Fantasy & Symbolism
"Ultimate Destination"
By Pramod Kurklekar (oil)
Pramod Kurlekar is a freelance artist residing in Mumbai, India. He graduated with a First Class degree in art (drawing and painting) from Kalavishwa Mahavidyalaya (Sangli, India) in 2000 and a degree from the Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy School of Art, University of Mumbai, in 2001.
Kurlekar is a figurative painter in oil and pastel, who in his art seeks to reveal “the beauty of human expression.” He often incorporates Buddhist symbolism into his paintings, as in the featured piece, “Ultimate Destination.”
Kurlekar’s paintings have achieved four Exceptional Merit International Awards (2016-2019) from the Portrait Society of America and the national Best Painting designation from the Bombay Art Society (2007), among other prizes. He has had several solo shows at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai.
"Saudade"
By Ayuesh Agarwal (mixed media 29” x 21”, 2020)
Originally studying and working at game art and design in his native India, Ayuesh Agarwal continued his art education at the Florence Academy of Art in 2013, the Los Angeles Academy of Figurative Art in 2015, and the Barcelona Academy of Art, where he soon was named Assistant Instructor of Drawing and Painting. In 2019, he founded the Samsara Academy of Art in Hyderabad, India, where he is Academic Director.
Agarwal’s numerous awards include a Gold Medal from the Art Society of India (2022), a Certificate of Excellence from the Portrait Society of America (2020), and a Purchase Award and Second Place Drawing Award, both from the Art Renewal Center’s 14th Annual Salon (2019). His participation in notable exhibitions include the Art Society of India’s 104th Annual Exhibition in Mumbai, and the ARC’s 14th Salon Exhibition at Sotheby’s, New York, and MEAM, Barcelona.
Regarding the featured piece, Agarwal explains:
“Saudade is a deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for an absent something or someone that one cares for and/or loves. Moreover, it often carries a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might never be had again.
It was an attempt to describe my inner world longing for freedom and fresh air during the lockdown. And the enforced isolation brought on the feeling of Saudade.
In terms of technique, I was experimenting more with washes of color in the drawing to create a sense of vibrancy and how I can use my imagination to create a landscape. The landscape is a recollection of memories and moments I have experienced when being outdoors with an attempt to create the emotion I see in paintings of Jules Bastien Lepage, Emile Friant, and Bouguereau.”
"Wonderland"
By Leah Hopkins Henry (oil on panel, 24” x 18”, 2020)
"Kuleana"
By Esther Hi’ilani Candari (oil and metal leaf on birch board, 58 “x 38”)
Artist Esther Hi’ilani Candari was raised in Oahu, Hawai’i, and earned a BFA from Brigham Young University at Hawaii and an MFA from Liberty University, with further study at the New York Academy of Art. Mainly a figurative painter, she often draws on her family’s heritage by incorporating Polynesian symbols and concepts into her art. Her art examines such topics as ecology, gender, race, and religion. Candari teaches online for Southern Virginia University and is a curriculum developer for Sentient Academy, an online art academy. She is also a talented sculptor and photographer.
The featured award-winning painting, Kuleana (koo-leh-ah-nah), symbolizes the Hawaiian word for responsibility. It is the reciprocal relationship between the person and that for which she is responsible, such as respecting and caring for the earth. It connotes both a duty and a privilege. Each person has a different kuleana according to age and abilities.
Leah Hopkins Henry traces her artistic skill of closely observing subtle differences with having an identical twin. After graduating from the University of Georgia and attending Atlanta’s American College of the Applied Arts, she studied with leading realist painters Daniel E. Greene, David A. Leffel, Burton Silverman, and Yuqi Wang.
Henry’s artwork has been featured in many publications and juried shows in the U.S. and abroad. Her memorial painting for the U.S. Third Infantry Division’s “Warriors Walk” at Fort Stewart, Georgia, was unveiled in 2008. She is a Signature Member of American Artists Professional League and American Women Artists, along with membership in the National Oil and Acrylic Painters’ Society, the International Guild of Realism, and other national art organizations.
Leah Hopkins Henry is represented by 33 Contemporary Gallery in Chicago.
"A Secret and A Locked Door"
By Mark R. Pugh (36” x 48”, 2017)
In his youth, artist Mark R. Pugh spent hours drawing in sketchbooks and studying the work of famous artists. Deciding on a more practical course, however, he earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology, graduating first in his class at Utah Valley University. It was through the influence of his cousin, the successful artist Jeffrey Hein, that Pugh began working toward an art career through classes at Bridge Academy of Art (Provo) and from Hein, Michael Workman, and other talented painters. He soon became an instructor at Hein Academy in Salt Lake City.
It was not until 2016, though, that Pugh became a fulltime artist but was quickly noticed, winning First Place in The Artist’s Magazine’s All Media Competition that year and Honorable Mention for his painting Celestial Navigation in the 2018 Art Renewal Center’s Annual Art Salon. In his artwork, he strives to combine “strong narrative, technical mastery, and aesthetic harmony.”
Pugh’s recent paintings feature realistic figures placed before drawings of a more muted palette to show children interacting with storybook-like illustrations. This can be seen in his award-winning paintings in the 16th Annual Art Renewal Center Annual Salon (2022): An Unsatisfying Ending, Best in Show; Autumn Roses by the Sea, third place in the portraiture and fantasy categories; and, Labor Day, the Rehs Contemporary Gallery Award. An Unsatisfying Ending also appears on the cover of the March 2023 issue of The Fine Art Connoisseur.
Pugh is represented by Blue Rain Gallery in Santa Fe, Gallery Piquel in New Jersey, Arcadia Contemporary in New York City, and Principle Gallery in Alexandria, Virginia.
"Where Is Home?"
By Linda Adair (oil, 16 “x 16”, 2018)
Artist Linda Adair was born in Canada and now resides in Aix-en-Provence, France. Her realistic figures are often situated in unusual places or with symbolic imagery, such as wings or, as in the featured painting, a rabbit mask. Her aim is to suggest narrative with an air of mystery. She also “explores beauty, sensuality, and intimacy” through her nude paintings.
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Adair’s work is in private collections worldwide, and she is represented by Abend Gallery in Denver, Haven Gallery in Long Island, and Lovetts Gallery in Tulsa.
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"A Month of Dreaming"
By Stephen Mackey (oil on panel, 22” x 24”, 2019)
Stephen Mackey’s paintings delve into the worlds of dreams, fantasy, fairytales, and magic. A self-taught artist influenced by Renaissance, Rococo, and Neoclassical masters, he skillfully creates beautiful, haunting pictures from his imagination. Mackey is represented by Arcadia Contemporary, where he had solo shows in December 2019 and June 2022.
"Premonition"
By Kouki Tsuritani (mezzotint, 7.5” x 7.5”)
Kouki Tsuritani is a Japanese artist who earned his BA and MFA from Kanazawa College of Art (Japan). He specializes in three methods of printmaking: mezzotint, photogravure, and wood engraving. His artwork merges the philosophy of Ukiyoe (“Floating World”) and other traditional Japanese art with traditional Western printmaking techniques. The results are serene, minimalist images.
Kouki Tsuritani’s work has been exhibited widely in Japan and internationally, winning numerous accolades, including Grand Prix at the 11th Trienniale Internationale de Gravures in Chamalieres, France, in 2021. His art is part of several public collections, including Kurobe Art Museum (Japan), The Library of Congress (USA), and the Ekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts (Russia).
In the United States, he is represented by Davidson Galleries and Warnock Fine Arts.
"Navigating Influence"
By Michael Bergt (colored pencil and gouache on paper, 18” x 14.5”, 2011)
Internationally acclaimed artist Michael Bergt is renowned for symbolic figurative work skillfully rendered in a wide variety of media, including egg tempera, gouache, colored pencil, and bronze. His art is a dynamic fusion of Eastern and Western aesthetics, of sensuality and spirituality, of literal and symbolic, of ambiguity and paradox.
For more than three decades, Bergt’s work has appeared in many solo and group shows across the US and abroad from Belvedere Place in Vienna, Austria, to the Frye Art Museum in Seattle, Washington. Bergt’s art is part of numerous private and public collections, including the Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, New York; the Fons D’art del Diari Avui, Barcelona, Spain; the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas; the Frye Art Museum, Seattle; the de Young Museum and the California Palace of the Legion of Honor, both in San Francisco; and The Museum of New Mexico, Santa Fe. He is represented by Nuart Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
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"Collective Consciousness"
By Kristy Gordon (oil on panel, 20” x 20”, 2013)
Born and raised in British Columbia, Canada, artist Kristy Gordon, earned a BFA at Ontario College of Art and Design (2011), an MFA at The New York Academy of Art (2013), and apprenticed with Odd Nerdrum, the famed Norwegian symbolic figurative artist. Gordon was featured in Southwest Art’s “Emerging Artists: 21 Under 31” in 2009 and Fine Art Connoisseur’s article “Artists Making Their Mark” in 2013. Her paintings have appeared in numerous solo and group shows, won many awards and honors, and are part of more than 600 art collections worldwide.
Gordon is represented by Cube Gallery (Ottawa, Canada), Garvey-Simon (New York City), and Grenning Gallery (Sag Harbor, New York).
Her website summarizes her creative artistic style:
“Kristy Gordon’s paintings interweave motifs from disparate genres and time periods—from Old Master history painting to contemporary portraiture—to create temporally ambiguous settings for strange and surprising interactions among people, animals, and hybrid creatures. While fantastical, the environs she depicts are not purely imaginary—they stage a return of the repressed. She conjures the magic that has been expunged from the rationalist, technocratic logic of our lived reality.”
"Judgement"
By Lauren Tilden (oil on panel, 24” x 36”, 2011)
"Hope"
By Ernest Vincent Wood III (oil on linen, 30” x 24”, 2018)
"Mixed Messages"
By Kerry Simmons (colored pencil and gouache on black Canson board, 16” x 20”, 2013)
Artist Lauren Tilden earned her Master of Fine Arts degree at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, studying under Patrick Connors, Vincent Desiderio, and Sidney Goodman. Influenced by Philadelphia realists Thomas Eakins (1844-1916) and Andrew Wyeth (1917-2009), Tilden has developed a distinctive style using a limited palette and painterly application.
Tilden’s art has received numerous honors, including First Place in the Figurative category and Purchase Award in the 13th Art Renewal Center International Salon for her painting “Jairus’ Daughter.” Her painting “Dinah” is part of the permanent collection of the Rockwell Museum in Corning, New York, and her painting “September Wind” is in the permanent collection of MEAM (Museu Europeo d’Art Modern) in Barcelona, Spain. Tilden’s artwork has been highlighted in several art publication, including an interview with “Outdoor Painter.” She is represented by F.A.N. Gallery in Philadelphia.
Artist Ernest Vincent Wood III combines influences of the 17th-century followers of Caravaggio and the Dutch Baroque into a contemporary context. After earning his BFA from Wichita State University (KS) in 2006, he continued his education at The International School for Drawing, Painting, and Sculpture in Umbria, Italy.
Wood’s paintings have been exhibited three times in Ireland and, in 2019, at the Evansville Museum (IN), where his diptych “The Bacchae” is now part of the permanent collection. His “More than Material” won Second Place in the 2020-2021 International Portrait Competition of the Portrait Society of America, and was later sold by Sotheby’s of New York.
"Mr. Green with a Rope"
By Robert Schefman (oil on canvas, 16” x 20”, 2011)
Kerry Simmons is a multi-talented artist who works well across a wide array of media: oil, acrylic, colored pencil, graphite, charcoal, crayon, watercolor, gouache, and egg tempera. Originally from Wisconsin, she studied at the Ukrainian Academy of Art in Kiev, the Repin Academy in St. Petersburg, and the New York Academy of Art in New York City.
Simmons combines a deep knowledge of Western art techniques with an Eastern sensibility. She invests her art with beauty and meaning, “often presenting the subject in a state of intense and dignified stillness.” Her work can be seen in person at Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, South Carolina.
The featured piece pays homage to a recurring theme in Western paintings of women reading letters, with famous examples such as Johannes Vermeer’s Woman in Blue Reading a Letter (c. 1663) and Camille Corot’s The Letter (c. 1865). The woman in Simmons’s “Mixed Messages” stands stationary, tenuously holding a letter above a whirlpool of fallen ones. The figure’s countenance is dramatically offset by a rectangle of hazy light surrounded by dark negative space.
"Mrs. Green with a Candlestick"
By Robert Schefman (oil on canvas, 20” x 16”, 2011)
In these two featured paintings, artist Robert Scherfman takes a character from the popular board game Clue, Mr. Green, and gives him a wife, Mrs. Green.
In the game, players guess which of six characters committed the murder with which weapon and in which room. The game’s solution answers the who, what, and where of the crime. Scherfman, however, wanted to explore the why, which he links in a series of paintings to domestic violence. The artist leaves the details of the backstories to the viewer’s imagination.
In his “Mr. Green with a Rope,” the character has apparently committed suicide with a rope, one of the game’s weapons, and we view his body after it has fallen to the floor (or been cut down).
Meanwhile, Mrs. Green sits cornered on the floor, hugging her bent legs, and staring, dazed, out the window. Lying beside her is a candlestick, another of the game’s weapons. The painting is composed so viewers seem to look down on her as if standing.
"Arm in Arm"
by Mia Bergeron (oil on aluminum, 48'x32', 2019)
Mia Bergeron combines excellent technique with boldly creative ideas, making her one of the most interesting representational artists today. She explains that her Arm in Arm painting is about “the excess [emotional] baggage” that cannot completely be eliminated, but which “don’t have to break our strides forward and our calm.”