Archives: Artists

Slava Ilyayev brings the entire spectrum of color to life on canvas with extraordinary physical presence, working as a virtuoso with the palette knife. Like Vincent Van Gogh, Paul Gauguin and the Fauve artists, he unleashes vibrant color and rich texture in service of a vision of nature that radiates light, warmth and energy. His landscapes capture the seasons in all their chromatic glory, and he is represented by Park West Gallery.

Born on May 11, 1970 in Baku, Azerbaijan, an ancient Silk Road city where Europe and Asia intersect, Ilyayev mastered his craft at the local college of arts under teachers from the Apsheron school of painting, which advocated a unique blend of Asian and European styles. He emigrated to Israel in 1995 and completed his studies at the renowned Avni Institute of Art and Design in Tel Aviv. The Israeli art community honored him with major exhibitions at the Art and Sculpture Union in Tel Aviv and the Safrai Fine Art Gallery in Jerusalem, and his fame quickly became international.

Ilyayev’s technique relies on three main stages using the palette knife. He outlines the composition’s structure, then applies heavy swathes of thick impasto that can take up to a year to dry, carving linear compositions into the raised paint. He builds five or six layers to achieve deep, diverse color expression. Today, he lives in Tel Aviv with his wife Alexandra and their children, where he also teaches.

Peter Nixon was born in Lytham St. Annes, Lancashire, England in 1956. His artistic journey began at age five, and a pivotal moment came at nine when he visited the Royal Academy of Art in London, where Leonardo’s drawings profoundly influenced his development. At seventeen, he studied at Blackpool College of Art and Design, focusing on the human figure, before completing his education at Bath Academy of Art. There he discovered his work needed more movement and energy, a revelation that came while studying dancers. This led him to fuse the human form with Constructive Cubism, creating his distinctive style.

Working from his studio atop his London home, Nixon paints intuitively, driven by instinct rather than conscious planning. He draws inspiration from Renaissance masters like Leonardo, Titian, Veronese, and Bellini, as well as Picasso and Matisse. His earlier work with an etcher sparked his interest in texture, which he explored further through travels to Venice. Music, particularly jazz, deeply influences his creative process. Nixon’s images celebrate peace, harmony, and the dynamic energy of human movement, employing classic techniques in contemporary contexts with softer, hazier lines reminiscent of Leonardo’s sfumato style.

Represented by Park West Gallery, Nixon values meeting collectors and hearing their emotional responses to his work, calling it his dream job that allows creative freedom while traveling worldwide.

Chris DeRubeis creates art unlike anything else in the contemporary world. Born in 1978 in Santa Clarita, California, he showed early talent for drawing that his family nurtured, especially his grandfather, who worked with him on weekends to develop his skills. At age 13, DeRubeis received his first airbrush from his grandfather, who predicted the young artist would fulfill dreams he himself had never realized. By 16, DeRubeis was already earning money airbrushing shirts at Six Flags Theme Park, and at 17 he managed the entire operation.

After graduating in 1996, DeRubeis attended the Pasadena Art Center and the Associates in Art School in Sherman Oaks, California, supporting himself by painting custom motorcycles. While grinding paint off a motorcycle gas tank one day, he discovered something remarkable: the exposed metal created intricate patterns that reflected light in captivating ways. This sparked years of experimentation in his parents’ garage, where he combined chemicals, pigments, and fire to develop his signature technique, which he trademarked as Abstract Sensualism®.

DeRubeis works on metal surfaces ranging from aircraft aluminum to precious metals like silver, gold, brass, and copper, subjecting them to flash freezing and intense flames to create unique textures. Because his chemical reactions produce different results each time, every piece is an original—he cannot create limited editions. His innovative work is represented by Park West Gallery and collected worldwide.

Emile Bellet was a self-taught French artist who aligned himself with the Fauves, a group of early 20th-century painters including Henri Matisse, Paul Cézanne, Raoul Dufy, and Maurice de Vlaminck. Working with an impasto knife, Bellet mastered the Fauvist tradition of vivid, non-authentic colors, applying highly saturated hues to create elongated mannerist forms. His paintings often centered on a mysterious female figure representing timeless and ageless femininity.

Born in Provence, France in 1941, Bellet began painting at age 5 and held his first exhibition in 1960 at just 19 years old. At 12, he won first prize in a national art journal. His career gained momentum in 1976 when Galerie Guigne took notice of his work. In 1978, he completed the stained glass windows for the church Notre Dame de Bon Voyage in Port de Bouc, France, and was later commissioned by the Alpine Maritime Region to paint Travaux des Champs.

Bellet painted en plein air like the Impressionists, capturing the villages and scenery of his native France from his mountain home overlooking the Mediterranean. He held numerous exhibitions throughout France and internationally in Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Switzerland, and Japan. Represented by Park West Gallery, Bellet delighted in sharing his work with collectors worldwide. He passed peacefully on July 1, 2022, survived by his wife Ile.

Alexander Chen is an internationally acclaimed artist who paints in what he calls a “hyper-realist” style, capturing historical and cultural landmarks from around the world. Born in Guangzhou, China in 1952, Chen discovered his love of art at age four and nurtured his talent through tumultuous life changes. At sixteen, inspired by “Around the World in 80 Days,” he began documenting his surroundings through walking and biking journeys. By age twenty-six, he was studying at prestigious institutions including the Arts and Crafts School at Guang Dong and the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, where he met his wife, fellow artist Su.

During the 1980s, Chen’s reputation grew throughout China, with his paintings collected by provincial and national art museums and displayed at National Art Exhibitions of China. In the late 1980s, he moved his family to San Francisco. His first snowfall experience at age forty in Central Park profoundly influenced his subsequent work. Chen has since traveled to over fifty countries, painting scenes from Paris, Times Square, the Great Wall of China, London Bridge, and the Grand Canyon, among many others. His “Alexander’s World” series celebrates modern American life, with each painting taking up to three months to complete.

Chen served as official Artist for the U.S. Olympic Team, creating originals for both the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics and Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, holding the distinguished honor of being sanctioned by both the U.S. Olympic Committee and Beijing Olympic Committee. Represented by Park West Gallery, he has been a featured artist on more than thirty-five cruises, where he values meeting collectors firsthand.

Salvador Dalí was one of the most captivating and challenging artists of the 20th century. Born in Figueres, Spain, he showed artistic talent early and attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Madrid, though he was expelled twice because he believed he was more qualified than his examiners. As a young artist, he immersed himself in the writings of Freud and studied cubism, futurism, and metaphysical art.

After one-person shows in Barcelona in 1925 and Madrid in 1926, Dalí traveled to Paris where he met Picasso. Though initially rejected by the surrealists for possessing too much technical skill, he was later appointed an official surrealist by Andre Breton and became the movement’s most spectacular advocate. His graphic work includes etchings, lithographs, and combinations of both that evolved alongside his paintings.

In the mid-1950s, Dalí met Drs. Guiseppe and Mara Albaretto, who became his most important friends and patrons. Their friendship lasted until his death in 1989 and produced the largest private collection of Dalí originals in the world. The Albarettos published many of his works, including the “Sacra Biblia (Sacred Bible)” portfolio, the “1001 Arabian Nights” series, and the “Odyssey” of Homer. They also acquired “Les Heures Claires,” publisher of the “Divine Comedy,” comprising 101 wood engravings. Dalí is represented by Park West Gallery, which offers collectors access to his remarkable graphic works.

Linda Le Kinff, born in Paris in 1949 to French and Brazilian parents, has built an extraordinary artistic career spanning continents and techniques. She served as the official artist for both the 1998 World Cup and the 2010 Kentucky Derby, achievements that highlight her international recognition. Beginning her painting career at age 20, Le Kinff traveled extensively throughout the 1970s to India, Tibet, Mexico and Italy, absorbing diverse artistic traditions that would shape her distinctive style.

During twelve years living and working in Italy, Le Kinff mastered ancient techniques including tempera, egg painting and gold leaf methods from masters in Florence and Livorno. She also apprenticed in wood and copper engraving while learning modern acrylic and airbrush techniques. In Paris in 1975, she studied lithography alongside artists Brayer, Corneille and Lapique. The following year, she met Okamoto Taro, known as the Japanese Picasso, who taught her sand and sumi techniques. In 1981, she spent six months in Morocco working with Chabia, a poetess of the naive abstraction movement. She began creating serigraphs in the mid 1980s and continues to excel in this technique.

Le Kinff’s portrayal of women ranges from indescribable loneliness to silent power and elegance. She draws inspiration from Paul Gauguin, Pablo Picasso and Gustav Klimt, as well as the hidden sensuality of Braque, Matisse’s masterful drawing, Modigliani’s elegance and Egon Schiele’s precocious maturity. Represented by Park West Gallery, she works in her studio haven from early morning until evening, creating diverse subjects including musical scenes, intimate moments, elegantly dressed couples and circus performers.

World-renowned artist and sculptor Lorenzo Ghiglieri (1931-2020) created works that grace prestigious collections at the White House, the Vatican, the Kremlin, and the Royal Palace in Madrid. His sculptures and paintings have been presented to dignitaries including Ronald Reagan, Al Gore, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pope Paul II, Queen Elizabeth, and Luciano Pavarotti.

Raised in Southern California as the son of an Italian sculptor and a French artist, Ghiglieri grew up immersed in a rich blend of world cultures. After formal art training, he independently studied the Old Masters. At 17, he received a prestigious art scholarship, and by 22, he was commissioned to paint a gift from the U.S. to Great Britain for Queen Elizabeth’s coronation. He later spent two years creating a spectacular 100-foot biblical rendition for the international epic Earth: Theater of the Universe, incorporating close to 400 figures, most posed and painted from life.

In 1974, Ghiglieri shifted his focus to sculpting in bronze, working in a style he called baroque realism. He employed the centuries-old lost wax method to produce his precise, lifelike sculptures in bronze, silver, and gold. At 63, he sculpted the Official American Bald Eagle, now part of the permanent White House collection. Ghiglieri is represented by Park West Gallery, and his monumental sculptures can be found worldwide.

Orlando Quevedo is a master of depicting light and shadow in a style he calls “Magical Realism.” Born January 1, 1970 in Holguín, Cuba, Quevedo showed great interest in art at a young age. He enrolled at the Vocational School of Arts in 1982, later attended the Professional School of Fine Arts in Holguín, and graduated from the Instituto Superior de Arte (University of Arts) in Havana, Cuba in 1993.

After graduation, Quevedo immigrated to the United States to pursue his artistic career, joining his father who had settled in Philadelphia 13 years earlier. He shared his passion for art as a professor of art appreciation at La Salle University and was soon commissioned to paint several large murals throughout downtown Philadelphia. By the mid-2000s, his unique approach combining vivid architectural interiors with illusionary elements established him as the leading proponent of “Magical Realism.”

Quevedo’s work blends Baroque space with contemporary design, drawing inspiration from masters like Rembrandt van Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens, and Diego Velázquez. His paintings feature vibrant colors that express the joy he felt reuniting with his father in Pennsylvania. Today, represented by Park West Gallery, Quevedo continually explores new trends and enjoys working with mixed media and hand-embellished works on canvas, often creating intricate tributes to artists including Marc Chagall, Claude Monet, and Vincent van Gogh.