FINE ART GALLERY

Carlos Torres

While studying anthropology at Universidad Nacional Bogota, Torres gained a unique perspective on the energy and spirituality of the human condition which ultimately redirected his ambitions. No longer content to merely study the past, he desired to influence the present and contribute to the future and subsequently graduated with a Degree in Fine Art. This unique background and his intimate exposure to the artifacts of the ancients have inspired Torres' unique use of textures, tones and the energetic magnetism that is so palpable in his works. Each of his artistic creations evokes an emotional response from the viewer, a sense of spirituality from deep within, perhaps even the same type of spiritual feeling that Carlos himself experienced at dig sites in his native Colombia as a student. His work has been exhibited in many galleries and museums throughout all of South America and California. Carlos Torres was awarded First Prize honors, establishing him as “The New Master of Painting”, at the Salon Alzate Avendano in Bogota, Colombia (the most significant art competition in Colombia) and went on to represent Colombia in a prestigious art competition held in Cuenca, Ecuador and then was among only thirty artists who were selected to participate in a second competition in Madrid, Spain.

Joan Colomer Valls

Born in the Catalonia region of Spain, Colomer was intimately shaped by the pastoral countryside of deep forests and rolling hills that lent its name to the Olotina Landscape School, founded by painter Joaquim Vayreda over 125 years ago. Colomer learned to paint at a young age alongside of his two brothers under the tutelage of his father who was also an artist. He painted steadily mastering complicated techniques quickly. After receiving a degree in philosophy and liberal arts, Colomer based himself in Madrid and traveled extensively to study the styles of master painters while developing his own extraordinary talents. For Colomer painting is primal. “I live to paint,” he says. This consistent and driving force in his life led him to constantly self-analyze. “If I paint a landscape, it is because it has brought to my mind some remembrances and associations that I have to express urgently. I never know which way the painting will go while I’m working because sometimes the painting comes to life and develops its own destiny.”

JB Berkow

JB is an accomplished artist who has shown all over the country and has her work in many prestigious permanent collections. She has had great success in several art genres. For example, her modern art pieces garnered a one person show in a gallery on Madison Avenue, which lead to Gerald Tsai purchasing the 17-foot painting “Acid Rain” that hangs at his performing arts center at Boston University. Another one of her 17-foot abstract paintings grace the walls of the West Palm Beach International Airport. She is mostly well-known for her romantic realistic works of European landscapes and cityscapes. One such painting is part of the permanent art collection of the Vatican Museum in Italy. She has shown her work in galleries all over the country and has had several one-person museum exhibitions. Over a thousand limited edition prints of JB’s works has been sold on the Princess Cruise Ships. She has also published four books: “Shades of Love,” “What They Didn’t Teach You In Art School,” “Confessions of a Coffeeholic,” and “Painted Poetry.” The last one is a monograph covering the European period of her work plus poetry created for each image.

Sebastien Levigne

Sebastien Levigne was born in Rocheford sur Mer, France in 1975. Whilst studying for and ultimately gaining a PHD in Bio-Chemistry, Levigne at the age of 20 discovered the work of Jean-Claude Roy who left a big impression on him. For seven years he spent his evenings and weekends researching art and finding and refining his own artistic style. He has taken part in numerous exhibitions in Brittany and outside France and has shown his work in galleries all over the world. Sébastien Levigne uses a mixture of paint and collage to explore urban topics. His work focuses primarily on walls and the traces left on the walls by man. Letters and symbolic elements are the major characteristics of his work: figures and everyday/familiar colloquialisms, references to evolution and achievement such as ladders, stairs or the hopscotch. The subject of his work is anecdotal and at the edge of abstraction.

Giovanni Manzo

The painter Giovanni Manzo (born in Naples in 1966) is internationally known for his innovative style blending harmoniously three artistic techniques: photography, graphic art and painting. The photography reveals the reality and the movement, the graphic art gives the image a modern contemporary touch and the painting sets it all in a romantic view that belongs to the Italian cultural tradition. The artist prefers to paint the cities, revisiting them with a modern point of view like no other artist has ever done before. His technique draws a break with the traditional figuration: the most typical streets are reproduced from a contemporary perspective projecting a completely new image of the cities to the world.

Sabzi

Sabzi was born in Ahwas, Iran and the strong influence of his culture can be seen in his work. His paintings resonate with both Eastern and Western cultures, finding inspiration from his native Persian culture and his western role models, Cezanne and Matisse.Sabzi started painting at the age of twelve and was encouraged in his talents by his parents and inspiring teachers. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Jundi Shapur. His inspiration came at an early age, enamored by the Persian rugs his mother designed and weaved herself.His paintings reveal a seldom paralleled sensitivity. Captured moods and delicate faces are immortalized in vibrant splashes of colors. Sabzi’s subjects are almost always women inhabiting dream like states.

                                                                                     "Sedona Moon" by Sabzi Oil on Canvas 30"x24" $950

LIMITED EDITION PRINTS

JB Berkow

See previous bio. JB Berkow has created many Limited Edition Prints that have sold out in large editions. However, the large print shown below is part of a highly limited edition of only 25 giclee prints on canvas which has been embellished with a special gel coating that gives the feel of brush strokes.

Andrew Artshenko

Born in 1965 in the City of Pokrovsk, Russia, Andre became part of a gifted child program at the Children’s Art School there and was later accepted at the St. Petersburg Academy of Art, one of the world’s most prestigious art schools. In 1999 Andrew spent the entire year in the U.S.. He was invited by the “Bay Arts,” a New England based group, to take part in their exhibitions. According to Andrew, “The year in America gave me more as an artist then all eight years of my formal studies.” After seeing Royo and Pino at Art Expo 2000 in New York, he chose the direction that his art would take. Since then Andrew has worked with dealers from Western Europe and the U.S., exhibiting and selling his paintings in galleries in Carmel, Scottsdale, Palm Desert, Las Vegas,n Hawaii, and Oregon.

                                                                                     "Baseline" by Adrew Print on Canvas 36"x30" $500

M.I. Garmash

An Art Love Story – Michael was born in 1969 in Lugansk, Ukraine. He began painting at the age of three and by six started his formal education at the Lugansk Youth Creative Center. In 1987, he graduated valedictorian from the Lugansk State Fine Art College and became an art teacher there. He later graduated from St. Petersburg Academy of Art at the head of his class. Michael Garmash exhibited his works throughout Russia and France, adding stained-glass to his list of talents.

During his stint in the army, Michael returned to his former school on a two-week vacation. The last day of his visit he met Inessa at a bus station; the next day Michael didn’t return to his division. Inessa woke that day to her image painted all around the city surrounding her house—on the road, on the walls of buildings and the walls of her apartment staircase. Michael had spent the night painting; he was arrested first by the city police, then handed over to the army MP’s, but he was not punished. (Even military personnel can sympathize with true love!) One year later, Michael and Inessa returned to the same bus station. Michael hung a bouquet of flowers on the station sign to commemorate the place where they met; the beginning of their “at-first-glance” love story. Michael and Inessa have worked together creating paintings, stained-glass windows, mosaics and drawings. They have exhibited in Sweden, France, Russia, Ukraine, Belgium and Finland. They continue working with their daughter Polina as a model and occasionally include themselves in their compositions.