Contemporary Masters Exhibition    Feb 29 - Mar 25, 2008

Amsterdam Whitney Gallery’s OPALESCENT ODYSSEYS is a spellbinding selection of three highly imaginative artists who chose to explore the mysterious awareness residing between the inner and outer worlds. Utilizing a range of styles, with elements of fantasy, surrealism, and abstraction, these painters attempt to understand the nature of observation and the endless possibilities beyond the mundane. Transplanting historical figures to an intergalactic setting, IGNACIO MONTANO captures thought for the future through hue and theme, presenting a metaphysical cosmic idea for the viewer to enjoy. Known as “The Magician of the Colors,” NICHOLAS SHEPHERD’s paintings are alive with color, energy, balance, harmony, simplicity and inspiration, as the artist invents patterns and designs which are truly modern in hue and in form. JULIA YAKOBI’s magnificent abstract series is a bevy of twinned representations, as her compositions are organic both in the way her subjects seem to grow from and out from the canvas, and in their metaphorical significance.

With potent abstractions, TRANSLUMINESCENT FUSIONS explores the possibilities beyond our ordinary perception, keying into personal insights, metaphysical concepts, and timeless mysteries. Such unique forms of visual communication require that viewers interact with the artwork to discover its message, while the breadth of ideas and personalities assures an exciting foray into the contemporary art scene. GWEN FOX’s compellingly powerful paintings seek to translate the endless power of dreams and the human imagination to the canvas with her well-conceived and carefully balanced shapes and colors which transport us to dreamscapes of the mind. CHERYL HALL’s magnificent glass works are an expression of the incomplete and incomprehensible way of looking at a distorted, divided, and illusory reality, permeated with an acute sense of movement, and gloriously beautiful in a seemingly riotous, unflinching way. Capturing the nature that inspires his canvases, ENTON PANARITI’s paintings have inexplicable power and vitality as they acquire a frequency all their own, and with natural qualities, each canvas develops with an audience’s attention.

RHYTHMS of EARTH & SKY is a full bloom of painterly invention. Each artist in this talented group has discovered an artistic channel to explore their dreams and recollections, street scenes and vibrant landscapes. The exciting visual play is highly individualistic; around each corner is a new way of perceiving the world that will electrify fans of contemporary art. Ingeniously combining photography, digital imagery and oil painting to strike the viewer’s spirit and heart, the poetry of paint in Master Artist’s ANNELL’s works find the mystery of shadow, the beauty of light, the rhythm of movement and the tranquility of a moment caught in time. MARY GARRISH documents beautiful Tuscan landscapes, creating works which serve to bring forth a feeling of awe, mystery and appreciation for the fragile beauty of nature, and a love for our innate ability to respond in kind. Channeling his emotional and psychological prophecies into creative energy, JOSEPH MATOSE generates works with an infinite amount of pulsating dynamism and vivacity that embody all of his paintings, producing canvases which embrace the juxtaposition of strokes and color harmoniously in a rather exciting setting.

I the BEHOLDER is a vibrant collection of artists who defy convenient classification. Through intuition and personal expression these artists have developed unique voices with which to speak to and about the world at large. Audiences will be delighted as they dive into the imaginative paintings created by this selection of visionary artists. Rendering exquisite images of Manhattan which evoke both a sense of familiarity and ethereal delight, GEORGIY LONDARENKO puts a modern twist on the medium of photography, creating powerful works that dazzle with energy and dynamism. Capturing a vast array of themes and ideas from behind the lens, photographer KEITH KOVACH’s works reveal transparent, luminescent forms floating weightlessly in a joyous celebration of life, resembling glass forms, crafted from knowing perfection. CLARA SAPRASA employs impressively executed hues to demonstrate the profoundly spiritual presence in nature, documenting its everlasting power and beauty. Primarily based on nature, ROSE VAN VRANKEN’s abstract sculptures twirl with movement and passion as they are designed to encapsulate the basic spirit or essence of the subject, and are influenced by early Greek, Chinese, and Egyptian Art.