Artists

Alexander Befelein is best known for his subtle etchings of the cities he has visited, capturing in a few delicate lines the essence of each place. Alexander Befelein shows his unique understanding of buildings, architecture and quarters, which have impressed him on his various trips through many countries. He creates his distinctive and expressive pieces of art performing with extraordinary attention to detail and selective coloring. Since the beginning of his career, Befelein has regularly exhibited in numerous galleries in Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria, Japan, and the United States. His works are recognized throughout the world and have been received with much enthusiasm.

Hildegarde’s work presents such an original form and content that it is difficult to classify her in a painting school or to compare her to an eventual equal painter. Only gifted artists succeed to be independent of the start and grow gradually to a recognizable style. This is utterly rare. As a red thread, Hildegarde’s personality runs through her works which show us a very characteristic world. She seems to know always what she does and why and she leaves nothing to fate. her work is as she meant it and what she means she gets by her own way from the background into focus so one can say without looking at her signature that her personality is clearly there. Her work is very personal and shows that art per se has no boundaries, is not subject to strict laws, is unseizable and difficult to put into words.

In her monochromatic, minimalist mixed media paintings Italian artist Marilina Marchica explores the notion of space, time, memories, and travels. She is interested in different spaces and urban environments that welcome individuals from all parts of the globe. These places have witnessed an array of unusual events that infuse a certain level of chaos into their everyday routine but always manage to find their way back to balance. With her abstract artworks, Marilina Marchica takes the viewers on a journey to unknown places while turning every site into a unique experience. The artist gets the inspiration for her pastel colored pieces from natural landscapes and architecture dominating the cityscapes of Sicily. Her pieces are minimalist, intentionally devoid of any form because the painter believes that the minimalist approach will make space more of a sensation. The painter uses a limited colour palette with dominant white and grey tones reminding viewers of the many shades of reality. Few horizontal lines are often the only thing cutting through the artist’s abstract landscapes.

Max Serradifalco is an Italian graphic artist and naturalist photographer known as the first landscape photographer who uses satellite maps to create his unique abstract aerial imagery. With his innovative virtual landscapes, the artist takes us on a journey over the globe to discover the most memorable and distant parts of our planet. His art eliminates boundaries of time and space making distant parts of the Earth appear close and familiar. The artist is inspired by his true love to nature, but his artworks also represent a reference on everyday deterioration and destruction of the Earth as a form of self-destruction of the human kind. From the monochrome landscape of Sahara to the monumental mountains of the Glen Canyon the artist takes viewers on a virtual journey marked with vivid colors and almost abstract scenery. The photographer presents ephemeral objects with a touch of an abstract that appears as if they are purifying itself along the way. But the influences to his photo prints can be traced all the way back to air paintings and a unique form of land art that manifest itself through photography and compositional plans.

Mwamba’s artworks represent a story about women told by a woman. The main theme of the collection is to focus on female beauty, their tenacity in the face of gender stereotypes and their fight to find a voice of authenticity. It is a celebration of women. Their identity, their courage and their sacrifice, which goes beyond social expectations and provides hope for future generations. Every new portrait painting from this African artist displays motivation for other women, calling for action, asking to raise their heads in confidence and, return them to their natural female authenticity. Bringing it to the world without any fear of reprisal. These paintings stand out for their large canvases which support the grandeur of that collective image of a Zambian woman even more. The postures show pride and strength and the colors speak for the vibrating power of the female soul.

Internationally recognized as one of the best Zambian artists of his generation Mwamba Mulangala is an expressionist artist whose body of work focuses on exploring human relationships. He usually starts with a human form as a point of departure and develops his work further by enriching his paintings with an arrangement of African iconography often placed in juxtaposition with the universal symbols. Inspired by the traditional African sculpture, Mwamba Mulangala focuses his efforts to explore the cultural, psychological and ritualistic aspects of his characters to emphasize the individual and collective identities. Mwamba Mulangala’s unique painting technique allows him to work simultaneously on two pieces. While painting one artwork he uses another canvas to mix his paint. This canvas will later be recycled and reused as the base for a completely new painting. This propensity to reuse material extends to his assemblages and unique mixture of painting and installations created from found waste materials. His works were featured in numerous exhibitions in New York City and Los Angeles, Germany, and the Dak’Art African Contemporary Art Biennale in Dakar, Senegal.

Rolando Duartes is a Cuban painter, graphic artist, ceramist, video producer, and teacher. Throughout his decades-long career, the artist used a variety of materials to explore numerous art genres such as conceptual, abstract and figurative art. Rolando works in a variety of styles and media and his art is known to deal with an abundance of topics. Ranging from simple minimalist monochromatic works to complex colourful compositions the artist managed to create a variety of pieces continuously pushing the boundaries of abstract art. By using bright colours, vivid brushstrokes and at times human forms the artist is continuously trying to portray numerous hardships like poverty, oppression, loneliness and the way people cope with it. Rolando Duartes’ conceptual works usually deal with the times of war, peace, democracy and ecology. The artist clever juxtapositions and unavoidable sense of humour are certain to provoke a response from the viewers and encourage them to contemplate their predetermined beliefs. Rolando Duartes’ artworks were on view in numerous galleries and museums in Switzerland and abroad.

Seungyoon Choi is an abstract painter from South Korea. His art plays on the notion that the whole world is full of paradoxes. An idea which dates back to Ancient Greece, when it was said that everything will eventually be replaced by its opposing entity and that nothing lasts forever.The rule of opposing forces inspires and motivates Seungyoon, which the name of his 2015-2016 series suggests: Beginning of the Stop. There are two interpretations for both the beginning and the stop. The visual language Seungyoon has chosen to express his beliefs and philosophy in, serves as a symbolic structure corresponding perfectly with his paradigms. The color blue is usually defined as a cool tone. Still, this doesn’t stop the artist to utilize the same color to express opposite feelings – the hottest parts of a fire are depicted blue, just like some of the hottest stars in the Universe. The artist reminds us of opposing notions in every part of his art. Seungyoon’s paintings have an innate movement, and yet they have a stop, they are bounded. The artist’s abstract expressionist oil paintings are about simplicity and complexity, big and small, movement and stillness.

This Ukrainian artist’s style is very peculiar. His art is known for being on different materials, such as wood, metal, canvas and even leather. In his artworks, Yuriy includes elements of cave paintings. His art reminisces a time long gone, maybe a simpler time. With soft lines, and human bodies rather symbolic, and tattooed the artist takes us back to a period of primordial needs. The imagery in Yuriy’s paintings is graphic and effortless. With lines forming a labyrinth, the spectator can easily get lost in this mesmerising maze, just as he would in a sensual summer day, the artist often depicts. The aesthetic appeal of Yuriy’s paintings has the power of traditional art. Its decorative magic is authentic as it relates to the viewer on a deeper lever, communicating with essential parts of the being. Yuriy often paints deities, lovers in romantic hugs, but with the least amount of attention to detail, bringing our focus to the emotional side of the painting, and not the motif itself. Zakordonets renders Roman goddesses as well as gods from the Vedas. His art resonates with everyone on a subtle level, coloured with our mutual history, with the origins.