33 Contemporary

Michael Van Zeyl is a full-time artist living and working in Chicago. His formal training began at the American Academy of Art, continuing on at Chicago’s Historic Palette & Chisel Academy. His art has been featured in several publications such as: American Art Collector, PoetsArtists, and American Artist magazine. Michael’s work is already appreciated in many public and private collections, such as the United States District Court, University of Chicago and was the 2014 recipient of the Dorothy Driehaus Mellin Fellowship for Midwestern Artists.

Traditional representation of figure coexisting with phantasmagorical elements define Anastasiya Chybireva-Fender’s work. Anastasiya aims at creating a portal in space and time between the viewer and her subject. Surreal elements, invented or borrowed from daily life, aim at suggesting idiosyncratic traits of her subjects. The only unifying characteristic of her subjects is their unique story, they all have one. Anastasiya’s process begins with an encounter. Anastasiya investigates her subject’s appearance through sketches and their inner world through many dialogues. Her aim is to construct the final composition which would communicate the inner appearance of her subject via their outer traits. Anastasiya works in the indirect method, following the tradition of the old masters, yet with a modern perspective.

Shannon (Shan) Fannin is a realist vehicle painter living in Austin, Texas. Born in California, she received a scholarship to become a special needs art teacher, but joined her family business and pursued a marketing career. Stepping away from the corporate world to raise a family, Fannin returned to art after a 25yr. hiatus. In 2012 she took community college art classes, and turned her attention to painting vehicles in 2014 when a 1961 Ford Thunderbird was added to their family garage. She became a professional realist vehicle artist in February, 2015. Fannin creates her large, vibrant acrylic paintings with a combination of painting with her palms, fingers, and brushes. Although her work is categorized as realism, she incorporates approximately 10% abstraction into each painting. Fannin’s work has been shown in numerous national galleries, and been featured in several Best of America exhibitions. She has had two solo exhibitions including showing her work during Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance 2016. Her paintings have been published in American, Greek, and British publications including: American Art Collector, Soferina, Pinstriping & Kustom Graphics, Where Women Create Business, North Light Books, and Creative Quarterly. She was on the international shortlist of 13 artists/writers for the 2017 Artslant Georgia Fee Paris Residency.

Shana Levenson is a representational oil painter whose work focuses on portraiture and the figure. Her intimate portraits capture each person’s story in an honest and meaningful way. Her self-portraits are the main subject in many of her artwork focusing on family life including her own children in the portrayal of motherhood. Her series of hyperrealistic portraits of HIV survivors adds to the depth of her reach in contemporary realism. Her current work incorporates lace dresses along with surrealistic elements to highlight the strength and beauty of the female form.

In his bold paintings of contemporary men, figurative painter Alessandro Tomassetti combines his naturalistic rendering style with a tenebrous palette and dramatic lighting to create works which are at once seductive and subversive. Rather than presenting his male subjects as mythological heroes or captains of industry, Tomassetti paints to reveal their vulnerability and sensitivity. From the pose and styling to the glints of light and reflection captured in his brushwork, Tomassetti’s work manifests an intimacy most often seen in paintings of female subjects. By eschewing historic expectations—where men were typically viewers of such portraits rather than the subjects, Tomassetti’s oil paintings invite the viewer to explore and appreciate shades of contemporary masculinity outside of the norm.

Michael Van Zeyl is a full-time artist living and working in Chicago. His formal training began at the American Academy of Art, continuing on at Chicago’s Historic Palette & Chisel Academy. His art has been featured in several publications such as: American Art Collector, PoetsArtists and American Artist magazine. Michael’s work is already appreciated in many public and private collections, such as the United States District Court, University of Chicago and was the 2014 recipient of the Dorothy Driehaus Mellin Fellowship for Midwestern Artists.

Suzy Smith is a Wyoming native, who has lived in Albuquerque, NM, for the past 20 years, with stops in UT, and Northern CA along the way. She started her career learning to draw and paint in watercolor, at the local community college in her hometown of Casper, WY. Smith was recently invited to return to WY, where she had a one woman retrospective show: "Suzy Smith: Pop Realism", at the Nicolaysen Art Museum, where her work now resides in their permanent collection. Smith continued painting watercolor still life for many years, until she moved to NM where she decided to teach herself to paint in oil, and get back to her first love; figure painting. She paints women from a female perspective, painting the uniquely American culture she grew up with. Smith paints strong, sensual, and sometimes vulnerable women. She adds to the narrative by adding iconic Pop Art backgrounds, such as dollar signs, numbers and American flags, which all add to the complexity and design of each painting. Smith has exhibited her work internationally, and her paintings are included in many private and public collections which include: The Museo Internacional de Arte in Guadalajara, Mexico, the Howard Tullman collection, the Dryer's Grand Ice Cream Corporate Art Collection, and the Kaiser Foundation Art Collection. Smith paints in oil and watercolor, painting female figurative work as well as still life. She is a signature member of the National Watercolor Society, and her work can be seen at Abend Gallery in Denver, CO, as well as her studio in Albuquerque, NM.

Viktoria Savenkova has a professional classical academic education. In her paintings and drawings, she builds an emotional and psychological dialogue with a spectator. The artist creates unfinished stories immersing herself in her own inner world and involving the one who is looking at it. She introduces to the viewer her own concept of ​​beauty and emotionality, drama and sensuality. She has participated in local and international exhibitions and competitions (Italy, Spain, United States) and been published in various catalogues and publications (TIME magazine, American Art Collector, PoetsArtists, Leonardo Art Guide 2017, 2018, Fine Art Connoisseur). Two portraits are part of the permanent collection of the European Museum of Modern Art in Barcelona (MEAM - Barcelona). The finalist and prize winner of ModPortrait, The International Arte Laguna Prize, The International ARC Salon Competition (The Art Renewal Center), Figurativas Painting & Sculpture Competition 2019, Publisher’s choice award PoetsArtists.

Victor Wang grew up in Northern China and graduated BFA from The Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts, one of three top art institutes in China. After graduation he taught there for four and a half years and was sent to The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a visiting scholar. He earned his MFA in Fontbonne University. He currently lives in St. Louis, where he teaches painting, drawing and graduate critique classes as a full professor at Fontbonne University. He has exhibited widely across the country and internationally and has won various awards for excellence, including awards for both painting and art instruction. His work has been shown nationally and internationally.

Dirk Dzimirsky (born 1969) is a German artist who is known for his hyper-realistic drawings and paintings. His carefully elaborated stagings of light and shadow reveal the sensitivity and vulnerability of its models. An extreme level of detail in combination with calculated set of light create an enigmatic mood of melancholic beauty in his images. His works is exhibited worldwide and are part of numerous international collections.