Dancers
"Cham Dancer no. 1"
By Ni Zhu (oil on panel, 16” x 12”, 2020)
Born in southern China, artist Ni Zhu planned on a career in law, receiving law degrees from Beijing University and the University of Pittsburgh and studying for a doctoral degree at the University Toronto Faculty of Law. However, she decided to dedicate her professional life to her true passion of painting, earning her MFA degree at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and training with master artists Huihan Liu, Daniel Gerhartz, and Zhaoming Wu.
Ni Zhu is a signature member of the American Impressionist Society and the Oil Painters of America. Her paintings have earned numerous awards, including from The Artists’ Magazine’s Annual Art Competition, Women Artists of the West, and the Oil Painters of America’s annual National Exhibition. She was profiled in the September 2018 issue of Southwest Art magazine, and is represented by Reinert Gallery in Charleston and Waterhouse Gallery in Santa Barbara, California.
Of her painting, Cham Dancer no. 1, Ni Zhu says she “was intrigued by the mixed sense of festivity and solemnity of the Tibetan Cham Dancing Festival and started painting several scenes of it.” The cham dance is an energetic, costumed dance performed by Tibetan Buddhist monks accompanied by traditional musical instruments of Tibet. It is considered a form of meditation for participants and audience.
"Dust and Drums; Dance of the Fulani"
Tim Rees (oil on canvas, 72 x 60 inches, 2017)
In the life-size painting, “Dust and Drums,” artist Tim Rees combines realistic technique for the physical features of a Fulani woman with looser, sweeping brush strokes to depict the movement of her traditional dance. The Fulani are a large ethnic group living mainly in West Africa, especially in Nigeria, home to 13 million.
Like several prominent contemporary realists, Timothy Rees studied (2009) at the Palette and Chisel Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago, where he soon became an instructor. After moving to Scottdale, Arizona, in 2012, he established a classical art program for the Scottsdale Artist School. Five years later, he began his own atelier, overseeing groups of 10-15 apprentices. Since 2020 he has been painting at his studio in Iowa.
Rees’ art has won numerous awards, including from the Art Renewal Center, FASO’s Bold Brush competition, the Palette & Chisel, the Portrait Society of America, and the Scottsdale Artists’ School, and appeared in leading art publications, such as American Art Collector, Fine Art Connoisseur, International Artist, and Southwest Art.
Rees is represented by Arcadia Contemporary, New York, and McLarry Fine Art, Santa Fe.
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"Marta: Flourish"
Daud Akhriev (oil on linen, 39 x 78 inches)
A traditional dance of Spain is depicted in “Marta: Flourish” by Russian-American artist Daud Akhriev. He studied classical art techniques in the Soviet Union, earning a master’s degree with honors from the Repin Institute (Russian Academy of Fine Art). In 1991, he emigrated to the United States, settling in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and becoming an American citizen. A highly regarded painting instructor, with students from around the world, Akhriev is also a sculptor whose 9-foot “Four Seasons” bronze figures commissioned by the city of Chattanooga is listed on the National Public Art Registry.
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Working skillfully in various art media and genre, Akhriev has received numerous awards, including from the Art Renewal Center, The International Portrait Competition of the Portrait Society of America, the Spanish Pastel Biennial, Plein Air Magazine, and many others. His art has appeared in a variety of publications across the world.
Akhriev is presented by Gallery 1261 in Denver and Cutter & Cutter in St. Augustine, Florida.
"Square Dancing"
Clement Kwan, Square Dancing
(oil, 24” x 20,” 2011)
In the featured paintings, artists Clement Kwan and Adam Vinson adeptly use sweeping, impressionistic brushstrokes to capture a sense of movement on a dance floor.
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Clement Kwan immigrated from his native China to Canada in 1979. His paintings, which combine realism and impressionism, have won numerous awards, including Figurative Awards of Excellence from the Oil Painters of America and the Vancouver Arts Carnival, both in 2019. He is a Signature Member of the Oil Painters of America and a Senior Signature Member of the Federation of Canadian Artists.
"Electric Avenue"
Adam Vinson (oil on panel, 26” x 24,” 2018)
Adam Vinson studied commercial illustration, then completed the core program at Waichulis Studio, before enrolling in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. His paintings integrate trompe l’oeil, contemporary realism, and impressionistic elements. His work has been awarded in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition (2009) and The Portrait Society of America’s International Portrait Competition (2016), and been featured in several art publications, such as American Art Collector, American Artists, and American Arts Quarterly.
Vinson’s Electric Avenue painting was part of his 2018 “Song and Dance” exhibition at Arcadia Contemporary Gallery. It is based on Eddy Grant’s “Electric Avenue,” which was the singer’s response to the Brixton riots in London, England (1981), attributed to high unemployment and widespread poverty among Caribbean immigrants.
"Before Rehearsal"
by Benjamin Wu (oil on canvas, 38'x34')
A native of China and graduate of the Guangzhou Fine Art Institute, Benjamin Wu moved to the United States in 1986, where he earned his MFA from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
Much of Wu’s figurative work depicts genre scenes of China or the historical American West. This painting, though, features ballerinas gracefully preparing for rehearsal, highlighting the beautiful face and sheer tulle of the seated ballerina’s tutu. In the background, the satin shoes and leg lines of the other ballerinas add verticality to the horizontal line of the foreground, completing the elegance of the composition.