between Los Fridos Arturo Estrada and Arturo Garcia Bustos

(Frida Kahlo’s assistants and pupils)

Fabrizio PivariVito AbbaLuisa Noriega


Jerry Carter at the Arcetri Observatory, Florence 2004

Sumio Inoue

www.sumioinoue.com 7 [email protected]

The world of light and shadowThe world where we feel silence and warmth

The moment when something sparks in the heartI feel this moment and the eye of my camera seizes itMy gratefulness extends out as a small, silent prayer.

Silenzioso 5


Sumio Inoue was born in 1948 in Tokyo, Japan. He studied photographic techniques at Tokyo Design Academy from 1968 to 1970 and at the Japan Design Center from 1970 to 1974. He began his career working in commercial photography and in 1990 changed to artistic photography. He lives and works in New York but still spends part of the year in Tokyo.The Japanese photographer has spent the past years carefully developing a series called Silenzioso: images printed on handmade sculptural rice paper, a process that takes several months and that depends on weather, temperature and humidity that all affect the printing. The results are rich with emotions. Church interiors, important monuments, town and cityscapes are printed with intensified focus and in infinitely monochromatic shades and shadows. To see something where nothing can be seen, uncovering and evoking unknown spaces with an antique pathos and to provoke one’s imagination, are the primary goals of Sumio’s art. Sumio Inoue has had solo and group exhibitions in Tokyo, New York, London, Paris, Deauville, Florence, Barcelona, Greece and Mexico. He is a member of the OpenArtCode group and also participated in WorldArtVision Barcelona 2011. In 2007, Sumio won the first prize for Photography at the Florence Biennale and won the Prix du Jury at GemlucArt, Monaco 2009. Sumio is currently participating in OpenArtCode Shanghai 2012, an ongoing group at exhibition

"To achieve the best result, I normally have to try five or six times.... Only a few works can be made in a year."

Silenzioso 32

that is travelling to various important cities in China and has also recently participated in the group’s exhibition in Art en Capital at the Grand Palais, Paris.



Sumio explains in his artistic statement his working process and the importance of shadow, “Shadows are fascinating to me. They exist where light exists. They always follow people, sometimes enormous, sometimes small, sometimes lighter or darker. Shadows are always with us, close by, touching. They grow as people grow and disappear when the person they followed passes away. From their creation to the moment of their destruction, objects also have their private shadows.I am attracted to the mysteriousness of shadow. In a way, shadows can be seen as reflections of the human consciousness; they seem to change to match our deepest feelings. A shadow has width and depth into which it draws passers-by with a gentle, cooling gesture. The immeasurable width of a shadow seeks out the incomprehensible universe; the shadow's depth rolls out as the roaring sea of imagination. Shadows know no limit. They invite imagination to wild trips even in their most monochrome formats. Where light hits surfaces, shadows are sharp and strong but where there is a lack of light shadows lazily define their existence. When printing a photo, determining the level of darkness can be a trial. I create heavy sheets of Japanese paper (a kind of rice

Silenzioso 68 Silenzioso 59

paper) onto which to print my images. It has taken me over ten years to develop my skills in printing onto irregular surfaces. Weather, temperature and humidity all affect printing. For example, it is almost impossible to print during the hottest summer or the coldest winter day. I dye each heavy sheet of paper with colours from tree barks and treat it with emulsion. Emulsion is applied to some areas darker than others.Although in photography it is the norm to produce multiple prints, I only do one of each. To achieve the best result, I normally have to try five or six times. The creation of a work takes about a month. Only a few works can be made in a year.I use thick paper so that the shadows can have more depth. However, because of the thickness of the paper, the colour does not keep on the surface but keeps soaking deeper into the paper. This makes it hard to create black. In fact, it is very hard to create anything to look like I initially imagined. But that's the way I like it - as a challenge. Often, my photos depict churches. They offer a certain silence of the universe, width and depth for the shadows to rest.I like to think of my work as creating unique paintings through photography."


“Several years ago, while I was working on an edition of the Florence Biennale, I had the opportunity to see a work by Sumio Inoue for the first time. It was in the early days of the event, frenetic times of preparation prior to each opening. I moved quickly from one side of the exhibition hall to the other (10,000 square meters!) with no time to stop to admire the artworks then. Every so often, my curiosity would be drawn to some work, but I would repeatedly say to myself, ‘you will be able to appreciate the art in the coming days, when everything is up and running smoothly.’ And so I kept going, from one side of the exhibition pavilion to the other until Sumio Inoue’s piece came into my field of vision. At that point I said, ‘I have to stop.’ I could not work out immediately if it was a drawing or a photograph, but I knew instinctively from afar that this was an extraordinary work. And the closer I got, the more curiosity gave way to admiration. The black and white shades, softened by an unworldly time, the shot itself, the subject matter, all fascinated me. In fact, even before the brain decoded all the signals, data and emotion that the work communicated, I had already realised that, in all the 2,000 pieces of art exhibited, I had just come across something very special.Several years have passed since that event, years that have allowed me to work with Sumio Inoue on many occasions and get to know both the professional and precise artist and the gentle and reserved person. It has always been, and is, truly a privilege.”

Vito Abba (Studio Abba)

Silenzioso: a series of images printed on handmade sculptural rice paper,

a process that takes several months and that depends on weather, temperature and humidity that all affect the printing.

Silenzioso 64 Silenzioso 17

Christine Drummond“The ultimate goal of art is JOY”(Gotthold E. Lessing)

" 'Joy' is what I want to bring to people through my paintings... 'Joy' through the choice of colours, the theme, the life and movement I bring to the canvas with each stroke of my palette knife. When I complete a painting, my strongest wish is that those who see it will be drawn into it and will want to be part of the happy atmosphere. If people feel good when they look at one of my pieces, if my paintings brighten their day in any way, then my mission as an artist is completely fulfilled."Christine Drummond

www.chdrummond.com 11 [email protected]

Windy day

How did you get into the art world?

12 years ago, I met an art teacher who, seeing my interest in painting, asked me if I wanted to paint under him. From my first canvas I knew I had found my way. In addition, this person immediately motivated me by saying that I had a knack with colours, that I chose them so easily just by looking at my colour palette, whereas other people needed to use the colour wheel to associate the correct colours and transpose it on the canvas. This seemed strange because I personally think that a work of art is a spontaneous creation and must remain an expression of the personality of the artist. This is the fun side, this feeling of freedom of expression through painting that captured me.

Christine Drummond was born and raised in Brazil. She received her formative education at the French Lycée in Rio and sees herself a true “carioca”, meaning a person born and raised in Rio de Janeiro. A true “carioca” enjoys life, has faith in the future and is an optimist and she brings these characteristics into her paintings. In 1999, she moved to the US and started painting using brushes but with little texture, the results revealed extremely colourful artworks that always depicted her native country. In 2004, she saw a display of Professor Ablade Glover’s work and this helped her to define her style and gave her a sense of freedom. With the bold strokes of her palette knife, she creates texture that in turn creates shapes and colours that become alive on her canvas.Today, Christine Drummond’s artworks are shown worldwide in collective and personal exhibitions, most recently with OpenArtCode group in the Salon des Artistes Indépendants in the Grand Palais, Paris in 2010, 2011 and 2012, and the solo exhibition at the Butler Goode Gallery in Sydney, Australia. Christine won the Prix du Concours at GemlucArt, Monaco 2011 and the prize was a subsequent, extremely successful, solo exhibition held at Galerie Ribolzi in June 2012, with HRH Princess Caroline of Hanover attending the vernissage.

What is your favourite subject matter?My favourite subject matter is the crowd. I love to paint groups of people in markets, carnivals, favelas. The idea of a crowd personally matches a sense of diversity, exchanges, a feeling of “everything is possible”. Alone, everything seems more difficult, while together we can all imagine and achieve. I paint these crowds that are always so cheerful and festive because I think the positive energy that emerges in a group is contagious in the same way, I hope that this energy emerges from my canvases.


What are the main stages in the evolution of your art?

It is true that throughout my 12 years of painting it has greatly evolved.At the very beginning I reproduced in my own way and with my own interpretation of colours, photos of paintings I found in art magazines. That lasted about 6 months until I went to the Dominican Republic and saw paintings by local artists, depicting their country, landscape and culture. I went home telling myself that I was going to paint my country, Brazil my way. With my colours and my interpretation. This trip was important because it made it clear to me what would become my inspiration,


Can you describe this very special technique of using a knife?

Painting with a knife gives me a sense of freedom in creation because nothing is static or delimited. Colours, when working with the knife and applying them on the canvas are not seeking clarification or detail, but rather an effect of motion, an aesthetic beauty. My technique is a whole: it is the choice of colours, the palette knife to apply the coloured strokes to the canvas and Brazilian music. It is a combination of visual pleasure (colours), tactile (application of paint on the canvas) and auditory (music). One without the other does not work for me. It may be the combination of these three parameters that makes my technique unique. It allows me, I hope, to convey positive energy through my paintings.

Brazil, but in my style.Then there were the different stages of the evolution of my style: in 2002 I participated in a collective exhibition in Chicago, in a beautiful art gallery that specialised in Haitian art. The gallery owner, during one of our conversations, suggested that I add texture to my painting, saying that it would gain more life and dimension. So I started at the beginning, certainly very timidly, to paint with more material. But it was not until several years later, in about 2004 that I finally understood what this gallerist wanted me to understand. Coming from a trip to Chicago O’Hare international terminal, I saw a very large painting by the artist Ganéen Ablade Glover, representing an African market, completely painted with a knife. Looking at this painting and the effect of material provided by this technique I realized that now I was never going to use a brush again in my paintings. This was the beginning of the third stage of evolution in my style. The palette knife.

Gooooool

Morro em festa Mercado em festa


Can you tell us more about your future projects?

From a professional point of view I have solo exhibitions already planned at the end of 2012 in São Paulo, Brazil and in March 2013 in Sydney, Australia sponsored by the Consulate who wants to use my paintings to convey the image of Brazil. As a Brazilian artist, this is a project that motivates me hugely. One of my future projects is to paint the festivities and celebrations during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The excitement and energy that will pervade in my country at that time will be unique and I want to be able to transpose it in my paintings, to be shared with others in my future exhibitions.From a personal point of view, a project that is close to my heart, is to help a humanitarian organisation in Rio that cares for street children. I am in contact with the director and I hope to be able to do a painting workshop with the children. If my paintings can bring some joy to these children, I will then feel very good and happy about that.

Festa do samba

H i l d e K l o m p

www.hildeklomp.nl 15 [email protected]

Hilde Klomp was born in the Netherlands in 1954. Initially she studied experimental photography. After attending a five-day workshop on bronze casting eight years ago, interest in her work began to develop. Many commissions followed, and she was invited to various exhibitions in the Netherlands as well as abroad. Hilde is increasingly becoming aware of her desire to visualize emotions in her sculptures. Through her passion for photography, film and sculpting, she wants to demonstrate how apparently simple things can be beautiful. These basic, intense moments touch her heart, and she feels the need to visually express this in her work.The human figure, posture, shape, and especially movement are endless sources of inspiration for Hilde. Some people experience a sense of pride, gracefulness and movement in her work, while others feel that the sculptures express a sense of self-assurance. To Hilde, the front and back of a sculpture are equally important. The viewer is invited to touch the sculptures; they can be turned and moved.

Hilde has participated in exhibitions in the Netherlands and beyond, including the first edition of WorldArtVision Cancun in 2008. She is a member of the OpenArtCode group, having exhibited at the Grand Palais in Paris in 2010 and in Shanghai in 2012.

Circles of life Circles of life (detail)

www.hildeklomp.nl 15 [email protected]

What were the inspirations and influences for your latest artwork?

My last sculpture is called Coco. I made the sculpture for my daughter, whose name is Coco and who studied fashion. Last year I was seriously ill and had to have a major heart operation. My first thought when I awoke from the anaesthetic was that I had not yet made a sculpture for my children. Coco was born on the 11th of November, so I made eleven torsos and joined them with a chain. One of the torsos is dressed, to symbolise Coco, having studied fashion.

Do you think that travel and getting to know different artistic styles and techniques outside of your country enriches your art? Indeed, meeting other artists? If so, how can we see this in your art?

Yes, I am very interested in other cultures, and I find meeting colleagues from other countries at exhibitions a continuous source of inspiration.

How has the internet changed your activity as an artist?

I find it inspiring to receive emails from foreign colleagues. Chatting about my work with them from various parts of the world is also very constructive.

How do you see contemporary art moving forward?

In my opinion, photography is on the increase. I am quite pleased about this, as I have actually studied experimental photography.

Do you think the artistic styles are similar to the economic recession, that they move in circles? For example, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism etc etc?

Certainly, more and more so. You can see that there is a great longing for nostalgic material, vintage etc. There seems to be a desire for basic materials; globalism and individualism are disappearing.

How important is the viewer’s interpretation of your art and more specifically the comprehension of the content, for you?

Everybody may see and feel what they want to see and feel. What’s important to me is that my art has an effect on the viewer! This is not my intention when I create it, but I am very happy when it happens, and when people recognize something of themselves in my work.

Balinese catwalk

Sara Palleria

www.sarapalleria.com 17 [email protected]

The painter Sara Palleria was born in Rome, where she lives and works. She received her degree in Education Sciences and still works in this research field in parallel to her artistic career, with particular reference to the world of colour linked to the psychology of emotions. She collaborates with various institutions in the visual arts sector and runs education courses on images and colour laboratories and is one of the founding members of the artistic and cultural association “ARS arteromasedici”. Her large-scale oils on canvas stagger the viewer for their intrinsic beauty and use of colour and nuances of texture and energy. She loves to paint all that “the eye thinks it sees.” In her artistic statement, Sara explains “The crossing of colour, alternating between heaven and earth, between light and dark ... the expression of colours and materials ... all that seems to be... and instead becomes something else, where colours and the earth slip away and cling to uncertain boundaries in the nature of the underlying human journey”. Over the last ten years her abstract expressionism has become more complete, the space of the canvas refers to inner journeys that the artist has taken drawing out a timeless reality that is vividly concrete. In the use of light and colour she suggests a hint of a background and foreground, yet it is undecipherable with its uncertain boundaries of nature and imagination. It is also in the titles that Sara Palleria gives to her works, that can be both humorous, cynical and certainly poetic, that she also gives the viewer a clue to the canvas’s significance, beyond that which we imagine for ourselves, Gli uomini nella rete (Men on the internet), Pioggia Estiva (Summer rain), Riflessi d’esate (Summer reflections) or Isola di vetro (Glass island). Furthermore, “the expressionism of colours and materials, remind us that nothing is peaceful in nature and it unleashes forces with which man is to be measured. Especially in the case of this artist, who lives in constant research, in constant tension. These works by Sara Palleria, as indeed for most of contemporary art, are not a point of final destination, but rather a fundamental choice to work with more changes, ideas and projects”. (Alberto Toni)

What were the inspirations and influences for your most recent work?

Generally I draw inspiration for my work from my moods, representing my emotions and my feelings with extensive areas of colour and attempting to get a sfumato, polished or translucent, opaque effect; areas of colour that sometimes seem to appear on different levels and other times appear suspended in space, that on closer observation, one may be able to see half-drawn figures. I am particularly drawn to the majority of the Abstract Expressionists, in the true meaning of the movement: the post-World War II American School where the sphere of sentiments is expressed through action painting.

La terra racconta

www.sarapalleria.com 17 [email protected]

Do you think travel and learning about different styles and artistic techniques outside of your own country enriches your art and in particular in the meeting of other artists? If so, can you see this in your art?

Yes, I think it is very important to get to know other artists, the different ways of approaching the visual arts and sharing these experiences in painting. It is a fundamental collective dimension that any artist can enter into to find a new very personal artistic path thanks to the discovery of and the direct comparison with, other ways other than their own, to create art.

Are there elements of continuity in your paintings that attest to the presence of an influence of an artist’s style rather than another?I think the elements of continuity in my paintings can be read on the more obvious levels of theme and style of major artists such as Ad Reinhardt or Rothko.... I don’t know.... for example, often I love to create paintings within paintings, paint one area of colour inside another, create a grid of irregular squares like a puzzle, which differ between each other in their subtle or clear chromatic tones, so each piece forces the eye to concentrate to the maximum so as to identify hidden figures, created by these contrasting colours.Do you think art styles are similar to the economic downturn, which move in a circle? For example, Impressionism,

L’attesa Passaggio

Post-Impressionism, Neo Impressionism etc. etc.? I think that the cyclical nature of the economy or that of history can indeed be compared to the artistic movements. In every period, there are events that overwhelm men and their products, to becoming restless, so that nothing changes and nothing is ever the same, everything comes back under different forms that are apparently not recognisable and everything in art is closely related to each other. And the point of pseudo arrival of each movement is the starting point for another.How important for you is the viewer’s interpretation of your art and more particularly, to the understanding of the content?The messages in my work are always of a spiritual and mental nature and the attempt to convey to the viewer these same feelings cannot always be interpreted in the same way that I “imprinted them on the canvas”. I fully realise that every observer has psychological connotations and abilities to see and hear in a totally individual way and of course which could be different from those of the author-artist; so I don’t think it’s indispensable for those who are looking at a painting of mine to interpret it, it’s not necessary for me as each eye sees what it wants to see in this type of painting. The viewer has to enter the painting, live it and "understand", if he wants to adhere to his way of "feeling". It's just a question of emotions, an exchange between those who produce it and those who can enjoy it.

Else Pia Mart insen Erz

www.galerie-erz.dk 19 [email protected]

Swans From heaven


A day's start at the Atelier:

The morning is casting light over Rømø.I jump on my bicycle; just reached the dikes,

rain lashing against my face and my jeans stick to my body.

Nearly a white day, where all colours lie in the grey tonality scale.

Beautiful!!I'm continuing;

water dripping all through the house.Looking forward to a hot shower,

dry clothes and a cup of good smelling coffee for the review of yesterday's painting.

An inspiring start to a day in my atelier.

enough still to find in Denmark”.(Tom Joergensen B.A., Editor of Kunstavisen).From 1997, Else Pia has had numerous exhibitions in art organizations, galleries and museums, both on a national and international level, has created a large mural for a residence for a private dementia hospital and in 2002, she opened Galerie Erz. In 2010, she exhibited with the OpenArtCode group in London, Monaco and Paris, at the Grand Palais, from 2010- 2012. In 2011 she attended at the WorldArtVision Barcelona and she also had an extremely successful solo exhibition in Flensburg, Germany, where a series of her Migratory birds was exhibited. Else Pia is currently participating in OpenArtCode Shanghai 2012, an ongoing group exhibition that is travelling to some of the most important Chinese cities.

Born in 1961 in Feldborg, Denmark, Else Pia Martinen Erz studied business operations management, worked in the textile and clothing industry for some time and then changed direction to study drawing and painting techniques.

Else Pia’s large-scale acrylic on canvas are an impressive documentation of and eulogy to nature and in particular, to that close to her heart in Denmark. “For Else Pia Martinsen Erz, the flat marshland of southern Jutland (Denmark) is her artistic universe. This is where she lives and where her world begins. With its open, overwhelming horizons she paints the sparse landscape and the animals living there: this may be a flock of sheep, but above all she is absorbed by the life of birds. She is not a naturalistic painter. Her birds are not photographic reproductions, on the contrary

she depicts her subject in a slightly stylized manner with a sense of timelessness. Equally, she does not stick just to local colours, but lets the colours take on their own compositions. She is both faithful to nature whilst emphasizing her artistic interpretation of it. She has stylistic links with Johannes Larsen and his unsentimental pictures, although, with her interest in elaborate shapes and patterns, her paintings have an art nouveau element. Her paintings are elegant, powerful, precise and poetic and pay homage to the free and unspoiled landscapes which we are fortunate

OpenArtCode Shanghai 2012

OpenArtCode Shanghai 2012OpenArtCode Paris 2010



My latest work is inspired by the migrating birds in the wonderful Wadden See area and is combined with a new source for my basic values in life. The painting entitled From Heaven is about my desire to express the beauty on earth and the need for spirituality to fulfill my life. Being in the nature always fills me with energy, silence and freedom and I hope that everyone can, at some stage, develop an understanding of the need for peace and joy.

Do you think that travel and getting to know different artistic styles and techniques outside of your country enriches your art? Indeed meeting other artists? If so, how can we see this in your art?

Traveling to other countries is a fundamental part of my way of living as an artist. I love to see and enjoy art from all over the world and meet new cultures, it gives me a lot of energy and motivation to paint. My contact with people

that I meet often gives me new inspiration or other ways to look at my own art. I am not inspired by the art I see, but it is more a way of relaxing and clearing my mind and then I am able to look at my own inspiration and expression in a new and stronger way. I love colours and see different colour combinations everywhere, in towns I am visiting, in the wonderful nature or when I meet people.


Internet has made it easy to show my art at www.galerie-erz.dk to old and new customers. I see that a lot of people are following my artwork on the internet and many are very well informed when they visit my gallery in Denmark. I get a lot of questions by email about the paintings, people and groups that want to visit me and invitations to exhibit on a national and international basis. A lot of my organisation and contacts are done by email. However, I always want to know and talk with people who I work closely with on an exhibition and it is very important for me to have personal contact with my clients and people who attend my exhibitions.

Outdoor woodcut printing in Flensburg, 2011 Happy ending of the woodcut printing, Else Pia


How do you see contemporary art moving forward?

I see and believe that contemporary art is moving in all different directions, in different ways for each artist.

Do you think the artistic styles are similar to the economic recession, that they move in circles? For example, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Neo-Impressionism etc.?

The economic recession has not affected my way of painting or selling paintings. I have sold very well over the last years and I am thankful and feel lucky for that. To me it is very important to keep my own focus and not get affected by negativity you can find in any society. I am always looking for the positive and try to get away from negative vibes.

How important is the viewer’s interpretation of your art and more specifically the comprehension of the content, for you?

I have the pleasure of meeting many of my clients and visitors at the gallery in Denmark, to talk with them and listen to their interpretation of my art and this is very valuable for me. Comprehension of the content is even more important when I am asked to do special paintings for official buildings, hospitals and schools. An ongoing process makes my ideas transform into something that also corresponds with the location and the people that are using the rooms. Hopefully my paintings are integrated in the buildings and give inspiration and motivation to the viewer.

H.R.H. Prince Joachim of Denmark making the opening speechat Under a Black Sun exhibition in Copenhagen 2012 OpenArtCode Shanghai 2012

Dove 4Dove 3

Kensuke Shimizu

www4.ocn.ne.jp/~kensuke/sub1.html 23 [email protected]

Kensuke Shimizu was born in 1974 in Tokyo, Japan and currently lives in Turku, Finland, having previously also lived in London and Minnesota. He is an artist, creative writer and cultural researcher.Indeed, words and humour play an important part in his creative art works, where visual art and writing intersect each other to become one. His mixed media works may include human characters sometimes ballet dancers or musicians, that appear as part of a story in a dream-like atmosphere. One can see a clear influence of Basquiat and his use of graffiti but without the violence of the American artist’s works; indeed Kensuke’s colourful works, on the contrary, are full of humour and gentle and fun sequences with their characteristic annotations. Bicycles may be seen as a nature-friendly ecological vehicle, expressing the relationship between human beings and the natural environment and shoes and shoelaces in his art, are a recurring symbol of communication. Kensuke Shimizu has exhibited his artworks internationally in Europe (Italy, France, Finland, Spain, Austria, and so on), and also in Japan, China, and USA. His solo exhibitions have been held in Helsinki, Turku, Tallinn, Tokyo, Paris, and Rome. He is currently also participating in OpenArtCode Shanghai 2012, an on-going group exhibition that is travelling between various important cities in China.

WorldArtVision Party Madrid 2012



Mademoiselle going to the theater

Bon voyage Favorite cafe

Dreaming wondering


What do you want to express in your art?

Literature in art. I like to bring literature (story-telling) into my art. I often insert words and phrases and also the human characters are like individuals appearing in some story for me. In addition to paintings, I sometimes write poems and stories. I have written 3 books, all of which have been published.

Humour. Another aspect is humour that is important for me and which I inject in both my paintings and drawings. By using lines, I create a joyful atmosphere, full of humour.

Movement. I like to bring movement into my art. By my including bicycles, sport, ballerinas and my way of drawing human characters, together with these texts, the viewer gets an idea of movement.

What has had a positive influence on your art?

The short stories by Jules Supervielle that depict dreamlike worlds and thoughts, in particular in the work, L’Enfant de la Haute Mer (short story taken from the collection L’Enfant de la Haute Mer) have influenced me a lot. I read the Japanese translation of this story in 1993 and it completely changed my views on fiction. After I had finished it, I wanted to make creative works, in which visual art and writing were combined, as if they were inside each other and continually intersecting each other.

Music. Music has been always played an important part in my life and on occasion people feel music in my art. I used to play the piano for about 20 years or so, but when I make my artworks, I sometimes feel music in them too. It is as if I play music in my art.

Life in foreign countries. I am Japanese, but in total so far, I have spent roughly 14 years of my life, in places outside Japan including USA, UK, and Finland. The beautiful natural environment in Finland and their colours have a good influence on my art.

Literature...Movement...

Music on streets

Mademoiselle visiting cafe


Where do you get the inspirations or ideas for your art?

I get inspirations or ideas for my art from many different situations. Sometimes when I walk around a town, travel to new places or when I visit museums, where I try to imagine how the paintings were made, this gives me ideas. Or it could be just from watching TV or old movies; I like drawing hats in my art as I like to recreate the atmosphere of old movies. I also often draw ballerinas and this idea first came from my experiences of seeing a beautiful photo in a ballet magazine. So, I am continually looking for new ideas and inspirations that can come from completely different sources.

What do you do in Finland?

In addition to being an artist, I am a researcher and am studying for a PhD degree in European Ethnology at the University of Turku. For me, doing research is sometimes creative; as I have said, I also create poems and stories. Recently I have taken up cooking too. All of these are, for me, related to “creativity” and “thinking”. So, I guess I like doing something creative that also involves thinking.

Why do you live in Finland now? How is your life in Finland related to your career as an artist?

When I lived in Minnesota in 1997, I met a Finnish student and we talked about Finland and so I became more interested in the country. I studied Finnish at the University of Minnesota for 2 years then for another year in London and subsequently moved to Turku, Finland in 2002 and have lived here ever since. The experience of meeting this Finnish person (still a friend of mine) changed the course of my life and so I am glad that I met this friend. This is related to my art too, because it is here in Finland where great opportunities have started opening up for me and that I have begun to exhibit more and more.

...Humour

...Music......

I like doing something creative

Dreaming meeting

Karl Stengel

www.karlstengel.com 27 [email protected]

Karl Stengel was born in 1925 in Hungary. He studied art in Budapest, where he trained in painting and drawing and also received an introduction to the principles of set design and architecture, the influence of which can be seen in his current artistic style. After 1956, he studied for a period at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich and subsequently taught at the Pädogogische Hochschule at Munich University. Recently, Stengel has created a series of drawings for the Italian Institute of Culture in Germany that were dedicated to Boccaccio’s Decamerone and to Frammenti by Giuseppe Ungaretti, and of late, Stengel has conceived a series of pastel drawings that are homage to Tristano muore by Antonio Tabucchi.

Figura 21 Figura 16

Figura 8

The artist’s works attempt to answer questions about human experiences and address life in all its absurdity, complexity and tragedy, through surreal expressionism and lyrical abstraction. Stengel has exhibited his works worldwide, his personal exhibitions have been hosted throughout Italy most recently, in April 2011, in the Salone Donatello in the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence, Italy.

In October 2012, Karl Stengel had a personal exhibition at the George Toparcenau Cultural Centre in Curtea de Arges, Romania.

www.karlstengel.com 27 [email protected]

Stengel’s way of ‘gesticulating’ with blurred dynamic brush strokes (in contrast to the surrounding homogeneity of the backgrounds), at times ‘watercolourish’, create a kind of imaginary and imaginative alphabet consisting of symbols and graphic scribbles, an absolute and anti-harmonic ‘graphic-pictorial writing’ that finds inspiration in musical language and seems to find lifeblood and resonant comments in Schoenberg’s dodecaphonic technique. The artist, with both the inspiration of a great composer and the skill of a conductor, makes gestural marks and the colours move on the canvas and on the paper so as to give us emotionally dynamic scores, where a contained and mediated gesture finds its response in a strong colour that defines an expressionist space, conceived as a place evocative of spirituality. Colour which then takes on a larval form in the shape of a human figure ‘created’ by Stengel, arising from that very colour to dance free of any grid on the canvas, in a play of reds, of aqua greens and of silent blacks, with hints of blue, on static grey-white backgrounds, that create the pauses in the composition. His work, in the predominantly pastel and pencil on paper phase, has never looked to be only abstract but also suggests a simplified poetically surreal language; in the last period he abandons himself, therefore, to the fantastic triumph of pure colour, in a joyous, absolute and formal freedom, to then return to a shadow of figuration. […]

In Stengel’s drawings on a big ‘out of scale’ white page, where the existential parable of life is written, pages are taller than the figures themselves. He wraps them folded in two or three parts like a screen, like the background to a scene where the characters act and interact but that isolated from each other […] standing out against the coloured background of a magmatic inner Cosmos to be explored. They are almost shapeless figures, sometimes like a coloured shadow of a man, in turn projecting a dark shadow onto the big “Sheet of Life”, that whilst revealing on the one hand, the absence of a character in a specific somatic connotation, on the other they represent a presence that both reveals and conceals, that lies in its ethereal inconsistency. (Giampaolo Trotta)

Figura 24

Marco Aurélio Rey

www.marcorey.com.br 29 [email protected]

Marco Aurélio Rey was born and lives in São Paulo, Brazil. He started painting with oils when he was a child and in the 1980’s he specialised in Industrial Design and Visual Communications. At this stage of his life, he stopped painting to work in the world of fashion. However in the 1990’s, he re-started to paint using gouache on paper and his most recent series Ar livre or "Free air" shows the relationship between memories and emotions. His latest style reminds one clearly of Gerhard Richter’s works and they are proud and elegant eulogies to nature and its intrinsic beauty. The artist has participated in various art fairs in Brazil, Belgium, Italy,

France and Spain where, in 2011, after three collective exhibitions, Marco Aurélio had a solo show at the Aragon Gallery in Barcelona. In 2010 and 2011, he participated in the collective show Art en Capital at the Grand Palais in Paris and has most recently had an important solo exhibition in Brazil.

Dança com vento 2 Dança com vento 1

www.marcorey.com.br 29 [email protected]

What were the inspirations and influences for your latest artwork?Ecology and the sustainability of nature; I wish people would take care of it rather than destroy it!


Internet is great because with it, I can keep in touch with the world and I have more opportunities to “meet” interested parties which leads to sales and new exhibitions around the world.

Do you think the artistic styles are similar to the economic recession, that they move in circles? For example, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Neo impressionism etc etc?

All artistic expressions are based on what happens in the world; if there are problems or moments of happiness artists interpret this in their art. Now artists like to show the new age and new influences are ecology and of course the economy.

Caminho

Ar livre (detail)

How important is the viewer’s interpretation of your art and more specifically the comprehension of the content, for you?In my art I would like to make people think about good things and feel positive vibrations and emotions. You can see the good energy in my art but with daily life and routine you can lose this; it is important to memorize constructive aspects of life and optimistic feelings and this can be through my art.

M a r y B r i l l i

www.marybrilli.com 31 [email protected]

Mary Brilli, born in Turin, Italy is an eclectic artist but has lived in Paris for many years now.

Only those who know Mary Brilli can really understand her strong personality and by knowing her world, her work and her loves and passions, can we see her as a free, self-critical and unconventional artist. In reality, her works reflect her great faith in imagination and in satire and she wants the spectator to reflect on her criticism of this irrational and complex world without prejudice. Mary works extremely skilfully and professionally in a large variety of genres from painting,

sculpture, drawing to silk and painted collages; she has created designs for Hermès-Paris and made installations. Indeed her sculpture in the form of the Eiffel Tower made up of her catalogues (Passion pour la vie, Art en Capital, Grand Palais 2008) or her personally-designed silk scarves wrapped round Renaissance statues on the staircase of the Palazzo Viti in Volterra Italy (VolterraArte 2010) are testimony to her extraordinary charisma and skill as a wide-ranging, multi-talented artist. Her passion and enthusiasm, strength and vitality for the project she is working on in that moment, indeed her commitment to it, is outstanding and these attributes all come across in the final product, whatever that might be.

This love of art is also expressed in writing through poetry and journalism. Furthermore, humanitarian work is also extremely important to her and in December 2011, Mary received the award, Trophée de la Réussite au Féminin, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris.

Clin d’œil - L’air du temps (two details)


Clin d’œil

Science, d’où prévoyance


As a kid, I wanted to be a racing-driver with a beautiful red Ferrari!

OpenArtCode Paris: Mary avec Mme Tacque (Présidente d'Art en Capital et de la Sociéteé des Artistes Indépendants - 2009) Virtuel platonique rouge et noir

Indefini 1 Indefini 2


Did you dream of becoming a painter when you were a child?No, as a kid, I wanted to be a racing-driver with a beautiful red Ferrari!

Let’s speak a little about your paintingFor me, you either like or dislike a work of art, but you don’t judge it. It’s as simple as that.

Your art is very graphic …In fact, I have created a kind of figurative art markedly graphic.

Where do you get your inspiration?From everywhere: a sentence, a look, a flower, a poem, a song, a reflexion of a philosopher or even from some social injustice … anything can be a source of inspiration for me. You just have to know how to listen, to see and to remember.

Do you employ any special techniques?No. I’m completely eclectic, oil, acrylics, pastel, drawing, engraving, collage, plaster, installations…it all depends on the choice of my subjects.

What determines the price of a picture?It’s the emotion of the art lover or collector which gives it is value. Without this emotion, the work of art does not exist.

I’m completely eclectic... Oil, acrylics, pastel, drawing, engraving,

collage, plaster, installations…

Clin d’œil

Agneta Gynning

www.agnetagynning.com 35 [email protected]

Agneta Gynning is a Swedish sculptor who studied under Victor Praznik, a sculptor with roots in the former Yugoslavia. He inspired her to specialise in bronze and marble and also introduced her to working in Pietrasanta in Italy, a town of international importance and fame for sculpture, and where Agneta returns annually.She works in bronze, marble, glass and rubber and her art succeeds in fusing both classical and modern influences. It is inspired by the subconscious and is full of movement; the lines she creates are elegant, graceful and transmit a feeling of life and soul, with a free spirit that seems to inhabit the space both within and around her artworks. Rubber is the most recent material that Agneta is exploring and working with and with which she reveals an instinctive talent to uncover the emotionally evocative power of its colour and movement. Agneta is inspired by the ocean and goes for long walks along the beach to find creativity; she travels regularly and is passionate about discovering art from ancient civilizations. Furthermore, she regularly attends dance performances to find new inspiration for alternative movement in her sculptures; as the body and human interaction are fundamental aspects of her sculptures.

Together

www.agnetagynning.com 35 [email protected]

Agneta had her first exhibition in 1995 and her work has now been exhibited all over Scandinavia as well as in southern Europe and China. Last year Agneta’s work was shown at the Florence Biennale, ArtExpo in New York, OpenArtCode Shanghai, at the Chianciano International Art Awards in Italy,


A few years ago I visited a show with an artist who used rubber in paintings. I fell in love with the expression of the material and got inspired to explore how I could use this contemporary material in sculpting. After a while I got in touch with Helsingborg’s gummi AB, and through them I learned how to work with the material. In bronze and rubber the colours are much more subtle, but now I have found a new colourful world. Using the same forms as before, I suddenly experienced a new way to express my feelings through colour.

How important are the viewer’s interpretation of your art and more specifically their comprehension of the content, for you?

I make my sculptures for myself. It’s my way to express my inner feelings. But it’s very interesting to listen to and get to know how my work affects others. Listening to the viewers’ interpretation of my work makes me see if I have succeeded in transmitting my idea for the sculpture. It also gives me new eyes to look at the world and possibilities to develop a deeper understanding of how others experience my art.

All the same but

Dancers

In the center

where she won the Leonardo Award for sculpture, and at the Grand Palais in Paris. In 2013, she will participate at the first London Biennale in January and have a solo exhibition in New York. In Sweden, Agneta Gynning’s sculptures can be found in both public areas as well as in private collections.

www.evelynehuet.com 37 [email protected]

Evelyne HuetBorn in 1955, Evelyne Huet is a mathematician by training, a discipline she chose for the aesthetic and infinitely dreamlike dimension of the objects it describes; she also studied anthropology. Evelyne lives and works in Paris. Strongly influenced by the culture and arts of societies seen as primitive, as well as artists such as Bernard Buffet, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Marlene Dumas, her paintings speak of women around the world, often set in a backdrop of violence. Her paintings depict neither the violence nor its perpetrators, but instead reflect the courage and dignity of these women. Their thoughts and expressions show the strength of their intelligence and contempt fuelling their resistance to what life has dealt them. Her paintings attempt to simplify the representation to the extreme in order to show only the essential. The women she paints never give up. Many are even in active resistance.She is a member of the OpenArtCode group of international artists and exhibits regularly in France and abroad.

What message do you want to convey through your paintings?

All across the world, girls are in greater danger than boys, and unfortunately this imbalance is not going to disappear anytime soon.Girls’ access to life, to health care, and to education is obvi-ously an important issue. As is protecting women against rape, honour crimes, domestic violence, mutilations, sexual slavery…In my paintings I don’t want to show the acts of violence or their perpetrators but instead they are meant to reflect what women are thinking during these violent situations, as well as the courage and strength they are able to find to resist and bounce back.I have an unending admiration for all these women, and I like to tell myself that, even though they all lose under the blows of their aggressors, they are the ones that come out on top through the strength of their spirit - because in the end they are Davids to their Goliaths. However this is of course but an idealised consolation and as such is illusory. The full horror remains.

The warrior

The blue Lady

www.evelynehuet.com 37 [email protected]

Hey sister you gonna win

Tiril

Sharon Brill

Tiril Benton was born and educated in London in 1955 and now lives in Alabama, in the US. She works on canvas, paper and board using a large variety of mediums from oils, acrylics, watercolours and gouache to pencil, soft pastels and pen and ink."My work is purely intuitive. The concept manifests itself as the painting evolves. Each painting to me is a record of an extraordinary moment of existence, a confirmation in the reality of the journey of the spirit. Always cognizant of the tenuous balance necessary for the painting’s evolution, I yield to a greater force. It is within this state ofthoughtless awareness that I am able to connect on a level that I cannot verbalise. I believe that through the language of art, we are able to communicate on the highest vibrational level." Tiril has participated in many solo and collective shows in the USA and her works belong in private collections in various countries worldwide.

Sharon Brill has participated in various group exhibitions in New York and in Europe.

Her current works are abstract, organic porcelain sculptures. The natural beauty of the sea and the composition of the light, air, water and sand, the shapes, textures, colours, softness and intensity are all sources of inspiration for her ceramics. On talking about her work, Sharon says, “it is an exploration, a quest that combines spontaneous, intuitive work with meticulous accurate aesthetics as an expression of beauty. [...] The concept of my works exists in the marriage between two poles: aspiration for meticulous and restrained aesthetic on the one hand, and unrestricted spontaneous and intuitive search on the other, the understanding of the integration between perfection and freedom.”

The forms are made from wheel thrown and altered porcelain, fired to 1260⁰ C /2232⁰ F. The porcelain remains bare. The works are sanded with various grades of sandpaper from rough to smooth, before and after being fired.

Born in Israel, Sharon Brill currently lives and works in New York, USA. After graduating from the Neri Bloomfield School of Design in Haifa, she worked as a graphic designer for about 10 years, yet needing to work with tactile materials again, she turned back to her old love for ceramics.

www.sharonbrill.com [email protected]

www.artbytiril.com [email protected]

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www.mariarosina.fi 39 [email protected]

www.annemiekewolter.nl [email protected]

Maria Rosina Jaakkola

Annemieke Wolter

“My two careers have taken me around the world in search for beauty. I am fascinated by nature’s formations, cliffs in their lifeless stability as well as lines of the human body.” These rapid impressions, travel diaries that are always made in situ, capture a moment in time and space. The watercolour block and the sketchpad follow her everywhere, from the stones of remote places in the Finnish archipelago to renaissance gardens of the Mediterranean or seashores in South Africa.She has had two personal art exhibitions recently and has participated in many group exhibitions, both in Finland and abroad, the latest in New York.

Maria Rosina Jaakkola is both a practising landscape architect and a regularly exhibiting artist. Her background includes various fine art studies, in Helsinki, Finland, and Florence, Italy, where she studied sculpture. She also holds a Master's degree in Landscape Architecture and works as head of office in city planning.

Annemieke Wolter was born in Bussum, the Netherlands in 1956. She attended the Gooise Academy for Fine Arts in Laren and then between 2006 and 2010 she followed a Colloquium Art History, at the Community College (VA) Amsterdam. Her works are held in both national and international private and corporate collections.

“Over the years, my search has led to a colourful and diverse collection of paintings. My work is usually large in size and the colour scheme is basically warm, bright and sparkling. Intensive use of paint and minimalizing of colours are responsible for a layered texture and an abstract perspective. Life forms an inexhaustible source of inspiration for me, and rather than imitate it, for me it requires an abstract representation together with a personal vision and a creative use of brushstrokes”. Although various styles can be recognised in Annemieke’s work, as she herself says, her most recent pieces could be considered to be lyric abstract expressionist art. The artist has participated in many group and solo exhibitions and together with the acknowledgements that she has received for her work, she is continually motivated to add new dimensions to her art.

www.artbytiril.com [email protected]

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Italian garden

www.tomonorinishimura.co.uk [email protected]

Amy C. Storey

Amy C. Storey lives and works in New York City and studied at the Vermont Studio Center, Yale University and the University of Cincinnati. She is an abstract painter and her painting philosophy starts from reflections on the origins of life and on mythology. Amy has always been interested in botany, physics and philosophy and her works often recall humanity and individuality and they have a sense of aggregation in an abstract composition in which the image emerges through an unconscious process. She is engaged with materials, human gestures, mind and self and non-self-interaction and the result is the illusion of a spontaneous and natural image. Amy has had many personal exhibitions all over the United States and Canada, the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, Harvard University and City University in New York. Her most recent solo exhibition took place in 2011 at the New York Condé Nast Building: Paintings From The Ghost Flowers.

Tomonori NishimuraTomonori Nishimura was born in 1978 in Osaka, Japan. He studied Art at the Chelsea College of Fine Art in London and graduated in 2001. He uses metallic colours to paint wild plants that are extinct or critically endangered, and ginkgo biloba that has existed for more than 200 million years. He developed his work Plant/Metal on the concept of duality and harmony of opposites: plants

www.amycstorey.com [email protected]

Contenance of hecate

Dream of the white elephant

Eggs of chronos

The ancestors

Let’s dance

Adieu mon amour

and metals each have different properties and he explores ways of integrating and harmonising them.He has recently exhibited at the Brick Lane Gallery in London and participated in the Barcelona Showcase at the Casa Batlló in Barcelona.

Paphiopedilum

Ginkgo Ferrum

www.christinajekey.com 41 [email protected]

Emmanuel de BritoChristina Jekey

Christina Jékey was born in Brussels in 1962, of Hungarian descent. In 2002, she obtained a Master’s degree with magna cum laude from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Brussels. Tireless explorer of the many possibilities offered by materials such as wood, metal or stone, Christina employs space intensely and brings out the potential of the material she is working with, giving it new life. Her work is demanding and she looks for coherence in it; her work questions the laws of the universe and dares to assert beauty in her work, in the tradition of great contemporary sculptors. Her sculptures are fascinating and offer what one could call an “additional soul”. Christina also produces graceful and rhythmical, finely carved furniture and mystical, poetical mandalas. She has won several prizes for her work, it has been shown in solo and collective exhibitions in Europe and the US and her sculptures also form part of many private collections in Europe, the US and the United Arab Emirates.

Emmanuel de Brito is a photographer born in Domont, France in 1972. He graduated in Civil Engineering at Lyon INSA and subsequently studied chemistry and physics in Paris. He worked as a building engineer and designed the Sablons Theatre in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a suburb of Paris where he currently lives. Four years ago, he became extremely passionate about photography and is now working as a freelance photographer. He takes great pleasure in rediscovering urban landscapes, through his lens with a minimalist touch. Many of Emmanuel de Brito’s photos are taken in cities such New York, Paris and Venice, revealing for example, their skylines and graffiti walls. Another recurring subject in Emmanuel’s photography is nature that surrounds humans. Detail plays an important part in de Brito’s art and through this detail the viewer rediscovers beauty in what he was no longer able to see as it had become part of daily routine. Emmanuel de Brito has participated in group exhibitions inVenice in 2011 and 2012 and also in OpenArtCode Paris held at the Grand Palais, in November of this year.

http://astonmanudb7.darqroom.com/ [email protected]

Sky NYC

Central park

The MonMent of Art

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www.hernanguiraud.com.ar [email protected]

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t Marie Miramont was born in Toulouse in 1956. She used to be a physiotherapist but was forced to stop working due to her eyesight. As a result, she became very interested in calligraphy and studied at the Kitty Sabatier Atelier in Toulouse. She is now an expert in black and white calligraphy: “A painting that combines the tradition of writing while reinterpreting and controlling space” (Kitty Sabatier). Indeed, her great ability to use tools and inks allows her to create unique and powerful contemporary works of art. “Marie throws ink on the canvas and the stain becomes the area where she plays with the unconscious and where her spontaneity wins the equilibrium” (Michel Picard). She won the Artist of UNESCO prize in 2011 and has participated in exhibitions in Paris at L’Harmattan in 2010 and 2011, in B’NAI B’RITH 2012 at the Trocadero, at GMAC 2012 at the Bastille and most recently at the Grand Palais, part of the OpenArtCode group.

www.mariemiramont.fr [email protected]

Hernan Guiraud was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1949. He is an autodidactic artist, and between 1970 and 1972 he worked alongside the sculptor Sergio Camargo in Paris. “Guiraud speaks with geometric symbols about universal values. He makes us think about life’s harmony, about power and about strength in growth. Through the sobriety of black and white, this artist makes us discover the subtleties of the shadows with its shades. [...] Through the logical nature of geometric sequences, he makes the viewer see the logic in the abstract. Guiraud plays with repetition of geometric forms. With a minimal change in angulation, he reveals a great number of possibilities to reach a harmonious and logical balance. Guiraud speaks about values and ethics.” (Marlene Curi)

Guiraud has participated in many exhibitions in important galleries and museums both in Argentina (Centro Cultural Borges and Salon Sivori Museum Manuel Belgrano) and abroad, including at the Gagliardi Gallery in London and the Grand Palais in Paris. Rayo invertidoEl abrazo

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Tilla Kekki

Eva Beumer, an artist from Hilversum in The Netherlands, lives and works in Utrecht. She started her career as a film animator and graphic designer but in the 1980’s, she turned to the Plastic Arts and graduated from the Utrecht School of Art in sculpture.Much of her work is in clay combined with multi-layered paper and paint. She uses graphic techniques to expand three-dimensional spaces. “I use organic, cartographic and photographic elements in their figurative and abstract forms, exploring the limits of transformation from nature to object and transcending an image of life into an echo of life”. Her most important works are the sequences of objects that elucidate this process, for example in the installation Silent Leaves.

www.evambeumer.kunstinzicht.nl [email protected]

Tilla Kekki, a Finnish sculptor born in 1940, trained at the University of Arts and Design and subsequently at the Metal Arts school. Tilla’s work focuses on human characteristics and she celebrates the strength, fragility and spirituality,

Eva Beumer has exhibited extensively throughout Europe but in particular in Italy, Germany, Holland and most recently, in Paris, France.

particularly of the female gender. The time span of her references extends from ancient myths to the contemporary and the material she predominantly works with is copper plate, which she processes using a variety of methods including: cutting, bending, soldering, welding, engraving and melting. The artist believes that copper, being an ancient metal developing a patina over time, adds its own energy to the sculptures she creates. Her small - and large - scale works offer the viewer with both spiritual, mystic sculptures and almost pensive representations and other are full of life and movement.Tilla Kekki has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Finland and abroad and has also executed works on commission in Finland.

Marie Miramont www.mariemiramont.fr www.artists.fi/en/ 43 [email protected]

TreeWhite treeSilent leaves

Mama AfricaMy friends behind the windSisters naughty, guilty and wicked

Procession of timess

www.martinart.se [email protected]

Kristi Rene

Martin EhrlingMartin Ehrling is an artist who lives in Stockholm, Sweden. Martin Ehrling worked as an illustrator for Sweden’s main newspaper, Dagens Nyheter for 16 years and as an illustrator of school books. He has also worked for the most important Swedish publishing houses, Natur och Kultur, Bonnier Utbildning, Almquist & Wiksell and Macmillan Education in Oxford. Martin has produced exhibitions and books for the Ethnographic Museum in Stockholm, Stockholm’s Culture House, UNICEF and SIDA (Swedish International Development Association) and has also worked with art projects, educational programs and children’s books in Botswana, Eritrea, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.But Martin’s recent tour de force is to depict jazz, folk or world musicians whilst they are playing in concert. These portraits capture the very energy, atmosphere and physical expression of the music and the musician and are painted directly in ink on watercolour paper. With the simplicity of line, the artist captures the very depth of feeling or atmosphere; indeed his series on Cuba are a remarkable attestation to Cuban life, its culture and people.Martin is also well-known for having documented the music traditions of Brazil, Finland, Norway and Sweden and has exhibited his work worldwide, including most recently in Paris and Barcelona.

Kristi Rene is a self-taught, award-winning artist who resides in the Napa Valley, California. In her younger years, she immersed herself in a structured life as a dentist but in 1989, she experienced a devastating car accident that forced her to change the course of her life. In the aftermath of that tragedy, a profound spiritual transformation evolved. This life-transforming event forged a path of serious painting and sculpting. “Art is the warm sensitive route to truth, midway between the heat of emotion and the coldness of intellect. I believe that there are places where man cannot compete with nature; except perhaps, in an ultimate individual abstraction. My work explores the inner dialogue between the human and spiritual. Each painting is a separate universe that a person can live in and gain their own distinctive value from.” She has had 35 group and solo exhibitions including in London, Bologna, Chianciano Terme, San Francisco and Tel Aviv. She has established patrons internationally and has received many awards and honours including the coveted Award of Excellence in painting at the California State Fair and most recently, first prize in the European Confederation of Art Critics Prize 2012 held at the Art Museum of Chianciano, in Tuscany, Italy.

www.kristirene.com [email protected]

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Rita Blitt

Rita Blitt is a painter, sculptor and film-maker. After receiving her degree from the University of Missouri in the US, where she now also lives, she began a search to find her spirit in nature, to capture it and transfer it into her art. She applies colours and emotions, as well as music and dance, to her creations. Giving shape to ideas is as natural as moving, as instinctive as dancing and she “lets her hands dance on the paper”. Many times, this dance has become sculpture or sometimes a film. Indeed, there are more than forty-five of the artist’s sculptures publicly displayed worldwide and in a “museum without walls”, which was a project that was inspired by André Malraux. Rita has also collaborated with the Parsons Dance Company for a six-minute documentary on her artistic vision that was also screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008. Her works have been shown regularly in both personal and collective exhibitions worldwide.

Isabel Becker was born and lives in Rio de Janeiro. She received a degree in Visual Communications in 1990 and began studying photography in Oxford, England. Two years later, she made her name as a fashion and lifestyle photographer inthe Brazilian newspaper O Globo and started shooting pictures for fashion catalogues and magazines published by Editora Abril. In 1995, she held her first individual fine art exhibition, that featured playful images of European cities. In 2000 she created, and was the curator of, the art project Photo Gallery, which displayed the work of renowned photographers from Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Upon exploring different themes, Isabel immersed herself in the world of brides, family portraits and children. The result is a body of work directly related to the involvement drawn between the photographer and her subject: the person, landscape or object. In late 2011, she began a new project entitled Private Nest.

About Private Nest - I enter their nest with sharp eyes and am surprised by fragments of their daily life – wrinkled bed sheets; an unwashed cup; children’s toys; underwear; a forgotten pacifier – pieces of their private nest where they share their yearns, hopes, afflictions and happiness.

www.ritablitt.com [email protected]

www.isabelbecker.com.br 45 [email protected]

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Edmund Ian Grant

Jessie Pitt

Edmund Ian Grant is a self-taught artist who resides at "Villa Spankadellik" in California. His passionate approach to living has connected him to many forms of art: from an early age as a musician and as a Jazz saxophonist. Now Grant is an award-winning visual artist, having produced art continuously for the last 26 years. Imagination, experimentation with new media, colour, line and sensuality characterize his art, as his improvisational skills are translated into the visual aesthetic. He has been extensively exhibited including shows in San Francisco, Dallas, New Orleans, Florence, Milan, London, Chianciano Terme and Tel Aviv. Currently, he is exhibiting at the Gagliardi Gallery in London, the Andretti Winery of the Napa Valley and in "Villa Spankadellik", his art villa in the Napa Valley. Most recently, Grant was awarded first prize in painting by the Anglo-Italian Academy of Arts at the 2011 Biennale di Chianciano, Italy and first prize the Leonardo award for digital art, 2012 Chianciano International Award, Art Museum of Chianciano.

www.jp-mountain-art.com [email protected]

www.zonering.dk [email protected] [email protected]

Jessie Pitt was born in Melbourne, Australia but currently lives between Australia and Austria, where she lives and works in the mountains. Jessie graduated with an Associate Diploma of Visual Art, majoring in printmaking. A continuous theme for Jessie is mountainscapes and she says about her work, "I am fascinated by the effect of light and shadow and often find myself not drawing mountains, but the light and shadow that become mountains when I stand back. My drawings seem to come into focus from a distance. I find that the natural beauty of our planet offers limitless motivation and material to draw, that light and shadow is what defines what we see in shapes and things that we recognize". Jessie draws and paints on paper and canvas using a variety of mixed media and techniques, combining the use of drawing materials such as charcoal, pastel with acrylic paint, drawing ink and gouache. Trying to convey what she sees and feels in the mountains.

Jessie participated in the group exhibition WorldArtVision in Barcelona in 2011 and has exhibited throughout Europe and Australia over recent years.

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www.uusluotohannu.fi 47 [email protected]

Hannu Uusluoto

de Hansi

www.zonering.dk [email protected]

Hannu Uusluoto lives and works in Finland. He is a painter of narrative visions of the rhythms of nature: natural phenomena and the fascinating geometric figures within nature are often the subject of his art. Indeed he says, “the rhythmic structures of nature inspire me to create art”. Hannu works predominantly with oil on canvas and when he begins to paint, he usually has the idea already in his mind, as his background origins are technical: he was a civil engineer.

Hans Jorgen Henriksen, or de Hansi as he prefers to be known, was born and lives in Denmark. He is an autodidactic artist having obtained his Master’s degree in civil engineering. In his artistic statement, de Hansi states "Zonation painting is made up of lines, tones and colours but more than that it is also depth and beauty. In zonation painting, I search for beauty, aesthetics, a higher form of integration of lines, tones and colours, for which there are rules, but no single set of rules. I do not make any distinction between abstract and figurative art, they are both interacting in the same artwork. Nor do I distinguish between the pictorial object and the perceiving subject, they are both interacting in the process when the picture takes on form and becomes a motif. What counts in zonation painting is the pictorial organisation by virtue of neo-cubistic shapes, chromatic modulations and variations in brush strokes which unify the entire composition, in a continuous process of reconciling multiplicity with an overall unity.”

De Hansi has had many solo and group exhibitions throughout Europe and most recently in 2012 in Shanghai and alongside his artistic career, he has also written many scientific publications on environmental and hydrological issues.

He discovered his passion for art about ten years ago and now is a full-time artist. Hannu also works with glass, designing it and shaping glass mosaics and has recently started working with photography. Nature always predominates: even in his photographs he tries to catch, for example, the different angulations of the sun and its shadows. Concerning his working in a variety of artistic genres, he explains “I feel it is important to find different ways to develop myself as an artist. Painting is my mainstream, but I also need to learn new mediums”. Hannu Uusluoto’s works have been shown in the USA, England, France, China and in many other countries.

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