Suzan Woodruff

Casper Brindle

Lisa Bartleson

Wang Niandong

As with so much Chinese contemporary art, the sensuous women depicted by Wang Niandong are more than meets the eye, according to one critic. Chinese artist Wang Niandong frequently superimposes a young woman against an urban background with butterflies, gazelles or other symbolic references to nature. Most critics think the butterflies refer to a transformative … Read More

Li Xiaofeng

Li Xiaofeng, a 43-year-old Beijing artist, has found a way to link his  contemporary work with traditional Chinese art stretching back to the 10th Century.  In his art, the links are literal: he sews shards of porcelain from the Song, Ming, Yuan, and Qing dynasties on a leather undergarment to created full-length dresses and men’s … Read More

Cao Xiaodong

The career of Cao Xiaodong, whose dot-pattern paintings contrast cultural icons of China with those of the United States, “has always been marked by a keen interest in history,” according to critic Yang Wei, who notes: “If there is a creative impulse driving every artist’s career, then the search for the vestiges of time is … Read More

Stainless Angels of Liao Yibai

When asked where he grew up, Liao Yibai answers “Mailbox 5.” Born in the hospital of a top-secret chemical engineering factory that made missile propellants, Yibai attended the factory school, where he was told by his teachers that if he studied hard he could attend the Military Industry University and then work in the propellant … Read More

Aaron Karp's Paintings Compared to 'Visual Jazz'

Recipient of a dozen prestigious international grants and residencies, including one from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, Karp was artist-in-residence in Mojacar, Spain when he visited the Alhambra. Its intricate domes inspired this series of paintings, whose abstract shapes are surmounted by an interleaved grid of tubular forms. Karp’s fractured, multihued surfaces—termed “visual jazz” by one critic—present … Read More

Michelle Concepción Painting in Her Studio

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Liang Haopeng: The Art of Confrontation

Liang Haopeng’s works are mostly paintings of unruly beheavior, chaotic gatherings often depicting verbal and physical arguments. He deliberately paints the figures in his canvases with oblique lighting and rimmed in red, so they appear violent and sinister. By capturing his subjects in peak action ”what the renowned photographer Henri Cartier- Bresson called the decisive … Read More

Anime-inspired Paintings of Li Jia

The paintings of Li Jia, whose work has been exhibited in the United Kingdom and the United States as well as in Shanghai and Beijing, are highly regarded in Chinese art circles: the “2007 Chinese Contemporary Art Document” gives her a full three pages and includes four half-page color illustrations. Two of the paintings shown in … Read More

Cui Jin's Enigmatic Brides

The enigmatic brides-to-be in paintings by Cui Jin seemed wrapped in crinkled cellophane, like gifts that have been opened, crumpled, and re-packaged. Two full-page color illustrations of her work are included in the definitive catalog, “2007 Chinese Contemporary Art Document.” Their elbow- length lace gloves as well as the fringed shawl covering their heads traditionally … Read More

Symbolic Portraits of Wang Limin

Born in Handan, Hebei Province in 1974, Wang Limin has participated in 15 group exhibitions in China, Japan and Korea as well as a solo show at the Pickled Art Centre in Beijing. Two of his large-scale portraits of attractive young women dressed in military-style uniforms of the Mao Zedong era from the “Under the … Read More

Tenuous Lives by Liu Qi Ming

According to Liu Qi Ming, “Art is rooted in life, but from the very beginning of the history of civilization, what influences our life most is politics, from which we can never escape! The politics of our society keep us dangling above a mysterious future, leaving us all at the mercy of the hands that … Read More

Zhu Yan's Cultural Commentary

Zhu Yan, represented by two 57-inch-square oils, paints in the style of China’s “new cartoon movement” that began in the 1980s as a spinoff from the internationally popular animated Japanese comics. His paintings of groups of identical, emotionless male performers on a stage appear devoid of ulterior content until viewers read their exquisitely sarcastic titles: … Read More

Liao Zhenwu's Gritty Motorcyclists

Born and educated in Sichuan, Liao Zhenwu often paints the ubiquitous motorcycles of his mountainous homeland. With a backdrop of winter’s gray skies, his gritty black-and-white paintings capture the smoky atmosphere of hordes of motorcyclists with their innumerable passengers. According to critic Gao Ling, Liao’s recent series of paintings reflect his impressions of the interactive … Read More

Graceful Relationships of He Zubin

Considered a quintessential Chinese artist, He Zubin is among the leading artists cataloged in the prestigious “2007 Chinese Contemporary Art Document.” His stylized figures, gracefully curved like the subjects of Thomas Hart Benton, suggest the relationship between the characters portrayed. In “Bad Guess,” an older girl, possibly a sibling, holds her hands as if playing … Read More

Unconventional Criticism of Li Bo

Li Bo disregards the conventions of composition and scale and depicts his subjects in the same size along a linear path. According to the artist, the string of apparently unrelated objects in Li Bo’s enigmatic painting should be viewed in context of television, other media outlets, and particularly the Internet, where random “surfing” can provide … Read More

China's New Generation: Xiong Lijun's Flamboyant Young Women

According to a review in the “Guangdong Province News,” Xiong Lijun is an outstanding example of the generation of artists born around the 1980s. “Hoo Girl Girl Girl,”  a 62-by-78-inch painting done in 2003, is typical of her work–three dancing young women, decked out in very trendy clothes and shoes, their orange hair contrasting sharply … Read More

Kang Can's Infants in Peril Represent an Emerging Nation

This 25-year-old Chinese artist clearly sees his swiftly evolving nation and its soaring economy as in its infancy, its traditions coming under the influence–not always for the better–of the decadent United States, with its icons of Coca Cola, cigarettes, hamburgers and orange juice. Coming at a time when China’s widespread industrial and manufacturing abuses are … Read More

Yang Na's Sexy Dolls: Penultimate Portraits of 'Big Face' School

One of the more unusual developments in postwar contemporary Chinese art is the so-called “big face” school, with exaggerated heads and doll-like eyes and expressions inspired by Japanese comics. Yang Na, 25, grew up during a period when these comics, known as manga, and their animated versions, or anime, became extremely popular throughout the world. … Read More

Lu Peng's Colorful, Animated Commentary on Past Culture

“Artists who grew up in Beijing tend to have a deep relationship with traditional Chinese culture, as well as a subtle and accurate understanding of everyday political life. Both of these are seen clearly in Lu Peng’s art…(he) has been deeply affected by traditional drama, martial arts fiction, electronic games, and Hollywood films…His works enable … Read More

Liu Yan Merges Chinese Traditional Art with Western Imagery

“Liu Yan’s works combine the materials and techniques of traditional Chinese painting with Western representational modes and imagery,” according to Dr. Lydia Thompson of Thompson & Martinez Fine Art Appraisals, Inc. In creating “a collage-like painting surface from China’s cultural detritus,” the artist’s “pastiche of imagery and icons from traditional China and contemporary international popular … Read More

Richard Woldendorp's Award-winning Aerial Art

Born in the Netherlands in 1927, Woldendorp decided to emigrate to Australia after spending three years in Indonesia while serving in the Dutch army. He had studied art and painting as a young man in Holland, and when he acquired his first camera in 1955 he saw its artistic potential at once. After honing his … Read More

Impressionistic Nudes and Portraits by Maria Gato

Among the recent arrivals are figurative works by Maria Gato, a Spanish painter whose warm palette and broad, impressionistic strokes evoke a romantic ambience around her portraits of various women, a conductor, a surgeon and several reclining nudes. Born in Brazil, the artist has exhibited widely in Europe, Latin America, the United States, and recently … Read More

Ld Lawrence Links Our Common Ancient Origins With Contemporary Life

Appearing like graffiti superimposed over a background of runic and hieroglyphic inscriptions, paintings of Ld Lawrence are as unique as the artist’s name. Like poetry, they define explication, but somehow they suceed in symbolically linking our common ancient origins with contemporary urban life. “Her sources,” according to art critic Eleanor Heartney, include “…that class of … Read More

Tremain Smith: 'Spirit Beneath the Surfaces'

Tremain Smith, whose work is included in the Metropolitan Museum in Manhattan and other prestigious collections, views multiple strata of oil glazes, collaged elements and transparent beeswax of her paintings as “mappings of the unseen where the physical and spiritual meet,” a medium for communication with the souls of the living and those of our … Read More

James Tyler's Sculpture 'Revel in Motion and Rhythm'

Writing in “Sculpture Review” magazine, Dena Merriam calls Tyler’s sculptures “art of an exciting new direction that may sweep the art world into the next century.” She noted that “Stylistically, Tyler’s works are evocative of the pre-Columbian terra-cottas of the ancient Americas, yet his figures revel in a motion and rhythm that is perhaps more reminiscent … Read More

New Works by ‘Psychological Realist,’ Kyle

Kyle, a conceptual and assemblage artist who works under a single name, recently was featured in a two-page article in Orlando magazine. Writer Lisa Levine notes that “the Florida he knew and loved as a boy was an idyllic, rural landscape that has gradually disappeared as the land has been carved up, parceled out and … Read More

Venice and Turin Biennials, Hermitage and State Russian Museum, Andre Emmerich's and Betty Parsons' Galleries–Alexander Ney Has Exhibited in World's Leading Venues

Born in Leningrad in 1939, Alexander Ney has exhibited in some of the world’s most prestigious venues: the Venice and Turin biennials in Italy, the Hermitage in Moscow and the State Russian Museum in St. Petersburg in Russia, Andre Emmerich’s and Betty Parsons galleries in New York City, among many others. His works were previously … Read More

John Torina Paints Dreamy, Impressionistic Florida Landscapes On Site

In the tradition of plein-air painters, John Torina produces his oils in the open air–even the five-foot canvases. If you enjoy dreamy, impressionistic Florida landscapes, check out this series that Torina painted while camping near Sebastian Inlet. See artwork and get information about it here.

Alice Neel Biography Shows Five Works, Photo of Her from 1978 Exhibition in the Gallery

The late Alice Neel was one of the century’s most important portrait artists. The gallery’s retrospective exhibition of her paintings in 1978 was Neel’s first show in the southern United States.  Patricia Hills’ definitive biography, “Alice Neel,” published by Harry N. Abrams in 1983, features color photos of a number of works that were shown … Read More

Linda Touby: 'Pushing the Emotional Envelope of Abstract Expressionism'

Linda Touby’s new series is a stunning tour de force of how a master colorist makes an extraordinary painting seem simple. Her latest series, at first glance horizontal bands of complementary colors, on examination reveal a synergistic complex of underpainting and subtle visual and verbal messages, pushing the emotional envelope of abstract expressionism to its … Read More

Andy Moses, Paint Magician, Exhibited in Miami for the First Time

Being exhibited in a Miami art gallery for the first time, the minimalist abstractions of Andy Moses have been featured in a number of well-known galleries in New York City and in California since 1986. Moses’ extraordinary technique, developed over many years with special paints from the aerospace industry, causes a jaw-dropping color shift in the … Read More

Each Lacy New Carol Alleman Bronze Vessel Comes with a Spiritual Statement

One of the less-apparent aspects of Alleman’s extraordinary bronze images is that each is accompanied by her statement about its symbolism and its spiritual aspects, reminding us that all creativity comes from a higher source. This marks the first time her work has been shown in a Miami art gallery or featured on a Miami … Read More

Grab a Dose of Exuberance with John Cleary’s Abstract Expressionist Paintings

Cleary is an exuberant abstract expressionist who has had numerous solo and group exhibitions and earned several significant awards. One of the competitions Cleary won in 1977 was juried by the legendary gallerist and artist Betty Parsons, who discovered the New York School of Abstract Impressionists.  About that same time, Virginia Miller brought Parsons to … Read More

Multiple Layers Give Illusion of Depth to Michael Kessler’s Abstractions

Michael Kessler, who has exhibited in top galleries since 1983, has won a number of major awards, including the highly prestigious Prix de Rome, given to only two U.S. artists each year. The award includes a cash stipend and a year’s residency at the American Academy in Rome. His visits to ancient Roman sites inspired … Read More

Lyrical Compositions of Matt Carone Come Naturally to a Painter and Violinist

Matt Carone has always been a painter, but he also is an outstanding classical violinist. His distinctive, lyrical compositions often include stylized references to music and musicians. “You can feel the rhythm and almost hear the music in some of his paintings,” Virginia Miller says, “and the colors in his palette are amazing.” Often reflecting … Read More

Fran Hardy's Oil-and-Tempera Technique Developed by Jan van Eyck

No one can glance at a painting by Fran Hardy. Her painstaking oil-and-tempera technique, developed by Jan van Eyck in the early 1400s, gives her work the most amazing inner glow, almost as if they arre illuminated from within. In fact, one of her recent paintings is appropriately called “Glow.” The phenomenon can’t really be experienced on … Read More

Allison Stewart, Biologist-Turned-Artist, Adds a Touch of Sensual Romance to Floral Still Lifes

Stewart’s sensual paintings, with their indefinable romantic appeal, can be compared to a movie starlet who’s also a member of Mensa. The biologist-turned-artist begins each work with a background suggesting a site plan, architectural grid or oil field map, then paints her loose, expressive renderings of layers of wildflowers and weeds, her delicate washes suggesting … Read More

Arless Day Creates the Magic of a Master Collagist

Arless Day has the uncanny ability to assemble a collage of disparate printed materials, photographs and paint into an environment that we want to live in, and to repeat the process in each of his widely popular works. His seamless works offer a graphic demonstration of the magic that a master collagist can conjure. See artwork and … Read More