Artist Talk Magazine - issue 11

ARTIST TALK
MAGAZINE
January 2020
www.artisttalkmagazine.com

DISCOVER MORE
www.jhancockart.com

FEATURED ARTISTS
JENNIFER JEAN COSTELLO
4-9
CHAOS AND THREAD
10-15
VILEN KÜNNAPU
16-21
TIM BENSON
22-27
AASE BIRKHAUG
MY SKETCH OF THE SUBWAY, 1950 BY GEORGE TOOKER
MILNE
28-33
Mj Tom LosOtros
34-39
CAROLE SCHILBACH
Milne Publishing is proud to
present Artist Talk Magazine
issue 11.
Once again, I am pleased to
showcase more incredible artists
from around the globe.
All of the artists featured within
this issue have given interesting,
in-depth, honest accounts about
themselves, their work, views and
ideas. In addition to the amazing
images of the work they produce,
which I know you the reader will
enjoy and be inspired by.
We have lots of incredible talent
within this issue, with a wide
range of subject matter for you to
explore and enjoy.
The cover of this issue is a painting
by Anna Mikheeva. Some of the
work produced by Anna is done in
black, succinctly minimalistic. Only
at an angle are details showing the
inner drama visible … The black
answer, is capable of reflecting
millions of colours and incredibly
revealing in different angles of view,
like that of life.
Thanks for reading.
Grant Milne,
Founder of Artist Talk Magazine
artisttalkmagazine
ArtistTalkMag
artisttalkmagazine
40-45
ELIZABETH LANA
46-51
ANNA MIKHEEVA
52-57
WHITNEY MUSEUM OF
AMERICAN ART
58-65
PAOLA BONI
66-71
DISCOVER MORE
www.artisttalkmagazine.com
3

JENNIFER JEAN
COSTELLO

Armor room at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art. In addition, I
sketched anyone who would let
me and sometimes people I saw
at a distance (I still remember
the glares and fingers of unwilling
subjects), adding conflict, balance,
and harmony to shape my work’s
form and energy in my constant
search for new noise and passion.
GIRL IN THE TREES
THINKING OUT LOUD, MASSACHUSETTS STATE SENATE
(HANGING IN STATE SENATOR WILL BROWNSBERGER OFFICE)
Optimistic, In the NOW,
provocative in a decorous way -
these terms characterize me as
an artist. Art and its ability to
elevate people inspire me every
day. On some level, art is life - my
life. Artists stand on the shoulders
of our predecessors, capturing
the moment of today while
embracing the past. As practicing
artists, we are in tune with the
activity of those, both past and
present, who push the envelope to
the maximum of what is defined
as art. With that said, I love this
poem by Jorge Luis Borges (from
“Dreamtigers”), especially the line
“Art must be like that mirror, that
reveals to us this face of ours.” I
hope my works reveal this essence.
A hapa who grew up in
Philadelphia and has been creating
art for over 15 years, I attended
Syracuse University and received
my MFA from Boston University.
Art and being an artist are therapy
for me, not just physically but
psychologically and spiritually. My
NOW reflects my dual Buddhist-
Catholic heritage.
In my work, I am frequently
exploring the relationship among
humans, nature, and objects. I
think of art as an objective
homage to my Eastern and
Western traditions and to the raw
architecture and sounds of the city
- many hours exploring the 1300
Chestnut Street murals, sketching
at the Rodin Museum, and
sitting/drawing in the Arms and
“Provocative in a decorous way” is
a reflection of what is beautiful
and sometimes misconceived in
our cultures. With no end in sight,
my 2-D and 3-D images are an
intimate moment between the
viewer and artist in captivating
intrigue. My newest series ‘Knots
of the mind’ explores the ongoing
melee between the heart and the
mind, complicated by love, hunger,
power, doubt. Knots bind - like an
embrace? As a restraint? Twisted
strands of thought and feeling in
our souls. Should we leap or remain
motionless?
BRISE DE MER
5

As long as I am able to create art,
write, and experience the joys of
life - an optimistic outlook- then
I have achieved that balance. My
life’s journey consists of always
learning, experiencing, and pushing
myself to reach for more. It is an
ongoing painterly narrative where
I hope to always be surrounded
by honest critics, and people who
are inspiring and stimulated in
their own lives. Balance to me is
laughing often, and being loved
and respected by intelligent people.
I want to be mind-blown and leave
this world a little better.
A true artist is distinguished by a
unique ability to take his or her
moment in time and distill its
essence so that resulting work
becomes timeless. Here, I hope
to stand on the shoulders of our
predecessors including, among
others, Mary Cassatt, Euan Uglow,
Louise Nevelson, Alice Neel, Kiki
Smith, and Tim Okamura.
No fear, floating dreams with no
end in sight.
DISCOVER MORE
www.jenniferjeanart.com
Instagram: @jennyjean25
INHALE / EXHALE
KNOTS OF THE MIND
8

CHAOS AND THREAD

INSIDE AWAKE
Throughout my life, I have been
creating and exploring my artistic
side. From illustration, design,
abstract painting and stitching, I
have always undertaken to explore
a variety of mediums. My love
of fine art has always been the
constant in my life.
Although my background was
originally illustration, I have now
evolved my practice into pure
abstraction, driving my need
for self-expression without the
constraints of reality.
I create out of my studio in
Waihi, New Zealand and am
fortunate enough to also work
from a studio in The Netherlands
for a number months every year.
Moving between the southern
and northern hemisphere, helps
me embrace both cultural and
social aspects of these very diverse
countries. I have been fortunate
enough to show works in both New
Zealand, Europe and England and
I am currently working on a solo
show for New York.
Apart from creating artistic
expressions, I enjoy spending time
outdoors, reading, walking and
meditating. An eclectic range of
music plays an important part in
my creative process. It can evoke
moods and emotions that can
impact the development of my
artwork and the direction it is
going.
11

Through my abstract practice, I
am striving to methodise visual
material in way that enchants
and captivates. I endeavour to
understand and be open to the
unconscious mind; the myriad
SO THIS IS LIVING DETAIL
of feelings that often present
themselves conjunctly, sometimes
presenting as confusion, sometimes
with clearness. Emotional
interruptions that intercept each
other and the cross-pollenating
of every feeling at one moment in
time, is explored as a whole rather
than considered on an individual
basis. A ‘snap-shot’ illustrating an
unabbreviated moment in time.
12

“Man’s task is to become conscious
of the contents that press upward
from the unconscious” - (Carl
Jung), is a statement which I find
thought-provoking and often
at the forefront of my initial
exploration.
This investigation into unlocking
the all-inclusive hidden parts
of oneself and exploring how
to communicate these visually,
leads me on a personal journey to
understand the essence of self.
SUNLIGHT ON THE SEA DETAIL
SUNLIGHT-AND-THE-SEA
In most recent times I have begun
working on a new body of abstract
landscapes which are challenging
me to observe and interpret vistas
not only on an emotional level, but
to also give the viewer, through
descriptive titles and imagery,
something they can clasp and hold
onto even though they remain in
abstract form. While still using
shape, line and colour familiar to
previous collections, artworks are
easily identified as one body of
work.
Appealing to both the need for
limitless spontaneity coupled with
the need for some semblance of
order, my process is my enabler to
freedom. The uninhibited self and
the esoteric self are represented
by loose and free paintwork
controlled by meditative threadwork.
The simple square as a
visual reference to the esoteric
shadow self, is often found in my
work. Whether it appears as a
solid form, covered by thread or
boarded by thread; or whether it
appears purely as thread-work in
a net-like construction, a feeling
of safety and security are mentally
and visually felt as the esoteric is
protected. The uninhibited is left
exposed and the esoteric hidden
away.
As a process driven artist, I enjoy
experimenting with a combination
of paint, ink, graphite, charcoal
and thread. My paintwork often
embodies a fabric like quality as
it is removed from one surface to
another and hand-stitched and/or
adhered into place. This rather slow
aspect to my process, enables me
to settle into a piece; quietly and
methodically stitching calmness
back into chaos. Placed on either a
solid background or an expressive,
loose background, my solid paint
‘fabric’ offers an original application
of mediums. As light bounces
off foil and metallic thread, I am
attempting to draw the viewers
eye back, causing them to pause,
reflect and re-examine the artwork.
I endeavour to walk a fine line
between art and craft, negating
a division between these two
practices. The Vienna Secession
has been a relevant movement to
my practice. By giving applied art
equal standing and value to purely
painted works, it has given me the
freedom to experiment combining
both processes and not to undervalue
my own discipline. Balancing
both the pure paint element of
my works and the almost handcraft
element of my thread-work,
I have endeavoured to give each
component equal merit and
meaning without one dominating
the other. I believe this ‘Decorative
Function’ draws the viewer in. It is
not for its own sake. It is to move
the observer deeper; to attempt to
engage them with the very essence
of the work.
DISCOVER MORE
www.chaosandthread.com
14

VILEN KÜNNAPU

MINA
Vilen Künnapu is an architect and
an artist, born in Tallinn in 1948.
He graduated from the Estonian
Academy of Arts in 1971.
Künnapu is the author of many
fascinating buildings. Together with
his partner Ain Padrik he has won
several awards at international
architectural competitions and
published articles in various
journals. He has displayed his
installations at the Venice Biennale
and at London’s architecture
festival. He has been visiting
professor at Scandinavian, British
and Swiss universities, also at the
University of Tartu and the Tallinn
University of Applied Sciences. In
2013 he opened his first exhibition
of paintings.
When I design houses I feel like an
artist, and when I paint I feel like
an architect. I very much enjoy
both, although painting is probably
the centre of everything. My aim
is a feeling that lies behind houses
and paintings. I am painting this
feeling, not exactly knowing what
it is. Maybe I paint strength or
perhaps energy. I like the mystical,
but in my art I try to manage
without too much esoteric. I
would like to carry on the timeless
journey of classical painting.
I am fond of such artists as Fra
Angelico, Gauguin, Bonnard,
de Chirico, Matisse, Clemente,
Thibault and others. I like the art
of people who are close to nature
(after all, Estonians are like that as
well) and icons.
I believe in the healing power of art
and architecture. I also believe that
by giving shape to your thoughts
you can create whatever, and I
believe that the thoughts must be
pure.
PLAZA
TIGUTORN
17

SANTORINI 2
Why do I value painting above all?
In my view, painting is the best way
to connect the hand, the heart and
the sky.
Painting is magic. It is a link with
heavenly powers. It was thus in the
Stone Age, and it is the same today.
In 2009 my wife and I flew to the
island of Santorini where we rented
a flat in Oia village. For some time I
had felt a pull towards that mystical
island. In front of the house with
cylindrical arches was a kidneyshaped
pool. Its terrace offered
views of a cubist village in the south
and a large empty field behind the
building, with gentle slopes towards
the north until the sea.
SANTORINI 3
The pool terrace became the focus
of our trip. We sunbathed, read,
my drawings and watercolours
were born there.
We took long walks from there,
and I made quick sketches. Ten
Santorini watercolours saw the
light of day by the pool. These,
in turn, developed into acrylic
paintings, and this is how I became
a painter. It was probably the
remarkable spirit of Atlantis that
evoke an artist in me. Colours,
composition and style just emerged
from somewhere. True, already 40
years ago I could do watercolours,
and also dabbled in installations as
a supplement of the architect’s job.
On Santorini I clearly felt that
some sort of hidden information
inside me was trying to find an
output. And it burst out in painting,
on that magical island.
I have developed the style
established on Santorini in motifs
of Tallinn’s old town, Manhattan,
Morocco, Andalusia, Sicily and
Malta, although Santorini will
always be the foundation where
I keep returning in my search for
new motifs.
SANTORINI 4
I painted the ensembles I saw
to suit myself. It means that an
architect has his own dreams, and
he is lucky to realise 10 per cent at
best.
When I paint historical buildings, I
imagine I am an ancient architect
who once built them. I never
paint exactly what I see. Instead, I
provide the generalised structures
with their own style by means of
colours, new windows and doors,
and something else. Painting can
therefore also be a project, more
precisely an ideal project.
DISCOVER MORE
www.vilenkunnapu.pri.ee
18

TIM BENSON

SELFIE, ARMS BEHIND BACK
My journey really began in 2001.
I had been discouraged from
representational painting whilst at
art school, so it came as a surprise
to me when a gallery wanted to
show my large oil sky scrapes
soon after I graduated. It was that
experience that set the ball rolling
for me and to be honest, I’ve never
looked back since.
These days I mainly paint people,
although I can’t resist the
occasional landscape. There is
something infinitely captivating
about the human head, that
keeps me coming back for more
as a painter; there is absolutely
nowhere to hide. We are all hard
wired to read human faces, so we
know whether a painted head is
‘correct’ or not, even if we’ve never
encountered the subject.
23

engage the viewer on an emotive
level then it really isn’t doing its job.
So over the last few years I have
painted portraits of people who’s
stories and personal journeys are
undeniably worth telling, stories of
unspeakable hardship and suffering.
In 2015 I travelled to Sierra
Leone towards the end of the
Ebola outbreak that decimated
communities in 3 West African
countries. I met, interviewed
and painted 40 people who had
either survived the disease or been
involved with containing it.
They ranged from doctors, street
sweepers and ambulance drivers to
laboratory technicians, nurses and
grave diggers.
Of course the ‘correct’ that
I’m talking about transcends
the necessity for an accurately
rendered painting, it requires
something more than that; it
demands an authenticity and
humanity that is often lacking
in painted portraits. This could
manifest itself in the characteristic
tilt of a head or the gleam of an
eye. In other words, I try to add
a small degree of caricature to
my portraits, not so much as to
change the fundamental nature
of the sitter but just enough to
bring to prominence what I find
immediately engaging about a face
when I first see it.
I use the same 6 oil colours for
any painting. These are Cadmium
Red, Lemon Yellow, Burnt Umber,
Alizarin Crimson, Ultramarine Blue
and Titanium White. From these
I can mix nearly all of the other
WAITING
colours that I see in the world
around me. I would always rather
find the apposite colour from
mixing rather than directly from a
tube of paint.
I use only 1 brush for any painting,
this is typically a wide, flat bristle
brush that allows me to ‘sculpt’ in
thick paint. I try to break the head
down into its requisite facets and
planes. Further to this the large
brush stops me from adding too
much detail to the portrait rather,
it forces me to reconcile complex
areas such as eyes into the
simplest of terms; 2 or 3 marks of
accurately placed paint can say just
as much as 30 small marks.
There is so much more to a
meaningful portrait than the
visual aesthetic. For me there
needs to be a message that’s being
conveyed. If the painting doesn’t
It was an often brutal and humbling
experience that allowed me to
paint the portraits of individuals
that had endured the unimaginable.
The dignity and bravery that these
people displayed, is something that
I can only hope the portraits that
I painted managed to capture. It
was this feeling of endurance and
ultimately hope that provided the
common thread through the 40
portraits, a commentary on the
power of humanity in the face of
disaster.
CLIFFORD, OUTREACH WORKER,
TOTTENHAM
24

MOHAMMED, EBOLA SURVIVOR, SIERRA LEONE
I’ve been extremely lucky
throughout my career. I’ve been
able to paint the things that
matter to me and by and large
sell them. I made a decision about
10 years ago to move away from
landscape painting into the world
of portraiture. This didn’t sit too
well with the galleries that I was
exhibiting with at the time, as
they didn’t think that they would
be able to sell portraits to their
clients. I had a choice to make;
either continue on the path that
I was already on, or break loose
and paint what I really cared
about, I chose the latter option. Of
course this wasn’t without its risks.
Thankfully however, people bought
my portraits. I’m not saying that
they were jumping off the walls
but there was enough interest to
generate an income. For me the
main satisfaction was that people
were buying my portraits, not
because they were commissioned
pieces or that they knew the
sitter but because they liked the
paintings in their own right. This
really validated my feeling that
26

a good portrait should first and
foremost be an interesting painting,
with an emotive quality rather
than just a painted record of an
individual.
In 2018 I was elected the
President of The Royal Institute
of Oil Painters. This, as well as my
membership of both the Royal
LUCILLE, TOTTENHAM RESIDENT
Society of Portrait Painters and
the New English Art Club, allows
me to mix with other painters. It’s
the perfect foil for what can often
be a solitary existence in the studio.
Beyond this though, it enables
me to see what’s going on in the
world of contemporary figurative
painting and to help encourage and
bring through the next generation
of painters, something that gives
me as much pleasure as the
production of my own work.
DISCOVER MORE
www.timbenson.co.uk
27

AASE BIRKHAUG

AASE BIRKHAUG
Believing that surroundings can
influence one’s health and mind,
painter and physiotherapist Aase
Birkhaug has combined her two
passions, by painting roses for a
soothing effect on humans. Having
fallen in love with flowers, nature
and painting from early age, it was
only natural to merge these factors
together at some point and by
combining the aesthetic beauty of
botany with her skills as a painter.
It is documented that colours have
an effect on the sensory system
and some years ago she made the
waiting room in her physiotherapy
office into an exhibition for her
paintings, as she discovered that
it influenced the patients mental
state.
uses are tastefully and delicately
fused, to make a motif that can
be described as very soothing to
the eye. She discovered several
years ago that roses have a
positive effect on her, almost like
healing and the combination of
the smell and the sight feels like
a meditation, bringing about a
certain calmness, this is something
she try’s to reflect in her paintings.
Several international Art Curators
have drawn parallels between the
internationally known Mexican
artist and painter Frida Kahlo,
she said “I paint Flowers so that
they shall not die” and I say “I
paint Roses so that I shall not
die”. The English national healing
associations quote “Healing is
gentle, simple and effective” We
often search for the answers
to our questions and believe
the complicated answer to be
the solution of the complicated
question. It is not always that way,
if we use the words of the English
Association of Healers: Healing
is gentle, simple and effective.
Nature Heals.
During a recent Solo exhibition in
Bergen Norway where Aase lives.
Titled THE ROSE GARDEN,
which was for 3 weeks from
31.08.2019 – 20.09.2019. This
was a very successful exhibition
The opening ceremony was
attended by 100 people. They got
to see 62 incredible paintings on
the walls and around 68 paintings
in passpartout. Fana Kulturhus
said that it was the largest solo
exhibition they had had ever and
it was the most visited exhibition
they had had ever during the 10
years they have been a culture
house.
During the exhibition several
visitors came to Aase and asked,
wondered by the magic feeling, the
magic energy and magic light they
saw in the paintings and the magic
energy they felt in the exhibition
room. They tried to catch up
with the windows, the lamps but
understood that it didn’t have
anything to do with the lamps or
the windows.
Every night when not sleeping
Aase “travels” by spirit up in the
universe, catching the white light
the healing light and then embeds
this into the painting, so that the
work shines this magic light which
is a healing light to humans, to the
planet earth, to all living creatures
on the planet earth, animals birds
and flowers botanics.
PRINCESS OF HEALING ROSES
Her paintings are regularly
described as very soft and mild.
The colour combinations she
ROSE IN UNIVERSE II
29

PRINCESS OF HEALING ROSES

ROSE IN UNIVERSE III
Timothy Warrington who is from
the International Confederation
of Art Critics, recently said the
following:
“With the organic remedies of the
natural world at the heart of her
works, Aase Birkhaug specialises in
drawing and painting magnificent
roses as the virtuous reticence
of nature, continuously provides
her with a wealth of creative and
spiritual inspiration.
The wonderfully skilled rose
painter from Bergen, Norway
applies a wide variety of mediums
to her canvases ranging from oil,
watercolour, acrylic and tempera
and has been exhibiting around
the world, her breathtaking still
life paintings that possess the
unequivocal ability to transform
any setting into a surrounding, that
is saturated with an abundance of
tranquility.
This has lead to Birkhaug’s
acquisition of many international
awards.
Birkhaug has a true affinity with
the organic world and invokes
through each of her pieces, the
belief that roses and their vibrant
hues have a healing power, that can
contribute to our well being and
state of mind. Subtly integrating
shades of pink that cascade
into blushing reds fill Birkhaug’s
audience with a joyfully calm sense,
as her delightful compositions
emanate a cerebrally engaging
positive aura.
Birkhaug’s compositional elements
present an academic understanding
of nature’s ornate nuances,
reflective of Frederick Judd Waugh
and Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s
graceful exploration of flowers.
Birkhaug’s art has the intent
and intrinsic capability of
ameliorating the spectator, whilst
simultaneously radiating the most
extreme and captivating beauty.
Her expressive creations are so
sophisticatedly absolute in their
execution, that the observer can
almost sense the sweet scent of
the flora, which enables them to
transcend their surroundings and
enter a personal place in their mind
full of serenity.
Aase Birkhaug’s passion for
painting flowers conjures
similarities to the work of
Georgia O’Keeffe, as both artists
remarkably succeed in conveying
the impeccable detail of each petal
in their floral compositions.
Birkhaug attentively examines
32

PRINCESS OF ROSES
the flower in every aspect and
captures the various perspectives
of the subject by exhibiting the
uniqueness of every rose; the
characteristics of each of its petals
are fully explored, which allows
the viewer to wholly appreciate
and absorb the individual delicate
components of the blossoming
flora.
Birkhaug has the unique ability to
stimulate the observer, to view the
roses that she depicts with a fresh
perspective. Indeed, her flawless
technique and exquisite brushwork
evoke great emotion in anyone
who experiences her extraordinary
creations, as a peaceful wave of
energy washes over the spectator,
as they gaze upon these glorious
artworks.
It is possible to detect the
influence of Vincent Van Gogh
in Birkhaug’s works, as their floral
paintings share an expressive
process in which shapes and forms
are soft and full of movement
whilst possessing a vigorous use of
colour. Their diaphanous and mild
portrayals are pleasing to the eye
and emit a soothing energy to their
environment, whilst displaying
an erudite synergy with the
Impressionists.
Roses symbolise passion, purity and
beauty, all of which are elements
that Birkhaug tastefully and
eloquently conveys through her
artwork, by communicating to the
viewer in a language that transmits
universal human emotions.
Birkhaug intelligently connects
those observing her art through a
mutual sensation, that mirrors the
romantic connection between man
and nature.”
Aase has now received 77
international art prizes in 3.5 years
and 80 international Biennales
and Exhibitions - and 2 Book
publications The Rose Garden and
Artistic Visions of Aase Birkhaug.
DISCOVER MORE
www.aasebirkhaugart.com
Facebook Aase Birkhaug
www.facebook.com/aasebirkhaugart/
Instagram page:
www.instagram.com/aasebirkhaug/
ROSE DE L ARBORETE IV
33

Mj Tom LosOtros

To Whom That May Concern.
European Visual Artist Mj Tom
chooses not to share any personal
information. Since 2003 he
established the Visual Poetry |
Urban Art Group LosOtros with
his alter ego Andrea Nada. He
lives between Berlin, Barcelona
and Paris. His current body of
work includes mixed media, collage,
installations and digital printing.
His work has been exhibited at
London, Paris, Hamburg, Berlin,
Barcelona.
Irreverent and fleeting, able to
define himself as a copy machine
of art, sarcastic and deliberately
anonymous, he questions almost
every probable fact. The veneer of
normality, the history as written,
the common way of understanding
nature and oneself, as a part of it.
As he remarks “I don’t want much
to be known “about me”. I am
not trying to be elusive as some
people might say. I just think what
is important is the artwork, not
the artist. I want you to have my
work on your …wall, not based on
who I am, where I have studied or
where I have exhibited my work. I
don’t want to get between “You”
and the “Artwork”. I want to live
in silence behind it… and pass away
sometime softly...”
As he remarks “LosOtros is not
an Artist or a group of Artists...
LosOtros is a state of mind that
engages a number of individuals..
Not only those that create the Art
Works, but also those that they try
to understand them... We believe
that Art is not important because
there is an artist behind, but
because there is a viewer in front.
The meaning behind an Art Work is
the meaning that the viewer builds
around it. The artist explanation
has a very limited value. We don´t
want to promote any manifest,
nor to convince anybody about
anything... We are not in Art to
promote ourselves... Art is simply
our lifestyle.”
35

[Curriculum Vitae on My Own
Words]
There is no Reality Until You
Create One. Art is my way to
conciliate with reality. In some
cases, I can bring it closer to my
standards. And psychoanalysis too.
Both of them are hopeless. It is a
try to put an order in the hectic
world around and inside me. To
value better what had happened
and possibly what is happening, at
least a part of it. It is a lost war.
Before I can understand what had
happened in reality, or at least what
I perceive as reality, the latter flips
and turns to something else.
I am a witness, an eye witness. I
meticulously revise what it is
around me. I examine, select,
collect, put in order emotions.
Stating what is important and what
is not, what could be regarded
as beautiful or ugly, what would
be funny or sad. If I can’t change
it, I can barely transform it, good
enough in order to compromise
with it. Sometimes the attempt is
successful, sometimes it isn’t.
I am urban. I like nature, but I feel
comfortable only in the city. It
is my battlefield. Especially, the
After-hours, when everybody
sleeps so I can walk quietly in
the streets and hear the sounds.
My paints they are done for
me, but in reality, they refer to
others. It is an attempt; to speak
enough for me, but not in a verbal
way. What is entitled inside the
frame, presupposes my aesthetic
viewpoint. But what they produce
is beyond my control. I exist in
both of them. It is a miracle, when
it happens. Unfortunately, is not an
everyday experience. Or, I believe
so.
36

My Reality In Halftones. My work
is an exploration of paradoxes
and contrasts which are torturous
and utopian, wild and serene but
definitely resilient. As my reality is
in halftones, I capture fragments of
life often ignored or forgotten.
My art echo’s the unease and
mixes it with the uncomfortable
reality of continuous
transformations of the urban
environment in which I live.
Faces, pseudo familiar situations,
characters belonging to various
walks of life… they all inject
emotions with such a warm
identity to characterize the
experience of ordinary people,
those people who would say and
tell through the eyes their own
existence.
I represent ordinary people;
those actors unaware of being
protagonists of present days and to
represent them in spite of a reality
in half-tone that essentially results
a kind of summary, which, in the
end, is life! An arrested motion in
time.
In arresting motion there is a
reality so subtle that it becomes
more real than reality, so I don’t
arrest motion in time. I make it. I
love my subjects, although I don’t
know them. I mean, they’re my
friends. I’ve never met any of them
or I don’t know them at all, yet I
live through them, or I can’t live
without them.
They constitute my curriculum
vitae.
DISCOVER MORE
www.losotros.eu
37

CAROLE SCHILBACH

MOSAIC THE FISH, (165 x 45cm)
CAROLE SCHILBACH
Carole’s life has been one
of interest and curiosity for
landscapes, cultures and their
different colours and shades
around the world. Born in Amman,
Jordan in 1965 she has initially
been a fond and proud observer
of her native Middle Eastern
landscapes and architecture, a
seemingly immovable still life of
mostly natural stone formations
and sand colours. The sun, however,
provides these colours with a
wealth of different tones during
daytime, and at night, the moon
and stars over the desert offer a
sheer endless range of blues and
greys. The Jordanian Wadis of Rum
or Mujib remain her definition for
the beauty of Earth and inspiration
for her creativity.
Her first piece of art is a mosaic,
created during her stay in Beirut
and from earlier impressions in
her home country Jordan. She
cautiously used light grey tones of
glass and some blue and turquoise.
Although she has done only few
more mosaic works, a pattern of
squares remained the basis of all
her later acrylic paintings.
Beside the move from mosaic
to painting, Carole started using
more colours – mostly primary
colours. Although inspired by
the rich natures of islands in the
Caribbean and later in Mexico, she
wanted her paintings to be fresh,
joyous but clearly stayed away
from going into the styles of local
artists or handicraft whose mix of
tones often is very daring.
Nature very often provided
Carole with materials to use for
her artwork: sand, pebble, acorn,
cork, pieces of wood, grass – her
creativity of what you can do in art
is wide open.
Already during her childhood and
studies, Carole has travelled and
opened her mind for other, mainly
European cultures. She has visited
most of the famous museums
and cultural landmarks of the
continent. But that should be
only the beginning of her journey
around the world. At the age of 26
she married a diplomat and, thus,
booked a lifetime travel privilege –
not as a tourist, but as long-term
visitor and observer of cultures and
colours in the Caucasus region, the
Caribbean and Mexico.
RISE, (90 x 90cm)
41

AT THE FISH MARKET, (70 x 70cm)
HUNGRY, (140 x 75cm)
44

JOLLY BIRDS, (80cm x 100cm)
As to the objects of her works, they
often depended on her mood and
mostly were depicted in an abstract
manner.
She painted people, repeatedly her
own family, or animals – here again
she preferred her cats as motifs,
which have always been present
in her childhood home or at her
grandmother’s in pre-war Beirut.
Occasionally, she did paintings by
order or for friends and followed
their wishes for colours, but always
remained loyal to her own motifs,
style and technique.
DISCOVER MORE
Instagram: @caroleschilbach_art
FAMILY PORTRAIT, (90cm x 90cm)
45

ELIZABETH LANA

BROKEN SWASTIKA 60x48 INCHES
I am Elizabeth Lana, I was born
in Los Angels and attended
college at the University of San
Francisco and the Academy of Art.
Currently I am living and working
in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
How would you describe your
work for the first time?
Arresting. Bold images, whether
black and white or vibrant colors,
my work commands attention and
its up to the viewer to interpret
what they see.
How has my place of birth
affected my work?
Born in Los Angeles in the late
1960’s, I grew up in a world of
sunshine, crisp whites and bright
colors. My family was enthusiastic
patrons of fine art. We spent
many days at the Norton Simon
Museum in Pasadena and the
Getty in Malibu.
What artists influence your work?
Mark Rothko. As a child I stood
spellbound in front of one of his
paintings, amazed colors could
vibrate.
AFTER PARTY 30x30 INCHES
work that is from my soul.
If you could have a conversation
with an artist who would you
choose?
Van Gogh, without a doubt. I
would want to let him know that
his work is beloved and celebrated
around the world and commands
the highest prices at auction. I’m a
sucker for an underdog and I hate
to think he died not knowing the
huge impact his work would have
on painting as a whole.
ALONE TOGETHER 48x48 INCHES
What materials do you use to
create your art?
Mostly acrylic but recently I’ve
been exploring mixing oil and
acrylic to see what the two
reactionary mediums create
On Instagram my favorite artists
for inspiration are Trine Panum and
William McClure.
How do you learn to take criticism
of your work?
I look to take it constructively.
But, I do find that listening to
myself, in spite of what criticism
I hear, has been an asset. I create
AUTUMN SMOKE 24x24 INCHES
47

UNSHACKLED 1 & 2 24x48 INCHES
How has social media affected
your work?
I love Instagram. I find the artistic
community is incredibly important
for feedback and encouragement.
I have also found opportunities
through it. I have been awarded
The Denis Diderot [A-i-R] Grant
and will be attending an artist in
residence program at the Chateau
d’Orquevaux in France for the
month of March.
Favorite piece and why?
Broken Swastika. I live in
Pittsburgh blocks from the Tree of
Life Synagogue and the massacre
that took place on October 27,
2018 greatly affected me and my
community.
I wanted to create something
different to express my disgust
with anti-Semitism. This piece can
be seen on page 46 and 47.
What is your biggest success to
date?
My biggest success to date was the
sale of large works to a law firm in
Chicago.
What’s the future of my art?
I’m looking forward to my
residency in France to have a
month to do nothing but paint. I
have an idea incubating about a
series of abstracts based on the Fall
of Saigon in 1975.
Keep watching!
DISCOVER MORE
Instagram: @elizabethlanafinearts
50

BLUE EYES 1 60x30 INCHES RED SUN RISING 24x48 INCHES BLUE EYES 2 60x30 INCHES
AFTER PARTY 30x30 INCHES
51

ANNA MIKHEEVA

INSIDE
How would you describe your
work to our readers?
Rethinking reality and reflecting
the world and man in this world.
I create because it is my natural
reaction to how I feel. This is a
reflection of events taking place in
the world in my life.
What subjects are you inspired by
and how does this influence your
work?
Having given up unnecessary
details, I am driven by the desire
to convey in my works primarily
feelings and emotions. The desire
to convey feelings and thoughts
through colour, which are
sometimes so chaotic that they
can hardly get a clear form.
Colour…. Yes, colour inspires me. I
can spend hours mixing colours to
find the right shade... I think at this
moment I am moving away from
reality and enjoying the process
itself. Colour and emotions it
seems to me, I can portray the
sound.
How do you create your art and
what material do you use?
Some of my work is done in black,
succinctly minimalistic. Only at an
angle are details showing the inner
drama visible … The black answer,
is capable of reflecting millions of
colours and incredibly revealing in
different angles of view, like that
of life.
In moments of inspiration, I
immerse myself in work and do not
notice how it flies for several days.
53

communicate.
Who are your artistic influences
and why?
People, feelings and emotions
... By their randomness
and rationality, sometimes
simultaneously.
What is the favourite emotional
piece that you have created and
why?
My most emotional work was the
result of fatal events that took
place in my life. As a direct result
of this, the art work was the first
piece produced after a long break.
It is shooted? What happened?
It happened. Maybe later I can
explain it. I felt bad then …
SILENCE
Rational and irrational at the same
time. I create, but everyone sees
their own. Feelings caused by the
pictures are a reflection of the
inner world of the beholder and
their individual reasons, goals,
circumstances. This is an abstract
moment in time and it is revealed
from different angles, depending
on the circumstances. Each has
its own truth of what is happening
and so is changeable depending on
personal circumstances and time,
which can bring about reasons for
changing the truth. We are forever
changing, what was important
yesterday no longer matters today.
What you don’t notice yesterday
will be decisive today. Your best
motives can be a fatal mistake, just
like your wicked stingy joke is the
beginning of the beautiful ...
Social media is primarily an
exchange of information on a
global scale, depending not so
much on the Internet as on the
quality of the information that the
user is interested in. In the best
situation, the subject of interest is
science, art, and the opportunity
to learn something.
In a social network there are
limitless opportunities for
communication. People who later
become friends or family can
initially be thousands of kilometres
apart. It is thanks to such unifying
resources that the world’s space
has become much narrower and
has enabled everyone to choose
with whom, when and how to
communicate with them. There
are also disadvantages, sometimes
a person uses this opportunity
incorrectly. So, instead of a
useful pastime, the user can
choose endless reading of gossip,
quarrels with opponents, reading
any unnecessary and useless
information that can safely be
called information garbage.
In addition, an active virtual life
has a bad effect on the fragile
psyche, exacerbating the problems
that already exist. This may be
the inability to communicate or
a wrong assessment of oneself
as an individual and much more.
It’s impossible to unequivocally
advocate for or against social
networks, because a lot depends on
the person himself and his choice.
How do you deal with criticism of
your work?
This is a reflection of my vision of
life. I do not know if this can be
criticised. This is my vision of life
at a given moment in this context.
Criticism? A source to begin the
beautiful …
Has social media affected your
work?
I am an introvert so it helps me to
THE PAWN
55

How long does a piece take to
create?
My most emotional work was the
result of 10 years of life.
What’s the future for your art?
Now I am working on a series
of paintings, each of which will
become a reflection of human life
with its goals, causes, mistakes with
its love, hatred, despair, vice, desire
and passion.
This part of the work is absolutely
not about form, this is my
subjective irrational vision of the
world of emotions and repressed
feelings. Probably, from the point
of view of psychology, this should
be considered a possible attempt
to escape from reality but on the
other hand, it’s a way to accept,
relive and heal something that
hurts inside the mind. Some of
them are maximally laconic - no
extra details, no extra movements
... Others are chaotic and irrational
having no structure, no logic and
no clear sequence and still others
are algebraic codes.
Human lives in every picture. We
can find ourselves in one of them,
or in several at the same moment
or in different at different points in
time.
What are your dreams?
To find that place of unity and
peace.
DISCOVER MORE
Instagram: @_mishka_m.ma
UNBORN
55

WHITNEY MUSEUM OF
AMERICAN ART

As the preeminent institution
devoted to the art of the United
States, the Whitney Museum
of American Art presents the
full range of twentieth-century
and contemporary American
art, with a special focus on works
by living artists. The Whitney is
dedicated to collecting, preserving,
interpreting, and exhibiting
American art, and its collection—
arguably the finest holdings of
twentieth-century American art
in the world—is the Museum’s key
resource. The Museum’s flagship
exhibition, the Biennial, is the
country’s leading survey of the
most recent developments in
American art.
Innovation has been a hallmark of
the Whitney since its beginnings. It
was the first museum dedicated to
the work of living American artists
and the first New York museum
to present a major exhibition of
a video artist (Nam June Paik, in
1982). Such important figures as
Jasper Johns, Jay DeFeo, Glenn
Ligon, Cindy Sherman, and
Paul Thek were given their first
comprehensive museum surveys
at the Whitney. The Museum
has consistently purchased works
within the year they were created,
often well before the artists who
created them became broadly
recognized.
ROBERT HENRI (1865-1929),
GERTRUDE VANDERBILT WHITNEY,
WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, NEW
YORK; GIFT OF FLORA WHITNEY MILLER 86.70.3
FOUNDING
At the beginning of the twentieth
century, sculptor Gertrude
Vanderbilt Whitney saw that
American artists with new ideas
had trouble exhibiting or selling
their work. She began purchasing
and showing their artwork,
eventually becoming the leading
patron of American art from 1907
until her death in 1942.
In 1914, Mrs. Whitney established
the Whitney Studio in Greenwich
Village, where she presented
exhibitions by living American
artists whose work had been
disregarded by the traditional
academies. She had assembled
a collection of more than five
hundred pieces by 1929. After
her offer of this gift to the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
was declined, she set up her own
institution, one with a distinctive
mandate: to focus exclusively on
the art and artists of this country.
The Whitney Museum of American
Art was founded in 1930, and
opened in 1931 on West Eighth
Street near Fifth Avenue.
Following a move in 1954 to an
expanded site on West 54th
Street, the Whitney opened the
Marcel Breuer-designed building
on Madison Avenue at 75th Street
in 1963. The iconic building housed
the Museum from 1966 through
October 20, 2014. The Whitney’s
current building at 99 Gansevoort
Street opened on May 1, 2015.
The Whitney was an innovator
in taking its exhibitions and
programming beyond its own walls,
opening branch museums in other
parts of New York City and the
surrounding area. These freeof-charge,
corporate-sponsored
branches operated as standalone
spaces with their own staffs,
serving as training grounds for
curators including Thelma Golden,
Shamim Momin, Lisa Phillips, and
Debra Singer. The exhibitions and
programming at these locations
not only allowed the public more
access to the Whitney’s collection,
but also met the needs of
experimental artists by providing
large spaces and performance
opportunities. The last of the
branches closed in 2008.
PERMANENT COLLECTION
The Whitney’s collection includes
over 24,000 works created by
more than 3,500 artists in the
United States during the twentieth
and twenty-first centuries.
At its core are Museum founder
Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s
personal holdings, totaling some six
hundred works when the Museum
opened in 1931. These works
served as the basis for the founding
collection, which Mrs. Whitney
continued to add to throughout
her lifetime.
The founding collection reflects
Mrs. Whitney’s ardent support
of living American artists of the
time, particularly younger or
emerging ones, including Peggy
Bacon, George Bellows, Stuart
Davis, Charles Demuth, Mabel
Dwight, Edward Hopper, Yasuo
Kuniyoshi, Reginald Marsh, and
John Sloan. This focus on the
contemporary, along with a
deep respect for artists’ creative
processes and visions, has guided
the Museum’s collecting ever since.
EDWARD HOPPER (1882-1967),
(SELF-PORTRAIT), 1925-30
OIL ON CANVAS,
WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, NEW
YORK; JOSEPHINE N. HOPPER BEQUEST
70.1165. © 2019 HEIRS OF JOSEPHINE N.
HOPPER/LICENSED BY ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY
(ARS), NEW YORK
59

JASPER JOHNS (B. 1930), THREE FLAGS, 1958. ENCAUSTIC ON CANVAS.
WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, NEW YORK; PURCHASE WITH FUNDS FROM THE GILMAN FOUNDATION, INC., THE LAUDER FOUNDATION, A. ALFRED TAUBMAN, LAURA-LEE WHITTIER WOODS, HOWARD LIPMAN,
AND ED DOWNE IN HONOR OF THE MUSEUM’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY 80.32. © 2019 JASPER JOHNS / LICENSED BY VAGA AT ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK

GEORGE TOOKER (1920-2011), THE SUBWAY, 1950. TEMPERA ON COMPOSITION BOARD.
WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, NEW YORK ; PURCHASE WITH FUNDS FROM THE JULIANA FORCE PURCHASE AWARD 50.23.
© ESTATE OF GEORGE TOOKER. COURTESY DC MOORE GALLERY, N.Y.
The collection begins with Ashcan
School painting and follows
the major movements of the
twentieth century in America,
with strengths in modernism
and Social Realism, Precisionism,
Abstract Expressionism, Pop art,
Minimalism, Postminimalism, art
centered on identity and politics
that came to the fore in the 1980s
and 1990s, and contemporary
work. The Museum’s flagship
exhibition is its biennial survey
of contemporary art, which has
always kept the focus on the
present in the spirit of its founder.
The highlights of the collection
are definitive examples of their
type, but there is also much variety
and originality in works by less
well-known figures. The collection
includes all mediums; over eighty
percent is works on paper. The
Whitney has deep holdings of
the work of certain key artists,
spanning their careers and the
mediums in which they worked,
including Alexander Calder, Mabel
Dwight, Nicole Eisenman, Edward
Hopper, Jasper Johns, Glenn Ligon,
Brice Marden, Reginald Marsh,
Agnes Martin, Georgia O’Keeffe,
Claes Oldenburg, Laura Owens,
Ed Ruscha, and Cindy Sherman.
ROSALYN DREXLER (B. 1926), MARILYN PURSUED BY DEATH, 1963. ACRYLIC
AND SILVER GELATIN PHOTOGRAPH ON CANVAS.
WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, NEW YORK; PURCHASE WITH FUNDS FROM THE PAINTING AND
SCULPTURE COMMITTEE 2016.16. © 2019 ROSALYN DREXLER / ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW
YORK AND GARTH GREENAN GALLERY, NEW YORK
62

GEORGIA O’KEEFFE (1887-1986), MUSIC, PINK AND BLUE NO. 2, 1918. OIL ON CANVAS.
WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, NEW YORK; GIFT OF EMILY FISHER LANDAU IN HONOR OF TOM ARMSTRONG 91.90.
© 2019 GEORGIA O’KEEFFE MUSEUM / ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIETY (ARS), NEW YORK
For many vanguard artists in the
early twentieth century, music
offered a model for expressing
nonverbal emotional states and
sensations.
Georgia O’Keeffe was fascinated
with what she called “the idea that
music could be translated into
something for the eye,” but her
references to music in the titles of
her paintings derived equally from
her belief that visual art, like music,
could convey powerful emotions
independent of representational
subject matter.
In Music—Pink and Blue II, the
swelling, undulating forms imply
a connection between the visual
and the aural, while also suggesting
the rhythms and harmonies that
O’Keeffe perceived in nature.
63

EXHIBITIONS
Since its inception in 1931,
the Whitney has championed
American art and artists by
assembling a rich permanent
collection and featuring a rigorous
and varied schedule of exhibition
programs. Emphasizing seminal
artists and artworks from the
twentieth and twenty-first
centuries, the Museum organizes
important exhibitions both from its
holdings and from the collections
of individuals and institutions
worldwide. Exhibitions range from
historical surveys and in-depth
retrospectives of major twentiethcentury
and contemporary artists
to group shows introducing young
or relatively unknown artists to
a larger public. The Biennial, an
invitational show of work produced
in the preceding two years, was
introduced by Gertrude Vanderbilt
Whitney in 1932. It is the longestrunning
series of exhibitions to
survey recent developments in
American art. The Whitney also has
presented acclaimed exhibitions
of film and video, architecture,
photography, and new media.
ROY LICHTENSTEIN, SHIPBOARD GIRL © ESTATE OF ROY LICHTENSTEIN
ROY LICHTENSTEIN STUDY
COLLECTION
June 2018 The Whitney Museum
of American Art made the
announcement that they had
received a remarkable promised
gift of over 400 works by Roy
Lichtenstein (1923–1997). The
Museum and the Roy Lichtenstein
Foundation have forged an
agreement that will bring the
two organizations into a close
and ongoing partnership and will
make the Whitney a locus for
Lichtenstein scholarship with the
creation of the Roy Lichtenstein
Study Collection. Through this
gift, and an expanded relationship
with the Foundation, the Whitney
will hold the world’s largest study
collection of Lichtenstein’s work,
opening up exceptional possibilities
for the Museum in terms of
exhibition, scholarship, and
conservation.
ROY LICHTENSTEIN,
STILL LIFE WITH PORTRAIT
© ESTATE OF ROY LICHTENSTEIN
MUSEUM DIRECTORS
Upon the founding of the Museum,
Juliana Force, a close associate of
Mrs. Whitney, was named director.
Her curatorial staff was composed
of three artists: Edmund Archer,
Karl Free, and Hermon More.
After Force’s retirement in 1948,
Hermon More was appointed
director and served until his
retirement in 1958, when Lloyd
Goodrich assumed the position.
John I. H. Baur was appointed
director in 1968, following
Goodrich, and upon the former’s
retirement in 1974, Thomas N.
Armstrong III became director.
David A. Ross was director from
1991 to 1998, and Maxwell L.
Anderson assumed the role from
1998 to 2003. Adam D. Weinberg
is the current Alice Pratt Brown
Director of the Whitney Museum.
64

by renowned restaurateur Danny
Meyer and his Union Square
Hospitality Group.
Mr. Piano’s design takes a strong
and strikingly asymmetrical form—
one that responds to the industrial
character of the neighboring loft
buildings and overhead railway
while asserting a contemporary,
sculptural presence. The upper
stories of the building overlook the
Hudson River on its west, and step
back gracefully from the elevated
High Line Park to its east.
ABOUT RENZO PIANO
WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART, PHOTOGRAPH BY BEN GANCSOS ©2016
THE BUILDING
Designed by architect Renzo
Piano, the Whitney’s building in
the Meatpacking District includes
approximately 50,000 square
feet of indoor galleries and 13,000
square feet of outdoor exhibition
space and terraces facing the High
Line. An expansive gallery for
special exhibitions is approximately
18,000 square feet in area,
making it the largest columnfree
museum gallery in New York
City. Additional exhibition space
includes a lobby gallery (accessible
free of charge), two floors for the
permanent collection, and a special
exhibitions gallery on the top floor.
Mr. Piano remarked in 2011, “The
design for the new museum
emerges equally from a close study
of the Whitney’s needs and from
a response to this remarkable site.
We wanted to draw on its vitality
and at the same time enhance
its rich character. The first big
gesture, then, is the cantilevered
entrance, which transforms the
area outside the building into a
large, sheltered public space. At
this gathering place beneath the
High Line, visitors will see through
the building entrance and the
large windows on the west side to
the Hudson River beyond. Here,
all at once, you have the water,
the park, the powerful industrial
structures and the exciting mix
of people, brought together and
focused by this new building and
the experience of art.”
The dramatically cantilevered
entrance along Gansevoort Street
shelters an 8,500-square-foot
outdoor plaza or “largo,” a public
gathering space steps away from
the southern entrance to the High
Line. The building also includes an
education center offering stateof-the-art
classrooms; a multi-use
black box theater for film, video,
and performance with an adjacent
outdoor gallery; a 170-seat theater
with stunning views of the Hudson
River; and a Works on Paper Study
Center, Conservation Lab, and
Library Reading Room.
A retail shop on the ground-floor
level contributes to the busy street
life of the area. A ground-floor
restaurant, Untitled, and the topfloor
Studio Cafe are operated
Renzo Piano was born in Genoa,
Italy, in 1937, into a family of
builders. In his home city he
has strong roots, sentimental
and cultural, with its historic
center, the port, the sea, and
with his father’s trade. During
his time at university, the Milan
Polytechnic, he worked in the
studio of Franco Albini. He
graduated in 1964 and then
began to work with experimental
lightweight structures and basic
shelters. Between 1965 and 1970
he traveled extensively in America
and Britain. In 1971, he founded
the studio Piano & Rogers with
Richard Rogers, and together
they won the competition for the
Centre Pompidou in Paris, the city
where he now lives. From the early
70s until the 90s, he collaborated
with the engineer Peter Rice,
forming Atelier Piano & Rice,
between 1977 and 1981. Finally, in
1981, he established Renzo Piano
Building Workshop, with a hundred
people working in Paris, Genoa,
and New York.
DISCOVER MORE
https://whitney.org/
Whitney Museum of
American Art
99 Gansevoort Street
New York, NY 10014
(212) 570-3600
65

PAOLA BONI

My name is Paola Boni and I am a
hyper realistic artist. I was born in
Colorno (Parma), where I live and
work.
I have a Bachelor’s Degree in
Economics and Commerce, and
for years I worked in the family
business. I was in charge of the
administration, but I felt like I was
trapped. I was very unhappy. Until
I decided to follow my strongest
desire: to work every day with
colors. Now when I paint or draw,
I feel like I am catapulted into
another dimension. Time simply
evaporates.
I started my artistic career in
2005. I am very active on the
international art scene; I have
exhibited in solo and group
exhibitions as well as in national
and international exhibitions in
various Italian and foreign cities.
I express in my art the passion for
detail using different techniques.
My passion for drawing has
been part of my life since I was
a child, and thanks to Lesley
Harrison’s book “Painting Animals
That Touch the Heart”, I fell in love
with pastel painting.
Being very meticulous in
reproducing details, I have
thus discovered oil and acrylic
painting as a mean to satisfy
my requirements, even if I
am constantly looking for
new techniques to make my
subjects ever more realistic, by
experimenting with new two and
three-dimensional possibilities.
I think I’ve always had a passion
for art and Hyperrealism. To help
you understand why I say this, I’ll
tell you about an incident that
happened to me when I was at
school. I can remember it as if
were yesterday.
DIABOLIK
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POPEYE
One day, my teacher gave me a
picture of a bas-relief to be copied
at home. When she looked at
my drawing, she angrily told me
that I had traced it. On hearing
that, my best friend came to my
defence, telling her that it was not
true. Then she tested me, giving
me another photo to copy, in class.
I set about my task and once I
had finished, the teacher loocked
at it in disbelief, apologized and
complimented me.
My work comes from the
observation of the reality that
surrounds me. I am a curious
observer and I paint what
intrigues me.
My characteristic is the meticulous
rendering of details. I love painting
with oil, acrylic and graphite pencil.
CONFUSION
I am a hyper realistic painter
attracted by used world and
abandoned objects that become
my subjects like, for example,
candy cards, crushed cans… or
crumpled page of books, newspaper
or comic books. You can see in
many of my works the presence
of comic book. These subjects
are close to my life since I was a
child. Even today I read comics
because they help me to escape
from reality and bad thoughts.
One day I realized that while I was
painting candy cards, I did not feel
enthusiastic, and thought I had
to change or add something to
my canvas. I tried to include the
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comics, and I noticed that not only
did my enthusiasm return, but
there was something else…
Sometimes, I’m inspired to create
by simple reflection on a common
object or a crumpled or torn piece
of paper, and my inspiration comes
from there I was having fun whilst
painting. When I see people who
look at my works with admiration,
who are photographed next to a
comic book of Tex Willer, or buy
a work with satisfaction, it fills me
with joy. It makes me very happy
to be able to glimpse the smile of a
child, a teenager or an adult.
Art, because they are the two
artistic currents that I love most.
The piece I’m most fond of is
hanging on my bedroom wall. It’s a
portrait of Wile E. Coyote riding a
Red Bull chasing the Road Runner.
I really love it. It manages to make
me smile, even when I’m angry.
I think Instagram is the social
media that has been most useful
for my art. It helped me to become
known outside Italy.
My dream project is to be able to
exhibit my work in some important
galleries in the United States and
be able to pave my way into the
large American market. In Italy
Hyperrealism is well known, but art
galleries find it hard to open their
doors to hyper-realistic artists for
two reasons: in the first place is
that most of them are focused on
historicized artists, and the second
is the amount of time it takes for a
work to be created.
I hope my work will be exhibited
all over the world in future. It is
probably a risky dream, but if we
stop dreaming, we also stop living.
Dreams help us to move forward,
even in the face of looming defeat.
DISCOVER MORE
www.paolaboni.eu
TEX WILLER
I had a difficult adolescence and I
found, in painting, the possibility
of feeling alive. Painting and
creating another reality allowed
me to overcome very serious
health problems. I suffered from
eating disorders (anorexia). When
I paint, like when I’m with my dogs,
I am in a different world made of
immediacy, happiness, spontaneity
when all the superstructures
collapse and I can be in contact
with that part of myself that has
been hidden for a while and can
now come out in the form of color,
details and harmony.
Roy Lichtenstein is one artist who
inspired me greatly. I love all his
works. When I have the chance
to admire his works, I am always
fascinated. You can observe in
some of my paintings aspects of
Hyperrealism and aspects of Pop
HULK’S CHRISTMAS
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DISCOVER MORE
www.matthewtaylorcreative.com
9 772515 658007
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