It only takes one glance to see in the sculpture of Franco Castelluccio the work of a true master. An accountant by trade, Mr. Castelluccio was in his twenties before he touched his first piece of clay. His life was never the same. Having received no formal training, his inspiration seemed to spring from a newly awoken passion within. Today his works are sought after by art collectors from around the world.

His work is in turn whimsical and romantic, turbulent and heroic.  His sinewy and supple sculptures seem about to move at any moment. With the soul of a poet, Mr. Castelluccio takes many of his subjects from great works of literature and the most stirring stories of ancient Greek and Roman mythology and credits among his early influences Carpeaux, Bernini, and he says "of course Michelangelo".

“Years spent at the art students league in NYC, creating anatomical drawings, provided me with the foundation necessary to have freedom to create the human figure from within,” says Castelluccio of his early years as an artist. “To not be confined to what I can see in a model before me, but rather to have the command to create what I know . . . is the essence of a good sculptor.” More information: www.francocastelluccio.com

Susan Freda is a Rhode Island School of Design graduate who has taken her love of filigree and natural architecture to the extreme; combining jewelry, sculpture and fashion into hybrid forms.  Freda’s work has been sought after by the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, the de Young Museum, and by numerous private and corporate collectors.  More information:  www.susanfreda.com

This gifted artist is a true lover of nature, people and her native city of Istanbul, Turkey, where she resides. Her life passions combine with her artistic values and talent and come to life on her distinctive canvases as landscapes, still lifes, florals and portraits.  Ms. Yilmaz has participated in numerous exhibitions and one -man shows in the USA  and  Turkey.  Many of her paintings are held in private collections . She is a graduate of Robert College (ACG) and the Technical University of  Istanbul. 
More information:  www.GonulYilmaz.com

"If I cannot live where the everyday thought is different, then I have to paint it. Show me the unseen, the unexpected. Let me get lost in a room of paint and blank canvas, and I will create a world where anything is possible."
                                                                                                                           -- Jennifer Vitalia

Jennifer Vitalia belongs to a family that is passionate for abstract art. From an early age she exhibit a talent for tapping into human emotions through texture and the written word. Her gift for sculpture, painting and poetry and a sincere adoration of her Italian-American heritage come together in her vivid imagery created with a variety of media and materials including acrylics, oil pastels and enamel or spray on canvas. Vitalia inspires viewers to embrace their own imaginations in dramatically painted splendor.
More information: www.jvitalia.com

A native of Colombia who specializes in creating figurative,  landscape and modern abstract art, Ms. Tielbaard delights in experimentation in her quest to please art lovers seeking the unique and distinctive.  The artist uses many modern materials as well as metallic acrylic paints in vibrant and dynamic colors which produce fascinating visual effects when seen from different angles.

"Most of my artwork is also textured as this instantly distinguishes it from reproductions or prints," notes Ms. Tielbaard. "Textured art can be very eye-catching - you could look at it for hours, trying to figure out all the wonderful images/shapes your imagination creates." The dimensional feel creates a special relationship that makes the artwork more interesting and full of life. More information: www.goldenbirdhope.com

798 Avant Gallery

Founded in the Chelsea area of New York City in 2005, 798 Avant Gallery discovers, cultivates and promotes both established and emerging contemporary artists from mainland China. The gallery exhibits an exceptional selection of original paintings, conceptual photography, works on paper, mixed media prints, sculpture, and installation pieces, with a high reputation among American and European collectors. Among the fine artists exhibiting at this distinguished gallery are Zhu Yi Yong and David Datuna (see below).
More information: www.798avantgallery.com

Family-Memory No.2.
Oil on Canvas. 63x47cm, 2008.
Artist: Zhu Yiyong,

Zhu Yi Yong showcases new works that expand on his ongoing exploration of the popular child’s game, cat’s cradle. Born in Chongching, Sichuan Province, in 1957, Zhu Yi Yong studied oil painting at the highly acclaimed Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in China in 1977, part of the first class of students to be admitted after the Cultural Revolution. After graduating from the academy he was offered the position of associate professor of oil painting, a job he still holds today. His award-winning and critically acclaimed paintings are included in the collection of the Chinese National Museum of Art in Beijing.

11-year old prodigy Victoria Yin has been compared by art critics with such art icons as Salvador Dali. Her intrinsic themes, distinctive surrealistic style, skillful mastery of form and color, have made her a sensation at the International Art Expo in New York. She is a rising star in the international art sphere.

Leon Oks

"I paint for the satisfaction of the created work. If the range of emotions and thoughts that I have experienced in the process of painting are visible on my canvas, only then do I call it finished.  It is at this point, knowing I have met my standards, I gain confidence that the viewer will respond in a similar way."                                                           --  Leon Oks

Russian born Leon Oks is a painter who combines dynamic movement and vivid color with a lyrical sensibility and a musical rhythm. Revealing joy and sadness in equal measure, his forms are meditative intertwining. The compositions flow back and forth in harmonic motion.

The female figure, resplendent with beauty and intrigue, is a common catalyst for his art.  Enveloped in a dreamscape of lush bodies and vegetation, its echoing form interacts and reacts with all that it touches, teasing the viewer to fill in the specifics. Images of hushed, warm towns and verdant landscapes fill out his oeuvre. The tottering, shaky little villages evoke the bittersweet nostalgia of childhood and the forest of birch trees breath, sway and beckon. These myriad variations of forms, seemingly unconnected, are chained together by his unabashed romanticism and a commitment to extracting the most expression possible from a fluid line.

Mr. Oks has exhibited widely across the United States and many international exhibitions in Europe, and is a frequent contributor to Art Expos around the world. He has received many first place awards in juried art shows both nationally and worldwide. His paintings can be found in numerous private collections, corporations, as well as museums. 
More information: www.LeonOks.com

Brazilian-born artist Artur Moreira impressed Couture Fashion Week attendees with his one-of-a-kind woodwork creations that are a distinctive juxtaposition of art, function and form.  Inspired by Salvador Dali, Mr. Moreira seeks out unique coloration and grain patterns in the wood he uses in his pieces. His lacquer-polished wine racks, cabinetry and a myriad of other wooden creations present a distinctive way for collectors to integrate art into their homes. In addition to his studio in Newark, New Jersey, Mr. Moreira plans to open studios in both Brazil and London to provide more direct international exposure. “When I was living in London, I became charmed by the English architecture and other forms of European woodworking,” says Artur Moreira. “All of the wood finishing really caught my attention, and because I always had the ability, I started to dream about the art of working with wood.” More information: www.ArturMoreira.com

California native Anita Lewis was raised in Europe. Her “Art for Modern Life” creates an unmistakable, somewhat European style of simplistic abstract modernism. The artist expresses herself in rich color-blends along with detail in the obscure with her oils on canvas. Her goal is to grace modern architectural environments, and that such surroundings will grace her art. More information: www.AnitaLewis.com

Trinny Ferrazzy has been an accomplished designer, sculptor and painter for over 18 years. Ms. Ferrazzy has exhibited her work at many prestigious galleries and stores in the USA and Europe including H. Stern, Amsterdan Sawer and Belenky Brothers Gallery. Her recent paintings are inspired by quantum physics and are part of her soon-to-be released book entitled Smiles and Tears Coming From God, as well as a movie on which she is collaborating with her daughter, film maker Paula Ferrazzy.

Danish ceramist and product designer Susanne Hangaard takes a conceptual approach, often using unexpected combinations of materials with ceramics to achieve intriguing new expressions. The essence of her work is a desire to tell stories and create images in a playful interchange with the world within the framework of clashing environments and realities. More information: www.SusanneHangaard.dk

Monica Agudelo

Colombian painter Monica Agudelo identifies herself as an observer of the modern society. “I am a thief of individuals and global vices and virtues that speak to me and which I translate into my own artistic expression.” At Couture Fashion Week, Ms. Agudelo  showcased a selection of colorful pop art inspired by the excess of media consumption of which fashion is a part. Her work has been shown previously in Colombia, Germany and England.