Artist's Biography
ANDREW
Bring passion and movement to every painting.
Andrew Atroshenko was born in 1965 in the city of Pokrovsk, Russia. Accepted as a gifted child in 1977 into the Children's Art School Andrew graduated with honors in 1981.
Two years later, Andrew entered Bryansk Art College, and in 1991 was accepted at one of the most prestigious art schools in the world, the St. Petersburg Academy of Art.
In 1994, Andrew began taking part in exhibitions such as St. Petersburg Artists in Reutlingen, Germany.
Afte graduation from St. Petersburg Academy of Art in 1999, Andrew was invited by a New England, US based art group "Bay Arts" to take part in their exhibitions and activites, spending that entire year in the United States into the Milennium.
According to Andrew, "This year in America gave me more as an artist then all eight years of my formal studies in the prestigious Russian academies. I am a descendent of farmers, and i was impressed by the New England's landscapes, and how a man in America avoids harming its environment. After seeing Royo and Pino at ARtexpo New York 2000, I suddenly realized what direction I want to take my art in. After staying fora yera in the United States, I spent two years in Russia perfecting my art.
While Andrew's work was being sold successfully in galleries across Florida, California, Ohio and Arizona, the artist was taking part in a variety of group exhibitions and auctions in France, which resulted in all of his work being sold out.
Since 2000, Andrew has worked with dealers from Western Europe and the US, exhibiting and selling his paintings in such US cities as Carmel, Scottsdale, Palm Desert, Las Vegas & Hawaii. Two of Andrew's pieces were also auctioned off by Sotheby's in 2002 and 2003.
In 2006 Andrew was awarded the prestigious Frank C. Wright Jr. Medal of HOnor for his stunning portrait painting at the American Artists Professional League 78th Grand National Exhibition. He also received the "Peoples Choice" award at the 2006 International Portrait Arts Festival Competitions and Conference in Fine ARts Portraiture.
In 1992 Andrew married a fellow student, Mariam who is now an art critic in St Petersburg, Russia, and has a daughter named Alexandra. Like many artists, Andrew has his artistic refrences and influences, but his wife and daughter are the inspiration for his passion.
MARTY BELL
Internationally collected oil painting artist Marty Bell, emerges with new developments in her style and direction. Propelled by her creative drive, vision and passion for unique beauty, her brushes are producing even greater artistic expressions, appealing to a wide variety of contemporary and traditional tastes.
Marty has been painting professionally since 1968. Although largely self-taught, early in her career she shared her talents for eleven years by teaching up to 40 students weekly.
High popularity of her original paintings prompted the closing of her art school to concentrate on her own work. With increasing market demand, she began producing limited edition reproductions and later formed Marty Bell Fine Art, Inc. in 1987 as her publishing company.
Marty has been honored by over 200 successful single or featured artist shows, has sold out more than 100 limited edition reproductions and sold over 2400 original paintings to date.
SIMON BULL
An exotic and inspirational childhood laid the foundation for Simon Bull’s passionate creative vision.
The second of four children, Simon’s flair for art was first noticed when he won his first art competition at the age of six. Other childhood art prizes were to follow, including several in his teenage years and a national art students painting prize while he was at college.
At the age of seven he was sent to boarding school in the North of England with his elder brother. The next four years provided a heady cocktail of experiences for an impressionable young mind. The tough school regime, contrasted with times of adventure with his family in South America. Home was a rambling white colonial house on brick pillars, with floors of polished wood. A colony of fruit bats lived in the loft and emerged at six every evening, humming birds fed from flowering trees in the garden, which was also home to the family’s parrots and a menagerie of different pets including a kinkajou and coatimundi.
The fringes of the rainforest provided the young artist with a wonderland of sight and sound. It was a world of color and mystery, the cathedral-like pillars of the forest trees and the swollen rivers adding a note of darkness and danger to the enchanted wilderness.
During his teens the family moved to Hong Kong for several years. It was here that he first encountered the art of the East where the beauty of Chinese brushwork with its economy of line and energy of composition was to have such a lasting influence on him. It was here also that he held his first one-man exhibition at the age of eighteen. The success of that and other subsequent shows was to lead Simon into a lifetime career in art.
While living in the East he continued his education in England at a boarding school in South London. Being in London afforded him the opportunity of becoming familiar with the great art collections and enabled him to benefit from the wide range of exhibitions as they came to town.
Many influences were coming together and shaping an inner vision of the world that was to inform Simon’s passion to create, not just an image, but an experience.
In the early years at boarding school, the sense of desolation he sometimes felt whilst away from the bosom of the family opened him up to an intense search for spiritual nourishment. Coming from a Christian family had meant that a sense of God was always present with him, but as he grew older, a desire for a more tangible spiritual reality led him to the Bible and eventually to find in the person of Jesus, one who brought him the peace he so badly needed as well as a new purpose and sense of destiny.
While still at art school he married Joanna, his childhood sweetheart. As time passed the economic challenges that faced the growing family were many, but always there would be some buyer who saved the day, some last minute commission that turned up. During the late seventies and early eighties the skills in printmaking that he acquired at art school and which had especially fascinated him began to pay dividends. He sold his first three editions to Pallas Gallery in London and then entered a relationship with London Contemporary Art who sold out many of his meticulously worked multi plate etching editions.
Throughout this period Simon painted the world around him. Traveling extensively to the East, he trekked with his paints through the foothills of the Himalayas, toured the Mediterranean and spent many weeks painting the mountains of the English Lake District where he and Joanna later made their family home for many years.
However, as each year passed a deeper creative current seemed to pull at the artist. Once again it seemed that what had happened during his teens in the spiritual realm was now touching him in the creative realm; a sense of something more, of something waiting to be touched and expressed beyond the world of visible realities. He was moving away from painting the outward things, his canvases began to be expressions of the inner world, the world of the heart and of the spirit where the real life of mankind is felt and lived.
Like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis the rich and vibrant style for which he has since become world famous began to find expression, to find a voice. It was not until his major one-man show at Harrods in London where seventy-six of his paintings were exhibited together, that the effect of this new work came home to him.
"I remember walking around the show listening to what people were saying. I began for the first time to understand what my paintings had become. The people were telling me! People were being transported, the colors and imagery were becoming a means of conveying the viewer into another world, the miracle was happening. People were being hit right in their emotional center."
In 2000 he won the Fine Art Trade Guild award for the top selling original print artist in Great Britain and was short listed twice for the best selling published artist award.
His Painting entitled “The Journey Never Ends” has also been awarded the National Association of Limited Edition Dealers print of the year in the United States, for “The graphic print whose artwork was the most outstanding in artistic quality and public appeal during 2003”.
He moved with his family to Carmel California in 2003 where he now lives.
His art has come a long way since he held aloft his prize at the local cinemas’ Saturday Matinee coloring competition in 1964. But that same passion to play with color, to create with radiant hues, harmonies that affect the senses, remains with him still.
" If I can touch a life. If through my painting I can show something previously unseen. If I can reveal something old in a new way, if I can enrich a soul on it’s journey into the eternal, then my painting, my living, has not been in vain."
Rod Chase
Rod Chase is known to his collectors for producing photo-realism at its finest.This talented artist takes hundreds of photographs of each of his subjects, combining them with historical photographs, to produce a timeless quality in each of his works. "Being a photo-realist, I am dependent on finding accurate reference material for each painting," the artist explains. Chase works with acrylics on canvas, spending hundreds of hours on each painting as he strives to present a fresh and unique view to familiar subjects.Known for his breathtaking scenes depicting our country's natural and historical treasures, Chase felt honored as well as professionally challenged to paint our nation's capital. Over the course of several trips to Washington, D.C., he spent weeks visiting the district's famous landmarks, including The White House, the Capitol, and the Supreme Court building. Rising very early each day, Chase photographed the dramatic light of sunrise, and late in the day he revisited several sites to capture the soft, moody glow of twilight. Between sessions, he researched old photos at the National Archives and the Library of Congress.Chase will continue to create dramatic, awe-inspiring scenes of Washington and other national landmarks for his collectors by combining antique and modern photography with just the right touch of artistic license.This native Canadian lives with his wife in her home state of Texas. Together they have five children. In 1999, Rod became a U.S. citizen.
How I Work:
Each painting begins by producing several monochromatic color studies on illustration board. While the painting is based on a single black and white photo, hundreds of additional digital photographs are used to help determine composition and create additional detail. Next, the image is carefully drawn on the canvas using both grids and freehand techniques.
Using the photos as reference, I divide the painting into small sections, bringing each area to a finish before proceeding to the next. The acrylic paint is applied in thin layers so as to leave no visible brushstrokes. Occasionally, I use an Iwata airbrush to soften the sky. As I advance, changes are made from the original photo, i.e., objects are moved, values altered, and detail added; thus producing a work that is superior to the photo. Each painting usually takes two months of full time work to complete. It is not necessarily a photographic quality I'm after but rather reality as viewed through a window.
Rod Chase
ROBERT FINALE
The powerful and captivating works of the artist, Robert Finale, flow naturally from a deep-rooted passion and God given talent for capturing the intrinsic beauty in humankind and nature.
Finale's work on canvas is heartwarming and peacefully enchanting. His distinctive style is a colorful blend of impressionistic romance and realistic beauty, mostly in historic settings. His paintings transport you to a time and place of private charm, a haven of pure and quiet delight. He loves to explore the complex interplay of light and its effects on architecture and surroundings. An avid traveler, Finale uses his photographs, sketches and memories simply as the starting point, an inspiration on the journey to the creation of each masterpiece.
The artist, Robert Finale, is no stranger to struggles and adversity. At the tender age of two, he along with his family fled the communist ruled country of Cuba for a life of freedom and opportunity in the United States. Here Robert learned the value of hard work and discipline and realized his potential to pursue his passion for art.
This passion, Finale explains, began very early in life. As a young boy of five, he was seldom without a pencil and sketchpad in hand, sketching everything from movie scenes to family vacation destinations. His love for brushing oil onto canvas came much later, when his early childhood sketch was brought to life in a special gift to his wife. From humble beginnings, today his paintings grace several Galleries all over the world. The first, however, has a special place in his family home.
His images originate from his childhood sketches, which his mother always lovingly treasured and encouraged him to keep. Each painting is a journey of unspoken words and hidden whispers of freedom, nurturing the hopes and dreams that exist within all of us. These feelings are resurfaced and unveiled through beautiful city images in romantic surroundings placing the viewer in the dream world of unconscious thoughts.
A quiet, gentle natured man, Robert uses his paintings to communicate with each individual person. Using rich colors and textures, Finale has developed his own rich vocabulary in a painting. Expressing this rich language through places and entities allows him to tap into his own world and the fragile emotions that exist within all of us. The emotion that a person feels upon examining a piece of art is the beauty of this communication. As Robert places the final brush stroke on the canvas he is conscious of the fact that art is a universal language. Therefore, one canvas represents the window to millions of different emotions that have existed and exist through all of us, giving the viewer a powerful, tool to look within his own world, for the understanding of life's journey.
We invite you to experience the pure delight and charismatic charm of Robert's paintings. As you tour the gallery of fine work, may your spirit soar and your soul be transported to a haven of peace and tranquility. Robert's works are an inspiration to all who have dreamed the impossible dream. Enjoy!
MICHAEL AND INESSA GARMASH
It all started in the little town of Lugansk in Ukraine, 1969. An early starter, Mr. Garmash began painting at the age of three. By age six he started his formal education at the Lugansk Youth Creative Center. Recognizing rare, natural talent, his teachers sent his works to a variety of exhibitions in the then Soviet Union.
An award winning artist from the onset, Mr. Garmash received first prizes at several juried exhibitions, including the Lugansk Regional Juried Exhibition-1977 (Best Poster), the Czechoslovakian International Youth Competition-1978, and the Hungarian International Art Competition of Circus Related Art-1978.
After graduating, valedictorian from the Lugansk State Fine Art College in 1987, Mr. Garmash began teaching there the following year. From 1989 to 1991, he served in the army (when he met his wife and partner, Inessa) and in 1992 began studying at the St. Petersburg Academy of Art. Prior to graduating at the top of his prestigious school's class, Mr. Garmash exhibited in France at galleries in cities such as Paris, St. Etienne, Avignon, Lion and Marcel.
Mr. Garmash also took part in the annual Exhibitions in St. Petersburg, Russia. In addition to painting, he has also excelled in the creation of stained-glass windows and received an honorary medal for his work in the Suvorov Military Museum in St. Petersburg.
Ms. Garmash, born Inessa Kitaichik in 1972 Lipetsk, Russia, has excelled in the arts since early childhood. Proving herself in ballet, gymnastics and music, Ms. Garmash attended classes in all three disciplines and, after graduating from music and ballet school, entered the Lugansk Fine Art School at age fifteen. At seventeen she was accepted as that year's best undergraduate to the Lugansk State Fine Art School.
Today, Mr. and Mrs. Garmash are considered two of the finest Romantic Impressionists of our day. Their incredible talent is only matched by their love and career stories. In similar fashion to the determination of his artwork, Mr. Garmash courted his future wife, after seeing her for but a moment, by painting her image all over her hometown while she slept. She immediately recognized the passion with which this man cared so dearly and married him shortly thereafter.
The Garmashs began their artistic collaboration in much the same way. Several years after their marriage, Mr. Garmash began a painting of their two-year old daughter, Polina, for a project at school. However, Polina found the painting during her father's absence and decided to embark upon her own artistic career. Ms. Garmash, after seeing what her daughter had done and not wanting her husband to be upset, fixed the painting using her own training, packed it up and gave it to him for submission. Mr. Garmash submitted the painting for review and was praised for completing his best work ever. He was surprised to see the "new" painting and immediately recognized his wife's hand. They have painted together every since.
The Garmashs' publishing company, Collectors Editions, is a global art publishing company dedicated to providing the highest quality fine art and services available in the industry. Founded in 1986, they are also the exclusive global publisher of Disney Fine Art. Home to Eclipse Workshop, whose master printers are specialists in fusing traditional print-making with cutting-edge process, Collectors Editions is painting a better canvas for the art world…one brush stroke at a time.
H. HARGROVE
One of American's most popular living artists, H. Hargrove was born in Nicole Sturiano in Marsala, Italy, in 1941. A the age of 23 he came to the United States with a degree in wine chemistry. His career as a wine chemist soon changed direction while working for a winery in upstate New York when he discovered the American countryside and became passionate about the beauty and antiquity of the weathered barns and covered bridges. After earning his citizenship, he adopted an American pseudonym under which to paint.
H. Hargrove has been referred to by some as a poet with a brushl by others, as a compelling visual storyteller. The artist has chronicled American life and celebrated traditional American values in his paintings for over twenty-five years.
DWAYNE HICKMAN
Although he has been in show business all of his life, Dwayne Hickman's true passion has been art and architecture, Known to millions of Baby Boomers as the star of classic television series, "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis", Hickman's dream of pursuing a career in art was put on hold as his successful acting career grew.
Fifteen years ago he returned to his first love…art and architecture. His critically acclaimed use of vibrant colors and exquisite detail have become his trademark, making Dwayne Hickman "America's Favorite House Painter".
To view Hickman's Collection of original oil paintings, limited editions canvas prints, or for upcoming gallery appearances please consult the gallery representative.
http://www.dwaynehickman.com
BOB PEJMAN
Pejman was surrounded by art and culture from an early age. The son of an operatic composer and a concert musician, he spent his early childhood in Vienna, and then by way of England moved to the United States in 1976.
Pejman began painting by the age of seven, and by the time he was sixteen he had won numerous awards in group exhibitions. However, despite his art instructor's insistence for him to pursue an education and career in art, Pejman decided to enter the field of business management. Upon graduating from college and after numerous years of employment at leading Software companies, Pejman secured a position as a Vice President of Marketing at Information Resources Inc, a global market research company.
However, it was not until 1988 when Pejman decided to return to the art world by opening up an art gallery. As a result of his direct exposure to fine art and contact with European masters whom he was representing at the gallery, he decided to start painting again. In 1991 he began his two year formal studies with the world renowned Russian artist, Anatoly Ivanov. Later he attended the prestigious New York Art Students League as well as furthering his studies with the Impressionist master, Ovanes Berberian. In 1995, the artist founded Pejman Editions, an art publishing company that would be dedicated to publishing and distributing hand embellished canvas limited editions of his works. In 1999 Pejman left his corporate career to pursue his art and publishing career on a full time basis. Among his art instructors, Ivanov influenced Pejman the most by inspiring him to use the techniques of old masters such as Michelangelo and Rafael. Employing these almost forgotten techniques, Pejman skillfully blends impressionistic colors and techniques to achieve a classical but yet contemporary style.
Pejman's style is influenced by such artists as Sir Alma-Tadema, Thomas Cole, and Maxfield Parrish. All of them sharing the attributes of technical mastery, form, and perspective. While the influence of these masters is evident in Pejman's works, it is through his unique arrangement and depiction of the subject matters that he achieves a distinctive style. One can classify his style as romantic realism, which he interestingly enough achieves by portraying beauty and solitude.
In his works, Pejman creates idyllic, tranquil worlds. "There are no people in my paintings, so you can imagine yourself in the scenes", explains the artist. "The scenes are already romantic, but my idea is to make them even more so". In doing so, he pushes the colors to make them more intense and exaggerates the sunlight. "I don't simplify the shapes. You get into the cracks and feel the structures and the stones", he says, considering them to be marks of cultivated wisdom rather than declination. There is romance in history, and Pejman reminds the viewer of classic beauty and emotions that transcend time, all inherent to such places as the Mediterranean.
Since his first one-man exhibition in 1993, Pejman has received national and international attention. His works were chosen to be made into jacquard loom tapestries in Paris, France and distributed through Design Toscano in Chicago. Wall size murals are published by ScanDecor in Sweden, and Portal Publications in San Francisco is publishing a series of graphics. Pejman's works can be found in many prestigious galleries and corporate and private collections through out the world.
FABIAN PEREZ
Fabian Perez was born on November 2, 1967 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. As a teenager Fabian was fascinated with martial arts and fine arts. Therefore, he dedicated himself to study both disciplines. Karate helped influence his character giving him great discipline as well as opening him up to other forms of art. Much of what Fabian learned through his Eastern studies influenced his paintings.
Fabian left Argentina when he was 22 to live in Italy where he resided for seven years. It is here where his career in painting and writing took an ascendental journey. It is also in Italy where he was inspired to write his book "Reflections of a Dream", which was published later in the United States. He then went to Japan where he lived for one year. While there he painted the Japanese Flag and A Meditating Man which are on display in a government house. Fabian left Japan to come to Los Angeles where he devotes his life to inspire others with his paintings and writings.
Fabian's style is unique. He wishes not to categorize his work, he feels this limits the artist as well as the work. He likes to paint with acrylic because it dries quickly and this allows him to follow his impulses. The bold and symbolic imagery feels intensely passionate. Fabian paints with his emotions and each painting reflects his drive and energy.The paintings become a roadmap, a guide with many directions, where the viewers decide which path they wish to experience.
"It's been thirty years thaty my wheels travel on a sandy road. In my tacks, I've left things behind, and lost many others. As the wheels turn I can see a road ahead, that will take me to many new experiences."
-Reflections of a Dream
VADIK SULJAKOV
Vadik Suljakov comes from a well known intellectual family with many generations of artists and writers. His uncle is a well-established artist in Russia who is known for his photo-realistic paintings.
Suljakov was born in the cultural center of Moscow in the year 1960. His parents gave him an excellent home education and he began painting at the age of seven. He continued with Russia's most rigid and traditional art education. The schools were very strict and difficult, and only a few were chosen to go on to the next level. The union of his traditional education and his personal creative style helped him become the versatile master artist he is today.
From the ages twelve to twenty he perfected his style of technically difficult artwork. He attended Moscow First Art school and served apprenticeships at the Moscow Graphic Art Committee and the Moscow Modern Art Group. Suljakov left Russia in 1991 after he, like many artists in the Soviet Union, was asked to tie his art to politics.
When asked how he feels about the United States, Suljakov emphatically states, "I came to America when the time was right, when I had enough experience to express my art and thought on canvas." For Suljakov, one of the most frustrating situations in Russia were the severe paint shortages. Paints were very rare and expensive and he had to become a master manipulator just to get canvas and brushes. When he came to America he was stunned, like most Russians, to see all the colors readily available. Now he could finally transfer his memories of Europe to canvas.
Trips to cities such as Venice and Vienna as well as Paris while a young artist could now be given their full justice. From the cafe's and canals to the narrow alleyways and stairs, Suljakov paints the beloved cities of the world in their timeless beauty. "If those who view my art are happy, then I am happy," Vadik says with a broad grin on his face.
WILFRED
>p>Born in 1954 in an artistic family from Shanghai, Wilfred learned traditional painting from his father. He attended art schools in both China and Hong Kong where he started his contemporary work. Since 1977 he has been traveling and exhibiting in New York, Hawaii, Hong Kong and Europe. During the last years Amsterdamhas become his second home and the gateway to bring his art to the world.His work contains elements of both Eastern and Western culture and inspiration. By transforming themes of human figures, birds tree branches and rocks into linear configurations and planes, he turned to abstract representation without designated forms. Rich colours, free brushwork and the natural flow and dripping of paint explore the quality of the medium to create a direct dialogue with the viewers.
His work has been widely exhibited in and collected by various public and private institutions.
CAO YONG
In 1962, at the height of the great famine in China, an extraordinarily gifted child was born into hardship in Xinxian, a small town in Henan Province. Cao Yong’s family, already struggling to find enough to eat, was suspected of disloyalty to the new government simply because a great-grandparent had once owned land, real estate, and banks, and because a grandparent had been a warlord. During the Cultural Revolution, this background singled the family out for harsh treatment by the Chinese authorities. Cao Yong's family was ostracized, refused residency permits, and even denied food. While other young children of his age started kindergarten, little Cao Yong began working. At age five, he found himself ferrying heavy baskets of gravel at a construction site. One day a rock pit caved in, nearly crushing the tiny boy to death under the rubble. Luckily, he survived.
Five years later, when Cao Yong was just sixteen, his family sold their only pig so that Cao Yong could afford to take the highly competitive National Entrance Exam of Art Universities. But before he could reach the capital city of Henan where the exam was to be held, his money and documents were stolen--and so was his portfolio. Cao Yong, in desperation, made an impassioned plea to the exam officials that he be allowed to take the exam; when the officials relented, Cao Yong scored the highest marks in five provinces. But it was to no avail; all the universities rejected him because of his family background. But Cao Yong was not defeated. A year later, he returned to take the exam again; this time a recruiting professor defended him and pressed for his admission to a university. Cao Yong was admitted to Henan University, but only on the condition that he could be expelled from the school for even the slightest misconduct. Again, Cao Yong refused to be discouraged. Although he remained an outcast in the ideology-dominated environment, he excelled in his art classes. Despite constant persecution and several attempts at expulsion, he received his BFA with highest distinction in 1983.
To escape the political pressure and to pursue his love for untainted nature and humanity, Cao Yong, now twenty-one, volunteered to go to Tibet, where he became a professor of art at Tibet University. During his seven years in Tibet, Cao Yong immersed himself in the spare beauty of the isolated highlands, and embraced the distinctive Tibetan culture. With a thirsty spirit which perhaps unconsciously divined a more fulfilling future, the young teacher once trekked hundreds of miles over the Himalayas to the Tibetan border and smuggled himself into neighboring Nepal, just to drink in the air of freedom for a brief moment, before returning to Tibet.In order to copy the remains of Tibet’s ancient wall paintings, Cao Yong visited almost every monastery and temple in the entire region, and produced hundreds of paintings. To study the prehistoric cave paintings of Tibet, Cao Yong, accompanied only by a horse, a dog, and a gun for hunting, lived alone in deserted mountain caves for nearly a year.
Cao Yong’s legendary experience in Tibet resulted in a remarkable series of paintings entitled The Split Layer of Earth: Mount Kailas. In this series, the artist not only addresses the conflicts between the physical and the spiritual, but also plunges into the deeper layer of sociopolitical and religious struggles in Tibet as well as in our world. In the spring of 1989, Cao Yong held his first one-man show at Beijing Artist Gallery. Over forty intensely emotional paintings shocked the Beijing art circle.
The exhibit was covered by China Daily, Beijing Review, Reuters, Agence France-Presse, The Canada Post, Asahi Shimbun of Japan, and other major international news agencies. Foreign ambassadors and representatives of foreign business organizations in Beijing attended the opening of the exhibition, and Cao Yong was invited to lecture at the embassies of France, Spain, Mexico, and Bolivia. However, Cao Yong's success alarmed the Chinese authorities. Beijing police arrested him, shut down the gallery, then confiscated and burned seven of Cao Yong’s unsold paintings.
But while under escort to the police station, Cao Yong managed to escape. With his fiancée Aya Goda, a Japanese art student, Cao Yong set off on a perilous eight-month journey as a fugitive. On the run through China, the couple was nearly killed in a car accident. Constantly blackmailed by local officials, plagued with serious illnesses, the two had to resort to begging to survive. Finally, in 1989, with the help of the Japanese Embassy, they were married and escaped to Japan.
This journey of tribulation was described by Aya Goda in her book Escape. Published in Japan in 1995 by Bungei Shunju Publishing, Escape electrified readers and critics, and was awarded the Grand Prize for Non-Fiction from Kodansha Book Publishers, Japan’s most prestigious book award. Escape has been published in French and Spanish; an English version is scheduled for release in the near future.
In Japan, Cao Yong faced a new challenge: how to survive as an artist in a free-market economy. To continue to paint his Tibet series, as well as to feed himself and his young wife, Cao Yong worked as a gravedigger and took small painting commissions. But soon his artistic skill and versatility attracted much larger commissions to design and paint enormous murals. Within a few years, Cao Yong’s murals adorned stylish commercial buildings, high-class department stores, and even ceremonial sites in Tokyo, Kyoto, and many other cities. In 1991, Cao Yong founded his first company, C & G Wall-Painting Productions, and was soon recognized as the nation’s most honored muralist. Meanwhile, Cao Yong continued to work passionately on his Tibet paintings, and many of his finest works in the Tibet series were created during this period. His work was exhibited in Tokyo’s prominent O Art Museum, Shibuya Gallery, and Gallery Bamboo, as well as in the Yunghan Art Gallery in Taipei, Taiwan. Famous Japanese art critic, Yoshida Yoshie, declared that Cao Yong's work astounded the art world not only because of its outstanding artistic value, but also because of its “profound insight and powerful impact on the world in which we live.” Moreover, Cao Yong was extolled by the Japanese press as “an artistic genius of our time.” In 1994, searching for tougher challenges and an international stage, Cao Yong emigrated to the United States. Inspired by the free-spirited American way of life, the prosperous and energetic society, and the spectacular landscapes, Cao Yong drove from Maine to Texas, from New York to Los Angeles. At last he felt that he could throw off the shackles which had so long weighed down his spirit, and experience both literal and artistic freedom.
Cao Yong soon realized that the artistic language he had mastered over the years could not effectively communicate his newest experiences and emotions. Although his Tibet paintings once again won him rounds of applause in this country’s fine art circles, and the world-celebrated Christie's successfully auctioned several of his masterpieces for a large sum, Cao Yong refused to depend upon past successes, or to repeat them. He was determined to create and govern a new artistic language, even it meant starting from scratch. To that end, he whole-heartily delved into the American landscape and society--into city streets, restaurants, parks, bars, small towns--in order to observe, to understand, and to experience American life. Cao Yong worked day and night with extraordinary energy. During his first three years in the U.S., he painted over two hundred oil paintings, and each was an attempt to express himself in a fresh way.
In 1997, Cao Yong moved from New York City to Los Angeles. The brilliant sun on the powerful, rugged landscape of the American West revived potent memories of Tibet. But Cao Yong’s heart, as well as his work, had already risen, phoenix-like, from the ashes of his oppressive past. With the determination of a pioneer, Cao Yong set forth, heading toward the higher ground of artistic maturity. Of the moment when he painted Santa Monica, the work that marks the turning point of his career, Cao Yong says: “To this day, I can still feel the tingle I felt upon pouring my exultation onto this canvas. As I painted nearly 200 figures reveling in a spontaneous street festival on a summer night, I was likewise celebrating in my own heart.”
The sincere jubilance of Cao Yong’s work has universal appeal. Collectors and art dealers zealously welcomed, and continue to welcome, Cao Yong’s new art. In order to satisfy the rapidly growing demand and to bring his art to a bigger audience, Cao Yong established his art publishing company, Cao Yong Editions, Inc., in 1999. Since then, The company has released four series of limited-edition prints: Venice, Golden Coast, Romantic Gardens, and Hawaii. Just announced is the forthcoming Paris series. His distribution network has covered the nation and it is now expanding into the Japanese, Canadian, and European markets.
Although audiences around the world respond to Cao Yong’s remarkable work with standing ovations, the artist remains raptly focused on perfecting his art. “After all, painting is my life, and being an artist is my fate,” says Cao Yong simply. While in the past, he vented great pain and anger upon the canvas solely for himself, now that he has found freedom and the inner peace that accompanies it, he is eager to share this with others. To Cao Yong there is no greater reward than being able to bring to people the beauty, joy, and love that his heart witnesses through his art.
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