The Art of Vesa Peltonen and Global ArtXchanges

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aesthetic philosophy, aesthetics, Amnesty International, art, art and human rights, art and spirituality, art criticism, art history, Claudia Moscovici, contemporary art, Cubism, fine art, fineartebooks.com, Global ArtXchanges, international art, international art programs, modern art, multicultural art, pop art, post-Impressionism, postromanticism, postromanticism.com, Romanticism and Postromanticism, Vesa Peltonen

Vesa Peltonen has dedicated not only his art, but also his life to protecting and celebrating human rights. His paintings have a softened Cubist feel about them: as if the viewer were examining not just the shapes themselves, but also their shadows and the shades of color, from all angles.  The effect is dazzling. Like in post-Impressionism, his paintings allow the eye to mix the colors from afar. Because the emphasis is placed on shades of striking colors, however, the images seem to float despite their underlying realism.

Vesa’s paintings are multicultural in theme, as the artist finds the beauty and flavor of each location where he travels to bring art to students all over the world. Vesa Peltonen’s art and his human rights activism are, in many respects, inseparable. He founded the Global ArtExchanges Program, which, in his own words, views art as “an integral part of helping enliven the learning of youth, and thus enriches their neighbourhood and community, large or small.”

This program collaborates with local art group directors to motivate youth across the globe to express themselves artistically. Global ArtXchanges works hand in hand with human rights organizations, like Amnesty International, to bring the beauty of art to impoverished areas of the world, where artistic expression might be viewed as a luxury, not a necessity. Art may not be essential to basic material survival, but, Global ArtXchanges maintains, it’s nonetheless essential to our spiritual and creative flourishing. You can find out more about Vesa Peltonen’s visionary art and the Global ArtXchanges Program on his website, GLOBALArtXchanges.org.

Claudia Moscovici, postromanticism.com

Kimberlee Rocca: Art Nouveau and Foil Imaging

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aesthetics, Alphonse Mucha, Antoni Gaudi, art blog, art criticism, art history, art movements, art nouveau, Claudia Moscovici, contemporary art, Foil art, Foil Imaging, Gustav Klimt, Iowa Foil Printer, Iowa Print Group, Kimberlee Rocca, Kimberlee Rocca: Art Nouveau and Foil Imaging, Louis Comfort Tiffany, postromanticism, postromanticism.com, Romanticism and Postromanticism, Surrealism, the art nouveau movement

As we know, Art Nouveau is an ornamental style of art, architecture and decoration, which peaked in popularity at the turn of the 20th century, sometime between 1890-1905. Seen as, quite literally, the “new art”, art nouveau employed ornamental, floral motifs and stylized, curvilinear forms that are coming back in style today. Although the art nouveau movement was greatly influenced by the Czech artist Alphonse Mucha, some of the art nouveau motifs and decorative designs were also associated with even more popular artists, including Gustav Klimt, Antoni Gaudi and Louis Comfort Tiffany, each of whom adapted and reshaped the movement according to his unique artistic style.

The contemporary artist Kimberlee Rocca is a pioneer in the new art technique of Foil Imaging, which revives and reinvents some of the art nouveau motifs and techniques. Like in many of Gustav Klimt’s paintings, foil imaging allows the artistic application of ornate and glittery foil to works of art. In our times, however, this process employs new technologies. Foils come in rolls that are similar in texture to aluminum foil. They’re applied to paper using heat, pressure and various other techniques known as the Iowa Foil Printer. The color pallet of the foils is generally limited, favoring bright colors like silver, bronze and gold which add an ornamental, dazzling touch to the paintings. According to Kimberlee Rocca, however, “Foil Imaging is not traditional gold or silver leaf; it is a printmaking process that is being pioneered by artists, like Kimberlee, mentored by the Iowa Print Group at the University of Iowa.”

Kimberlee’s foil images draw the viewer’s eye with their bright colors and playful, ornamental and colorful designs. They combine traditional art nouveau elements with Surrealist and abstract motifs, to offer the best of both centuries and the best of both worlds. As Kimberlee states, “My art reflects struggles and victories in my own life by use of abstract works and figures. I put to paper the very nature of the desire to discover and become who I am meant to be. The results are works filled with life, promise, hope, joy, strength and purpose. We are all here to help and encourage one another; my purpose is to do that through my art work.” You can find out more about Kimberlee Rocca’s artwork and the Foil Imaging process on her website, http://www.kimberleerocca.com.

Claudia Moscovici, postromanticism.com

French Cosmopolitanism: The Postromantic Art of David Graux

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aesthetics, art, art blog, art criticism, art history, Claudia Moscovici, contemporary art, cosmopolitan art, David Graux, Eastern influence, fineartebooks, fineartebooks.com, French art, French contemporary art, French Cosmopolitanism: The Postromantic Art of David Graux, French postromantic art, French postromanticism, French Symbolism, Japanese influence, Oriental motifs, painting, postromantic movement, postromantic painting, postromanticism, postromanticism.com, Romantic art, Romantic painting, Romanticism, Romanticism and Postromanticism, sensual art, sensuality, Symbolism, the art of David Graux, the postromantic art of David Graux, women in art

Born in Besançon, France, David Graux is a truly cosmopolitan artist. His art evokes Romantic motifs, but is edgy, innovative and postromantic in style. His paintings epitomize the best of both worlds: they are Eastern in inspiration, but have a European flair. Above all, David’s Graux’s art is evocative and poetic. Even the titles he selects– The shadow of the wind, Grazed sigh, The echo of a dream–suggest the last breath of Romanticism as it meets the impenetrable mystery of Symbolism.

As in Symbolist poetry, Graux’s art combines the accessible with the unintelligible. The beautiful nudes are palpably accessible: sensual, classic, in private poses that excite the curiosity, stimulating dream, but not desire. Yet the Oriental symbols—invented by the artist and belonging only to the language of his own imagination–are ungraspable. They touch upon the playful and the abstract, never fading into mere background or ornamentation. On the contrary, they travel the surface of the paintings, functioning as background and foreground alike–as an enveloping atmosphere–to the ethereal nudes.

David Graux’s art, like all forms of poetic expression, is inherently philosophical. It captures the essence of a significant aspect of human existence: the way in which what seems most transparent, accessible, real and temporal is simultaneously illegible, distant and unattainable. His spectacularly beautiful and innovative paintings cross geographical, stylistic and temporary boundaries, aspiring to a universal appeal.

Claudia Moscovici, postromanticism.com

Kathleen Brodeur: The New Impressionism

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art, art blog, art criticism, Claudia Moscovici, contemporary art, Edson Campos, fine art, fineartebooks, fineartebooks.com, history of art, Impressionism, Kathleen Brodeur, Kathleen Brodeur: The New Impressionism, Luxembourg Gardens, Medicis Fountain, new Impressionism, painted memories, painting, Paris, post-Impressionism, postromantic movement, postromantic painting, postromanticism, postromanticism.com, Romantic art, Romanticism and Postromanticism, tourism and art

Impressionism is probably still the most popular art movement–in museums, galleries and even on greeting cards–in the world today. However, our perceptions of it have reversed. Rather than being seen as shocking and subversive, as it was initially perceived by the Academy and the Salons, it’s now viewed as reassuringly familiar. The American post-Impressionist artist Kathleen Brodeur revitalizes and renews this familiar movement for our times. Kathleen graduated with a degree in Visual Arts from Florida State University. She loves to travel and creates beautiful paintings, which she calls painted memories, which capture of some of the most spectacular and touristic places in the world.

Monet’s Garden by Kathleen Brodeur

Kathleen Brodeur uses  bold, vibrant colors and a palette knife. She creates paintings that sometimes have the delicacy, detail and definition of fine brushstrokes. As you can tell from the painting above, her post-Impressionist style has nuance and versatility: the upper part of the scene is executed with fine brushstrokes, while its mirror reflection shimmers and undulates with the bolder touch of the palette knife.

One of her most recent works, called Medicis Fountain, was inspired by her travels to Paris with her husband and collaborator, the postromantic artist, Edson Campos. This spectacular painting, featured below, seamlessly combines his new Romantic style and her new Impressionism. The original Medicis Fountain is located in the Luxembourg Garden in Paris. Its beauty and well-groomed, ornamental style inspired the two artists to blend their talent as harmoniously as they have united their lives. You can find more information about Kathleen Brodeur’s art on her website, http://kathleenbrodeurfineart.com.

Claudia Moscovici, postromanticism.com