Nicoletta Ceccoli
" Beauties and Beasts"
New paintings
Eric Fortune
" Daughters of Our Nature"
New paintings
Opening reception Friday July 24th 6-9pm
music by DJ Vodka Twist/ Beverages provided
Roq La Rue is pleased to present two solo shows by two artists for July/August 2009.
Italian artist Nicoletta Ceccoli returns to the gallery with a new series of work entitled “Beauties and Beasts”, exploring themes of childhood innocence and the loss of that innocence, as well as exploring the idea of isolation caused by a creative life.
Her darkly luminous work, while initially seemingly whimsical, contains a deeper edge of melancholy that anchors each piece. Her technique, incorporating pencils and acrylics to create a softly washed pastel world, enhance their dream like imagery and soft surrealistic nature.
In 2001, Nicoletta was awarded with the Andersen prize as best Italian illustrator of the year, and has illustrated numerous children's books.
She is also a four time recipient of the ‘award of excellence’ from Communication Arts. In 2006 she received the silver medal from Society of Illustrators (New York).
Eric Fortune has a mini-solo show entitled “Daughters of Our Nature.” Four paintings depict female subjects as emotionally resonant metaphors. Eric uses washed hues and natural tones that create, on one level, a feeling of serenity -- one that contrasts with the often dynamic nature of his imagery. In an equally compelling contrast, his subtle colors and flowing lines are brought to life through the perfection of his rendering. Eric's soft but riveting lighting effects are produced with a technique called “glazing”: Eric paints a very light coat of acrylic on the paper — lets it dry — paints over it with another very thin layer — lets it dry — over and over and over again. This technique requires an incredible level of patience, focus and care, for each painting takes about 150 hours to produce.
Fortune received his BFA from Columbus College of Art and Design where he was honored with the Outstanding Senior Award upon graduation. His work continued to garner acclaim with the acceptance into such annual competitions as The Society of Illustrators NY and LA, as well as Spectrum and others. He was the Artist Guest of Honor for ConGlomeration, and was recently awarded the Jack Gaughan Award for Best Emerging Artist of 2009. |
