Dr. Judith Monteferrante’s Western photography collection “Spirit of the West,” is an exciting visual odyssey and a star-spangled tribute to Western America

“Night Train”
Photograph
17” x 25”

Dr. Judith Monteferrante’s photography collection shines the spotlight on the Contemporary Western landscape. Inspired by the adage: “Go West Young Man,”  Dr. Monteferrante drove cross-country from New England to capture the powerful vistas and panoramic splendors of the great American West. Her Western photography  collection entitled “Spirit of the West,” is an exciting visual odyssey and a star-spangled tribute to Western America. Influenced by the western environment featuring its zestful lifestyle, robust outdoor activities and majestic terrain, her lens captures the spirit and essential beauty of the environs of the western states. With a prescient “Third Eye,” this Easterner pays homage to the West as her camera records the sublimity of the western aesthetic. Leading the viewer down the “quest-for-west” trail, Dr. Judith Monteferrante enshrines the western landscape and its life style in a Five Star Salute to the Golden West.
A retired cardiologist his acclaimed photographer is renowned for her award winning photographs that feature a diversified body of work including “The Mature Nude.” In addition, Dr. Monteferrante is highly recognized for several captivating series that sensitively showcase the Seacoast, Still Life, Animalia, Floral & Still Life as well as Food & Drink.

Read Full Post »

PAOLA CECI’s striking abstract digital print series “Surfing the Colors” explores the process of an imaginary journey through inner worlds where each photo becomes an island and every spectator is transformed into a sailor who glides from one photo to another.

“Crossing the Ocean”
Digital Photography
19” x 16”

Italian artist Paola Ceci striking abstract digital print series “Surfing the Colors”  follows the process of an imaginary journey through the inner worlds where each photo is like an island and every spectator is like a sailor who glides from one photo to another.  Despite her use of technology to create art, her oeuvre conveys a powerful organic essence which stirs intrinsic passions from the spectator. Demonstrating an unparalleled mastery of the digital media, Paola Ceci manipulates photographs to create a metaphysical realm of mystery and fantasy where visceral emotion reigns. Her prints seamlessly blend shapes and colors to create magnificent chromatic spectrums and illusory dream-like environments.

Like pieces of a vibrant mosaic, the fluid forms virtually gleam with underlying symmetry and immaculacy as the artworks explore shape and movement by utilizing abstract images and recognizable forms.  The subjects have a strong orbital pull, centering the swirl of varied mediums and inspirations with unifying force. The world that takes form, forged through a digitally enhanced and mixed media approach allows her work to take on a sense of liveliness and play as her subjects color their own meaning onto a background of rich textures and spontaneous strokes. Her work serves as an expression of complex emotional states becoming more intense, spirited and unsuspecting as the artist moves each work closer to realization. This adventurous process, along with Paola Ceci’s penchant for the bold use of color and texture, allow her compositions to be imaginative and provocative as her central subject speaks eloquently on behalf of troves of emotions.

 

Read Full Post »

MILAGROS MELENDEZ’s new “Elements” series pays tribute to the beauty of differences and similarities of various cultures by focusing on diverse elements such as the native art and national cuisine while showcasing the cultural iconography of the country

“Colombia”
Acrylic on Strips of Acid Free Paper Mounted on Canvas
36” x 36”

Milagros Melendez presents a unique distinctive aesthetic that vibrantly demonstrates an emphasis upon the artist’s subjective interpretation of experience and the surrounding environment. Her colorful and provocative renderings of national heritage in the series “Elements” pays tribute to the beauty of differences and similarities of cultures by focusing on elements such as the native art and national cuisine of the country. By combing the cultural iconography of place, filtered through the very personal perspective of the artist, as visitor, Ms. Melendez invites us on a visual odyssey to celebrate the unique characteristics that define these nations. To this extent, through the innovative use of color, form, iconography, and material, she evokes a powerful tension between national history and interpretation that centers upon the complex dialogue between the self and the other. As Ms. Melendez writes of her work, “My aim is to project the respect and wonder that each subject impresses on me…as it opens the possibility of constantly finding something new and beautiful about the things that we come in contact with daily, including that which is most important to us.”

Through the striking images of her oeuvre, Ms. Melendez connotes the beauty of experience and attempts to revitalize the viewer’s fascination with the diverse aspects of the world, both near and far. These central concerns are evident in the works of Ms. Melendez’s series “Elements,” which center upon the expression of the individual’s relationship to the nation through the amalgamation of cultural icons and visual impressions. By combining collaged strips of paper with vibrant colors and visual forms, these works contemplate the multiplicity of the nation and the faculties of visual and psychological perception. Ms. Melendez’s brilliant painting “Colombia” depicts these various themes through the expressionistic rendering of the national symbol of the accordion, which is a central instrument in the Colombian musical style of vallenato. By combining this image of the accordion with the natural features of the butterfly, bamboo shoots, and flowers, Ms. Melendez evokes both the joy and wonderment that emerges out of the encounter with the unknown.

Read Full Post »

MARIAN ADCOCK continues the tradition of Botanical art with her saturated washes of vibrant wax and oil-based colored pencils drawings of plants and flowers which re-create a magical, enchanted kingdom of nature and burst with delicate color as she ethereally illustrates the splendor of the natural terrain.

“Yucca Plant”
Wax & Oil-based Colored Pencil
17″ x 14″

Marian Adock continues the tradition of Botanical art, which is an ancient tradition that involves creating scientifically accurate depictions of plant life. Bursting with color, this contemporary master illustrates life scenes of nature with ethereal depictions of the natural terrain which draws the eye in with their intricate details and rich depth of color. A lifelong, passionate admirer of nature, contemporary master Marian Adcock teases out the wondrous, enchanting characteristics inherent in the sparkle of wind blowing on a berry branch or the glitter of a yucca plant or the evanescent illumination of a vase of lilies and transforms them into nexus of light. Saturated washes of vibrant wax and oil-based colored pencils create these detailed, huetopian wonders of nature. Her dexterity as a draftsmen shines throughout her compositions and the artist’s brushwork is patient and smooth, yet vibrantly malleable, as if she is calmly waiting for her subjects to come to life within her works.

With an almost rejuvenescent transformation, color is fluidly organic in Marian Adcock’s delightful works, pulsating with emotional bravura. Applying bold swatches of colored pencil hues to make her drawings jump to life, Ms. Adcock creates realistic detailed glimpses of nature and yet her art is free and bold as she illustrates the fleeting and fragile beauty of the natural terrain. Evoking a sense of the healing power and joie de vivre of nature, Ms. Adcock is a retired CEO of the greater Minneapolis area chapter of the American Red Cross. Her luminescent works are lyrical portals which transport the viewer to a magical aesthetic realm where she highlights the beauty, tranquility, and excitement of nature. With a sense of inner peace and hope, her enchanted kingdom encourages the viewer to see color as an essential part of a vibrant natural terrain.

Read Full Post »

MAL LUBER conjures Surrealist dreamscapes with fantastical fantasies which metamorph into a magical, whimsical, kingdom where the supernatural, coexist harmoniously in a grandiose vision of pure tranquility to become symbols for peace and harmony

“No Boundaries”
Acrylic on Canvas
51.5″ x 38.5″

Mal Luber explores imaginative, otherworldly visions of dreamlike realms, rendering compositions in which the influence of Henri Rousseau and the Surrealist movement are immediately evident. Drawing on these influences, Mr. Luber has developed a unique and personal style that integrates dreaming and waking life, delighting the viewer with his entertaining scenes and masterful technique.  Enchanting his viewers into the same dream-like state by creating Surrealist works which are fantasies innocently played out amidst a supernatural realm of magic, Mr. Luber’s fantastical canvases skillfully capture the viewer’s attention.   An eternal juvenescence of a whimsical, fabulous kingdom is conjured up before us as he gently coaxes us to open our imagination and accept the more surreal elements of his work, such as a giraffe lurking in the picture plane or lions and elephants hovering serenely above a sleeping figure.

Brilliantly depicting these dreamscapes where the human and the animal, the everyday and the supernatural, coexist harmoniously in a grandiose vision of pure tranquility, his compositions are metaphors for peace and harmony.  The artist’s swirls of expressionistic brushstrokes and luscious jewel-tone color palette complement the intriguing scenes that unfold in his paintings, enhancing the dreamlike atmosphere. Creating luxurious textures in nuanced, lush layers of paint resulting in brilliant hues, light also plays prominently in the dazzling compositions, as it illuminates the sublime emotional vistas and textural backgrounds. The overall effect is one of visceral introspection and aesthetic intrigue that encourages the viewer to both laugh at and appreciate the whimsical juxtapositions of modern life.

Read Full Post »

KAREN PONELLI’s iconographic visions of nature emotionally reflect the transplendence of the floral kingdom as she adopts expressionistic principles to transmit the harmonic potential of pure nature in her luscious floral paintings

Karen Ponelli invites the viewer on a sensorial experience to visit the flora and fauna kingdom and enjoy as well as listen to the sublime majesty of nature. Capturing its lush terrain and gentle expanse, she carefully highlights with magnificent color, the natural realm and masterfully brings to life the vibrancy of Mother Nature, depicting tranquil scenes with lush landscaping that focuses on idyllic, pastoral vignettes of country gardens bathed in dewy morning light. A passionate fascination with flowers and nature emblematize the creations of this gifted artist who is captivated by the constant evolution of flowers and other natural phenomena. Poetic in precision and poignant in purity of form, Ms. Ponelli is adroit in her use of the vibrant oil medium, virtuosically applying it onto canvas, a technique that lends a richly nuanced texture to her works.
With a visceral interest for the outdoor terrain, Ms. Ponelli emotionally responds to nature’s splendor and adopts expressionistic principles to transmit the harmonic potential of pure nature. Skillfully illuminating the rejuvenescent light and warm colors of Spring and Summer, Ms. Ponelli incandescently shines the spotlight on the natural realm with her tranluminescent compositions which transport the viewer to an extraterrestrial universe of serenity and harmony. In an almost magical transformation, vibrant hues of color become fluidly organic in these delightful works.

Read Full Post »

Golden Girl, Jessica Hartley, Amsterdam Whitney Gallery Assistant

AMSTERDAM WHITNEY GALLERY Owners,  Ms. Ruthie Tucker and Ambassador Dr. Alton L. Amsterdam III,

extend Golden Wishes to Golden Girl, Jessica Hartley, on her upcoming marriage and departure to the Middle East.

Read Full Post »

Barbara Muir portrait of “Ubaldo Vital”- featured on CNN

CNN has contacted AMSTERDAM WHITNEY GALLERY’s May Artist, BARBARA MUIR, to discuss the master silversmith artist,

Ubaldo Vitali.  Barbara  Muir will be showcased on the CNN TV show: “The Next List,” hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta on Sunday, May 20, 2012.

Inspired by Ubaldo Vitali’s wonderful words and marvelous face, Ms. Muir has drawn an insightful portrait of this master artist who won the MacArthur Genius Grant in 2011.

Read Full Post »

PHILIP CATANIA offers a parallax vision in his surrealist, fantasy dreamscapes on life as he communicates the powerful energy and the shifts in human emotions in his visceral canvases which become which become visual, expressive metaphors to mirror the individual moods of human nature.

“Conscience”
Oil on Wood
13” x 11”

 
The intriguing surrealist creations of Philip Catania’s dramatic artworks speak straight from the heart about the human experience. Reflecting on all that is most fascinating and sometimes most fragile, his exuberant paintings, in which colors, lines and forms battle for supremacy, reveal an enthralling reflection of an amorphous world of dreams. The result is a series of utterly compelling works which offer a precious insight into the conflicts of humankind as they invite us on a journey to explore new landscapes of the imagination and the soul. The mysterious realm of the psyche metamorphoses into dazzling beauties of nature and these dramatic mindscapes transform into unique artistic visions.

With a passion to reflect every sensation and emotion and the desire to represent a landscape of the mind in its many colors, he skillfully envisions his dreamscapes as an imprimatur for timelessness and fragility, Speaking with a sensitive aesthetic in a voice that is uniquely his own, Philp Catania’s most recent collection is a form of personal visual poetry. Each transluminescent work is a new enchantment and a vibrant expression of his own verdant imagination. Fascinated by visualizing the gradations of the mind, his intention is to emotionally communicate our inner most dreams and thoughts, while also eloquently conveying its fragility in an elegant and poetic vision.

Read Full Post »

More Fun & Fabulous Party Photos from Amsterdam Whitney Gallery

H.E. Ambassador Dr. Alton Louis Amsterdam III, International Ambassador-at-Large greeting  The Honorable Herman Amos, Jr., U.S. Department of Justice – U.S. Attorney’s Office, Financial Investigator

Ms. Ruthie Tucker Executive Director and Owner of Amsterdam Whitney Gallery

Read Full Post »