33 Contemporary

Narelle Zeller is an Australian representational portrait and figurative oil painter. Her refined oil paintings explore the beauty and fragility of the human condition and our environment, drawing inspiration from the people around her and her own personal life experiences. She aims to capture an honest and authentic representation of her subject and stir the viewer to question and connect to the personal and individual story behind each painting.

Captivated by portraiture and its capacity to impart complexities that comprise the human condition O'Neil Scott's work is designed to give a voice to marginalized communities. His paintings convey contemporary subject matter and look to give the viewer a way to understand and relate across social boundaries.

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.

JuliAnne Jonker's art serves as a conduit, a visual language for the human ability to see and be seen. JuliAnne lives and works in Apple Valley, Minnesota and continues to follow her muse around the globe. She works alongside living masters of classical realism while creating her own techniques blending her love of oil paint and wax sculpture. Most recently she is creating portraits using encaustic wax, cold wax and oils.

Sam Woodfin’s work explores colorful realism via themes of mortality, the apocalypse, human psyche, the structure of the body, and the nature of perception and consciousness. He also makes comic and narrative work. Sam studied Illustration at Art Center College of Design and earned his MFA in Painting from Laguna College of Art + Design. He currently teaches art full time for the Department of Visualization at Texas A&M University.

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.

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.

Brianna Lee is a figurative oil painter working in the realist tradition. Her work focuses on the emotional interior world of her portrait subjects, often portraying them against dramatic landscapes that act as a metaphorical narrative of their life. Her work aims to highlight the quiet inward strength and resilience of her female subjects. The use of contrasted lighting and rich and emotive colors convey the sentiment of each individual. While many of her narratives are fictional, she gleans inspiration from her own life experiences and of her models, friends and family. The wide open landscapes she portrays are often inspired by the rural environment she grew up in, in the Central Valley of California.

In her figurative realist oil paintings, Teresa Brutcher renders her figures from the inside out and the outside in telling us their stories of folly and fear, joy, defiance and submission. Literary symbols are often employed; other times, she sets a stage where every element plays a role in conveying her tale. Strong vivid colors and harsh lights and shadows, bulging veins and muscles, beckon the viewer into a world of emotions shared by humankind, of fears and fantasies which unite us all.

Michael Hlousek-Nagle’s work is firmly rooted in traditional practice. He works mainly in oils, graphite, or charcoal to produce work that explores a space somewhere between sensuality, nostalgia, isolation, and hope. His canvases often feature solitary figures having quiet crises of reflection and regret, or experiencing moments of epiphany, of recognition, or acceptance. They attempt to strike a balance – between acknowledging human losses, imperfections, and regrets, and being open to healing, and the possibility of inner change and transformation. His work explores the grey area between the tangible and the inward, and asks the viewer to contemplate the sad inevitability of external changes, and the hopeful possibility of internal transformation.

the PLANET, 2021 Oil on Canvas 19 7/10 × 19 7/10 in 50 × 50 cm This is a unique work. $3,600

Vicki Sullivan richly colored figurative oil paintings aim to convey a sense of positive emotion and feeling to the viewer revealing elements of her subjects’ personalities besides her own. 
While depicting contemporary subjects, her method is inspired by 19th Century Realism. Her work involves glazing many layers making the colors rich and glowing as if from the inside and it takes several months to complete a single artwork
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