Archives: Artists

Captain Casual creates innovative contemporary art that fuses pop and graffiti styles with traditional themes of love, flowers, animals, and geometric shapes, all rendered in bold, bright colors. His journey to becoming an artist began with a profound second chance at life. In 2015, after years of stress in the financial markets led to a medical emergency, he was revived by paramedics and decided to completely transform his path. Trading stocks and bonds for color and joy, he adopted the name Captain Casual, inspired by a youth spent sailing to dozens of countries and his easy-going nature.

The artist works across an extraordinary range of materials and surfaces, from reclaimed street posters and sheets of currency to metal, wood, and luxurious paper. He employs spray paint, acrylic, and unconventional techniques like smashing cherries to create sumptuous reds. His singular goal is to spread happiness and kindness through playful, universal imagery that makes people smile.

Captain Casual’s vibrant work has attracted major brands including Louis Vuitton, Nike, Urban Decay, and Under Armour. He has created color palettes, hand-painted football cleats, and partnered with NBA superstar Steph Curry. Today, he is represented by Park West Gallery, where collectors worldwide seek his joyful masterpieces that bring color and happiness into their lives.

Pakistani artist Inam Inamullah evokes the raw, tactile presence of nature in each heavily textured work, allowing viewers to feel the essence of the natural world through his brush strokes. Born in 1961 in Karachi, Pakistan, Inamullah contracted polio at age one, which led to teasing from classmates. A pivotal moment came when his art teacher, Ms. Nasreen, invited him to draw with her during physical therapy sessions. For five years, she patiently nurtured his skills, and by age 10, Inamullah was creating pencil and charcoal portraits at a professional level. This early encouragement ignited a lifelong passion for artistic pursuits.

In 1984, at age 23, Inamullah moved to the United States to complete a master’s degree in California. After graduation, a major Hollywood company hired and sponsored him, leading to his decision to remain in the country. He later apprenticed with master artists in Italy, France, England, Turkey, and Japan, enriching his artistic knowledge. Inamullah developed a signature technique of mixing sawdust with oil paint to create heavy textures on canvas, reducing drying time from two months to just one week. He considers Vincent van Gogh a primary influence, resonating with the master’s expressive brushstrokes and love for nature.

Inamullah has exhibited worldwide for two decades, with his largest work—17 feet tall and 14.5 feet wide—permanently installed at Carnegie Hall in New York. He works with UNICEF to raise funds for polio eradication and supports more than 10 other charities. Inamullah is represented by Park West Gallery.

Chris Elliman is a Las Vegas-based artist celebrated for his startling canvases that explode with color, texture, and multiple layers of subtext and meaning. His fiercely unique style earned him the championship title in Park West Gallery’s 2022 Made in Vegas artist search competition, selected from hundreds of submissions after weeks of voting and judging by a panel of world-renowned artists.

Often painting under the pseudonym DaftPixel, Elliman is a modern Surrealist who has attracted an international following for his uncanny ability to construct entire worlds within his intricately detailed paintings. A master storyteller, he creates extraordinary narrative throughlines for each work, building layer upon layer of commentary through his own distinctive brand of visual language.

John Block, Executive Vice President at Park West Gallery, praised Elliman’s achievement, noting that his signature style is unique, bold, and completely its own. Park West Gallery represents Elliman and was thrilled to shine a light on the immense talent in Las Vegas’ art community through this competition. Elliman expressed his pride in all artists who pursue their creative vision, calling the recognition a moment of joy and just the beginning of his journey with Park West.

Christian Calvin, who also works under the name 33N Art, is a Tennessee artist celebrated for his abstract paintings and mixed-media creations that explore Pop Expressionism. His distinctive approach combines traditional paint with unexpected materials like sand and glue, creating remarkably textured works. Rather than using conventional paintbrushes, Calvin applies paint with gardening tools to craft his grand-scale pieces.

Calvin came to art later in life, beginning his creative journey at age 45 after a career in retail. When his business sold, he discovered an untapped passion for painting and experimented on canvases, cardboard, cereal boxes, and whatever surfaces he could find. His signature “33N” references his football number from his days playing at the University of Tennessee. Calvin’s work first gained recognition after he donated pieces to a charity auction near Nashville, which led to his first public exhibition at Tennessee’s prestigious Monthaven Arts and Cultural Center.

Drawing inspiration from Picasso, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Keith Haring, Calvin describes his style as Neo-Expressionism. His process involves painting a white canvas black, building textured backgrounds overnight, then sketching his composition before adding outlines and colors. Music plays a vital role in his creative process, with artists like Khalid and Shawn Mendes providing a calm atmosphere. As a father of four daughters, Calvin often finds inspiration in family experiences and current events. He is represented by Park West Gallery.

Christian Masot has earned worldwide acclaim as a tattoo artist and is now captivating collectors with his vibrant fine art. This multifaceted talent works across various mediums, driven by his passion for creativity and imagination. After earning an English and teaching degree from Montclair State University in New Jersey, Masot planned to become a teacher. However, his natural artistic ability led him down a different path when he was offered an apprenticeship at a well-known tattoo shop. Fifteen years later, he owns and operates Silk City Tattoo in Hawthorne, New Jersey.

Masot has made a significant mark in the tattoo community. Aquarian Magazine named him artist of the year, and he has appeared on programs on Bravo, Spike TV, and MTV, including as a consultant on Spike TV’s Tattoo Rescue. His numerous awards include Best in Show, Best of the Day, Best Sleeve, Best Black and Grey, and Best Color at conventions nationwide.

Beyond tattooing, Masot creates original paintings that showcase his flair for design and expert use of color. He describes his work as capturing ethereal moments that draw viewers in, allowing them to relate to what the subject is feeling. Masot is represented by Park West Gallery, where collectors can experience his eye-popping artwork firsthand.

Erni Vales was born in The Bronx in 1965 and spent most of his youth in Lower Manhattan, later moving to Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Growing up in one of the country’s most diverse neighborhoods—from Chinatown to Little Italy, alongside Jewish, Black, and Hispanic communities—gave him unlimited artistic inspiration. He attended the High School of Art and Design, where he discovered the graffiti scene and the emerging Hip Hop culture. Vales painted his first subway train around 1983 and joined Graffiti Productions Inc., a group that included artists like Futura, Crash, Daze, and Lady Pink, where he began painting on canvas.

Vales is best known for developing a groundbreaking 3D graffiti style that has influenced countless artists worldwide. In 1993, he became the first graffiti artist to create a faux 3D piece on a wall in LA, changing the game and inspiring a second wave of graffiti culture. His career highlights include painting 70 subway cars in New York City, creating body art for Mariah Carey’s Rainbow album and L’il Kim, and graffitied Eminem’s face for Rolling Stone Magazine. He has designed 15 restaurants and nightclubs, launched his own jewelry line, and released a sold-out watch collection with Invicta.

Represented by Park West Gallery, Vales continues to be a powerful force in both graffiti and commercial art.

Su Liao invites viewers to experience the world through her vibrant, impressionistic paintings of landscapes and cityscapes. Born in Canton, China, she discovered her artistic talent early, painting the flowers she observed in nature. At seventeen, she enrolled at the Art School of Guangdong, where she traveled throughout Southern China creating landscapes with her classmates. Her student work earned recognition in galleries and competitions, and it was during this time she met and married fellow art student Alexander Chen, who would become an internationally renowned artist.

In the late 1980s, Su and her family relocated to San Francisco, California, where she studied fine arts at the Academy of Art College. She began capturing American landmarks and everyday scenes, expanding her artistic vision beyond her Chinese roots. Su has received numerous awards and accolades for her paintings in China.

As a world traveler, Su has journeyed across the West Coast, Europe, the Mideast, and Southeast Asia, drawing inspiration from diverse cultures and architecture. Her paintings feature meticulous details rendered in an expressive Impressionist style, with loose brushstrokes and distinctive dots and swathes of color that blend to form mountains, valleys, oceans, and endless green fields. Su currently resides in California with her husband and is represented by Park West Gallery.

Cris X creates remarkable artwork that radiates with the candy colors of metallic finishes inspired by his love of hot rod cars. Originally from New York City, he was immersed in the custom car culture before moving to South Florida, where his passion expanded to include the ocean, surfing, and all things water-related. He is best known for his custom painted sea life, paintings on aluminum, and his work as a Disney Fine artist, and is represented by Park West Gallery.

His art career began with custom painted marine wildlife. Each piece starts as a fiberglass taxidermy blank that undergoes extensive labor to achieve a flawless finish. Multiple rounds of sanding and priming prepare the surface for thirty to forty layers of candy colors and clear coating applied to each shark, ray, and fish. The flame designs are hand laid with eighth-inch masking tape to ensure they flow with the entire form, with continuous sanding and polishing contributing to his brilliant surfaces.

After years of refining his craft, Cris began creating aluminations on metal. These paintings on aluminum demonstrate his mastery of automotive paints and metal manipulation. He grinds into the raw aluminum before applying paint, making the metal reflect light at different angles for a backlit appearance. His strategic layering of candy colors tints the metal, allowing light to reflect exceptional vibrancy. Recently, he released his Sculpture Abstraction collection, combining hundreds of layers of glass, resin, and proprietary composites, all hand-sculpted as one-of-a-kind originals.

Ken Goldman is an internationally acclaimed artist who has mastered multiple mediums, including oils, watercolors, pastels, and wood carvings. Born in Illinois, he trained at prestigious institutions such as the New York Studio School, The National Academy of Design, and the Art Students League. He also studied privately with renowned artists like Wolf Kahn, both in America and Europe.

A San Diego resident since 1970, Goldman has been a beloved instructor at the Athenaeum School of the Arts in La Jolla, where he teaches figure drawing, artistic anatomy, and landscape painting. His diverse body of work encompasses realistic oil and watercolor paintings, veiled watercolors, Sumi-e watercolors, and murals. Goldman is represented by Park West Gallery.

Goldman’s art has been exhibited worldwide in cities including Holland, Paris, Italy, Greece, China, Colombia, Mexico, New York, Boston, and Washington D.C. From 2012 through 2022, his work was featured throughout China at venues including The Shanghai International Biennial and two Shenzhen International Biennials. His pieces are held in permanent collections at institutions such as the San Diego Museum of Fine Art, the Hilbert Museum of California Art, and the Zuo Wen Museum in Qingdao, China.

The author of sixteen instructional books and a past President of the National Watercolor Society, Goldman has received numerous awards and has been profiled in publications including Southwest Art, International Artist, and The Artist’s Magazine.

Kristine Provenza captures Hawaii’s natural beauty, vibrant people, and unique traditions through paintings that engage all the senses. Her work brings collectors worldwide the primal force of volcanoes, the vibrancy of the ocean, and the aroma of island flowers, expressing the movements, culture, and rhythms of Hawaiian life like no other contemporary artist.

Born in Ladysmith on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Provenza loved art from an early age and sold her first professional pastel portraits for $25 each at age 14. After local recognition for her portraiture at 15, she began showing with The Federation of Canadian Artists at 19. Throughout her twenties and thirties, she was accepted into shows with the Association of Hawaiian Artists and the Hawaii Watercolor Society, winning Best of Show and Best Watercolor awards. Though she experimented with pastels, oils, and acrylics, Provenza fell in love with watercolor and painted almost exclusively in that medium for more than twenty-five years. Recently, she has been working with acrylic to achieve similar fluidity and movement.

Living on Oahu, Provenza has shared the essence and spirit of Hawaii’s people and paradise since the late 1980s. Her newest acrylic series, “Night Moves,” demonstrates her mastery of Chiaroscuro technique, made famous by Rembrandt, Caravaggio, and Da Vinci. Represented by Park West Gallery, she infuses every work with the very essence of Aloha for collectors worldwide.