West Palm Beach Pioneer Gallerist opens second gallery. Impressive roster of artists boasts Dale Chihuly, Serge Strosberg, Edwina Sandys and more…

The prominent art collectors accompanying me to the opening were speechless at not only the art represented but how professionaly the exhibit was curated. “The space created allows for the artworks to be represented in the manner they deserve. I’m not surprised as Paul is a professional. We look forward to the exciting ineup this season, ” says Jim Pappas.

Paul Fisher, owner of one of the leading galleries in West Palm Beach opened his second Palm Beach Gallery at 218 Clematis Street. Continued to be celebrated for his innovative exhibitions and longevity of over 25 years, Paul unveiled his second location on November 14th, announcing an exciting line up for the winter.

Click here to view images of attendees at Grand Opening

The new expansive 5,000 square foot showplace features an inaugural exhibition of works by the noted Manhattan painter, Serge Strosberg where his recent series titled “Agalmatophilia (Love of the Statue) which was voted one of the top 8 best art shows in New York City in 2013, by Guestofaguest magazine.

Concurrent with the gallery opening and the Strosberg show, was a first time showing in Florida of “Breakthrough” a large scale canvas print by the celebrated artist Edwina Sandy who unveiled the sculpture in 1989 to a crowd of 7,000 people gathered on the campus of Westminster College. Nearly 25 years before the Banksy phenomena of excavating walls, Sandy’s unique and challenging original idea still remains an art world trophy. The 12-foot high by 32 foot long structure which was originally a segment of the Berlin Wall has been reproduced in a fascinating canvas rendition which continues to generate excitement and amazement. The monument, brainchild of Sandy’s, who is the granddaughter of Winston Churchill, began as a dream in the mind of it creator and years later became a living reality.

Edwina Sandys solo show opens with a reception for the artist November 28th

 A native of Antwerp, Belgium, artist Serge Strosberg has lived and worked in Paris but  now calls Palm Beach and New York City home.

He has exhibited in Florida at the Elaine Baker Gallery in Boca Raton and the Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens and the Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach. He also exhibited at Art Palm Beach and Art Wynwood.

Mr. Strosberg is known for his skill at capturing people’s expressions and emotions, together with his old master techniques.

Among his works is a portrait of the U.S. District Court Judge Daniel T.K. Hurley, which hangs in the federal courthouse in West Palm Beach.

What inspires you to work on your art? I moved to New York in 2008 and am daily inspired by the city and by the people I meet, whether on the streets or at social events. I meet many socialites, models and New York personalities.

 Serge Strosberg’s “Occupy” COURTESY IMAGES Originally from Belgium, I lived in France for 25 years. I graduated from L’Académie Julian, the graphic design school in Paris where Matisse, Bonnard, Léger and Gaugin all studied. Because I’ve lived and traveled extensively in Europe and the United States, I see myself as a “citizen-of-the-world.”

One is free to be who they choose to be in New York City. If you want to walk around in pajamas, or scream at the top of your lungs, that’s OK; nobody seems to mind. In fact, if anything, it’s encouraged.

My works reflect the spectrum of city life and a cross-section of the people who inhabit this city. With my paintings, I try to convey a story that is at once immediate and of our time and one that spans the so-called human condition.

I am also influenced by actual sociopolitical events that I read about in the news.

“Green Idol,” from the show, “Agalmatophilia.” Living in New York during the financial crisis on Wall Street and the subsequent Occupy Wall Street movement has made a strong impact on me and I’ve tried to transmit my feelings through my latest series of work, “The Gold Series.”

The “Gold Series” which I presented with Art Amalgamated at Art Palm Beach 2014, is an experimental body of work re-contextualizing key sociopolitical events that have been energizing the world, particularly since the Great Recession of 2008.

I depict the recent Wall Street excesses by creating very detailed and satirical paintings that leave the viewer with different interpretations. These luminal works of art are not literal but force the viewer to think about the omnipresence of materialism and power in American society.

“Occupy,” is a mystical painting representing protesters from the Occupy Wall Street movement mixed with other international protests.

Protagonists seem to float in the air, in limbo, waiting for the inevitable of coming back to earth.

As an artist I was moved and mobilized by the short-lived OWS movement. I was also puzzled and deflated by the way these movements were crushed by the powers that be and the general inertia of the unsatisfied masses.

As other artworks of the Gold series, the background is painted in a golden haze to emphasize the growing disparity between the 1 percent and the 99 percent.

Is there anything special you do to spark that inspiration? I am an observer of modern society. I am very curious and always keep my eyes and ears open for interesting visuals or people. I do on-line research on internet searching for inspiring images that I can decontextualize and transform.

My previous series titled “Agalmatophilia,” or Love of the Statue, was inspired by observations of my ever-changing neighborhood in SoHo and the high fashion vitrines in my neighborhood boutiques, which reflect the absurdity of society and ubiquitous marketing and fetishism that accompany them.

I created large-scale paintings of half-mannequin/half-human and incorporated modern technology with a multi-media approach to art juxtaposing iconic symbols of faith superimposed on iconic portraits.

I love to explore themes of transformation, questions of authenticity and themes of ‘the other.’

I discreetly push boundaries, reveal subjects to him or herself and to his or her society and reveal secrets.

In portraiture, the artist has to distinguish between fantasy and reality. As between two actors, there is a seduction and ambiguity as well as anxiety and distance stemming from lack of trust.

The metaphysical part of portraiture is to transcend the ambiguity and capture the soul of a human being.

Because people are complex, they never seem to be who they appear to be to us on the outside. People often take on the role that they think other people expect of them. So for me a tall, statuesque beauty may present that image, but once I start painting her, I often find the antithesis.

When do you typically work? I have a loft space in SoHo and work every day all year-long. As an artist, I am constantly envisioning images in my mind and work diligently to put all my ideas on canvas. Many times I’ll work on Sundays if I have a tight show deadline. As other people go to their offices, so I go to my studio and put in a full day of work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

I get my best ideas looking out my window onto Broadway, where the city never sleeps and is constant fodder for my imagination.

I also like the city and its density. I can look out my window here on Broadway and see a whole world passing underneath my fire escape.

When do you know it’s time to put the work away? I stop painting when I have no more turpentine … no seriously, it is never really over. Many times (like most artists, i.e., Titian) I retouch a painting a year later.

I try to do my best to hone my skills and make an artwork that is visually and technically strong and moves people who see it.

My recent “Agalmatophilia Series” and my “Expressionist of Fashion” series are examples where I take risks with my subject matter and technique to avoid becoming formulaic or pandering to commercial interests.

I want my work to be new and as different as possible from anything that’s been done before. I value originality and bring a discerning viewpoint to all my work.

Opening tonight at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, the festival also includes six satellite art fairs: ART al’FRESCO at the Boynton Beach Arts District, Worth Avenue Gallery Walk, Continuum in West Palm Beach, ArtX in historic Northwood Village, the South Dixie Antique Row Galleries Walk and LULA’s Art POP in Lake Worth.  Lee Ann Lester, who along with her husband David own ArtPalmBeach sponsor International Fine Art Expositions, said this winter’s art season has kicked off with exciting news: “The Norton Museum’s expansion, Art Synergy’s inauguration and ArtPalmBeach’s largest-ever fair has become a beacon of cultural growth  in  South Florida.”

ArtPalmBeach will emphasize the international this year, organizers said, with artists from Egypt, Iran, Lebanon, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates, exploring the Arab Spring in an exhibit called The Awakening of the Middle East.

Coming from South America are galleries from Chile and Argentina presenting a show called Latin American Masters and Emerging Artists. From Korea, Soo Jung Hyun’s curated show and exhibition, Searching for a Cow in the Forest, is part of the Korean Pavilion presenting works by Lee Yong Baek, Lim Dong-Lak and Sung Hee Cho.

“Contemporary Korean art is a hot commodity right now,” says Lester, pointing to Christie’s auction house, which has developed a specialty auction for Korean art that reflects its unique style of modernism – a true East-meets-West.

From New York’s (Art) Amalgamated gallery come artists Ross Bleckner, Vadim Zakharov, a Russian conceptual artist, and Belgian artist Serge Strosberg, with his new paintings depicting New York’s financial crisis.

The “Gold Series,” is an experimental body of work re-contextualizing key socio-political events such as the world-wide recession. Strosberg portrays these excesses with detail and satire and compels viewers to reflect on the omnipresence of materialism and power in contemporary society.

“I look at the world and its issues, many painful, while bathing the scenes in an ethereal light of gold,” says Strosberg. “As human nature vacillates between light and dark, the beautiful and the base, so this series deals with the duality of the human condition.”

New this year is ArtSynergy, a group created by local artists Freddy Hennevelt, Craig McInnis and Rolando Chang Barrero of the Boynton Beach Arts District (BBAD) to expand the scope of the fair out to local arts districts.

Thanks to support from the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, ArtSynergy incorporates art walks and open houses in six different districts.

In Boynton Beach, BBAD hosts ART al’FRESCO, a night of art, music by the South Florida Symphony, experimental dance and movement, live fashion by Fusion Fashion and Art, open studios and glassblowing demonstrations by Healther Gaker.

Other events include the Worth Avenue Gallery Walk, ArtX in historic Northwood Village, the South Dixie Antique Row Galleries Walk, and LULA’s Art POP in LakeWorth.

“Our goal is to open a window on the significant number of art districts that are growing and expanding in the county and the significant number of young emerging artists working in their studios,” Lester says.

As Barrero, who runs the ActivistArtistA Gallery at BBAD, likes to say about the addition of the art walks, “We’re going from glitzy to gritty (at the Boynton Beach Arts District’s warehouses on Industrial Avenue) and creating one unified art scene.”

Despite the district being hard hit by recent flooding, Barrero hopes to host 1,000 people at the Art al Fresco opening night event Friday.

Other highlights of ArtPalmBeach include a lifetime achievement award to sculptor Albert Paley who will speak about his public sculptures during the lecture series Albert Paley on View.

Sculpture is a theme this year, with five 30-foot-high pieces – Giants in the City — installed along Okeechobee Boulevard.

World-renowned Polish sculptor Jerzy Kedziora’s kinetic balancing sculptures will be on display along with Romanian-born artist Adela Andea’s bioluminescent kinetic-light sculpture made from consumer electronics and mass-produced objects, which will be installed in the lobby of the convention center.

The International Sculpture Center presents a panel discussion, “Kinetic Sculptures – Art in Motion,” with Debby Coles-Dobay, public art manager for the city of Boynton Beach and kinetic artists Rein Triefeldt and Ralfonso Gshwend, president of the Kinetic Art Organization (KAO).

Ralfonso, who goes by his first name, believes sculpture and contemporary art are moving from a static, passive form to a more active, dynamic and interactive state.

“Sculptural public art is changing from the long held static, form-focused style to a dynamically developing intersection of technology, art and communication, where the art changes, interacts, and communicates with its viewers,” he says.

Other lectures include a panel discussion on “Public Sculpture in Art and Culture,” presented by the Florida International University Frost Museum and Sculpture Park and “ArtPalmBeach Presents Baby Jane,” in conjunction with the Norton Museum exhibition,  To Jane: Love, Andy, a look at Jane Holzer, who is considered artist Andy Warhol’s first superstar. Holzer, a Palm Beach native, will be interviewed by art historian and artist Bruce Helander.

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