 WINNERS
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WINNERS' Page
3rd NeoPopRealism Starz Art Competition WINNERS
(from NeoPopRealism Journal, September - October, 2009)
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1st Place WINNER: Vanessa Bahmani (New York, USA)
Vanessa Bahmani was born in the early 80’s in Guatemala City. Soon after, her family moved to Berkeley, California were she and her
sister were raised surrounded by arts. She grew up attending cultural events, theater, music performances. Her family started
a Guatemala folkloric dance group named “Ixim Tinamit” (Ee-sheem-tea-na-meet), meaning people of corn in Quiche,
which incorporated modern interpretation of traditional dance. Quiche is one of the many Guatemalan indigenous languages.
Through this creative outlet, which she was a part of, Vanessa began to appreciate art.
Later, she received a B.A. degree in Ethnic Studies & African-American Studies from UC Berkeley. After graduating from UC Berkeley, she moved to New York City and in 2009 earned an MFA degree in Photography from School of Visual Arts.
Vanessa exhibited her photographs in “The Hustle” art show at Power House Books Arena in Brooklyn in 2008. The same year, she was nominated a semi-finalist for the Adobe Achievement Awards in Photography. Next year, 2009, she exhibited her work at the ISE cultural foundation in SoHo, New York, and received the prestigious nomination for the 2009 NY Photo festival student book category.
Later, she received a B.A. degree in Ethnic Studies & African-American Studies from UC Berkeley. After graduating from UC Berkeley, she moved to New York City and in 2009 earned an MFA degree in Photography from School of Visual Arts.
Vanessa exhibited her photographs in “The Hustle” art show at Power House Books Arena in Brooklyn in 2008. The same year, she was nominated a semi-finalist for the Adobe Achievement Awards in Photography. Next year, 2009, she exhibited her work at the ISE cultural foundation in SoHo, New York, and received the prestigious nomination for the 2009 NY Photo festival student book category.
To the question “What is art and what
is your art inspiration?” she said: “Art is a creative outlet of expression. Art, and particularly
photography is my voice of self-expression to the world. I am inspired to make art by subject matter that moves me
both emotionally, and politically. I draw upon personal experiences and interests to begin a project, and continue to build
on them.
In this particular case I took break dance as the focus of my study for its ingenuity and high degree of difficulty, but above all for its ability to speak to youth worldwide. Break dance serves as a vehicle with which a new cultural identity can be created. Since its inception, Hip-Hop has been a culture of re-inventing, appropriating and transforming itself, with each generation
bringing a willingness to cross boundaries between tradition and innovation. In this same spirit I set out to developed my
own visual style through photographic exploration of the break-dancers’ body gestures and movements.”
Vanessa said that she feels pretty fortunate to be able to be an artist and make a living doing what she loves. The things, she loves most about her life are her family, her husband, making photographs, and living in New York City.
“My future goals are to be recognized as an international artist/photographer and to show my work in museums and galleries around the world,” Vanessa said. “I want to publish my photography book, and become a prominent commercial photographer in the entertainment industry.” In future, she would also like to open a great restaurant in New York City.
Looking in her future, she said: “Ten years from now, I see myself working as a prominent photographer in the entertainment industry in NYC. I’ll be living with my family and own my restaurant in Manhattan…”
“Vanessa Bahmani captured the moment with her photo camera and gave to this moment a long and fascinating life,” Juror Nadia Russ said.
In this particular case I took break dance as the focus of my study for its ingenuity and high degree of difficulty, but above all for its ability to speak to youth worldwide. Break dance serves as a vehicle with which a new cultural identity can be created. Since its inception, Hip-Hop has been a culture of re-inventing, appropriating and transforming itself, with each generation
bringing a willingness to cross boundaries between tradition and innovation. In this same spirit I set out to developed my
own visual style through photographic exploration of the break-dancers’ body gestures and movements.” Vanessa said that she feels pretty fortunate to be able to be an artist and make a living doing what she loves. The things, she loves most about her life are her family, her husband, making photographs, and living in New York City.
“My future goals are to be recognized as an international artist/photographer and to show my work in museums and galleries around the world,” Vanessa said. “I want to publish my photography book, and become a prominent commercial photographer in the entertainment industry.” In future, she would also like to open a great restaurant in New York City.
Looking in her future, she said: “Ten years from now, I see myself working as a prominent photographer in the entertainment industry in NYC. I’ll be living with my family and own my restaurant in Manhattan…”
“Vanessa Bahmani captured the moment with her photo camera and gave to this moment a long and fascinating life,” Juror Nadia Russ said.
2nd Place WINNER: Jacob El Hanani (New York, USA)
Jacob El Hanani was born in 1947, in Casablanca. In 1969, he graduated from the
Avni School of Fine Arts, Tel Aviv, Israel.
His art style developed as a reaction to the life he experienced when he moved to New York many years ago. He is interested in micro aspect of drawing. It was natural for Jacob to use ink and paper. Why? Because the abundance of time and lack of money. He could not even buy art supplies.
It was a personal challenge for Jacob El Hanani to bring drawing to the extreme and see how far his eyes and fingers could go. He tries to compete with a computer to make his drawings as perfect as a machine would, and he thinks, he fail for only one reason - because of the human imperfection. By using the square, he is trying to give attention to the execution which was neglected by minimalism that gave more importance to the idea.
When people look at his drawing, he would prefer to hear "How?" rather than "Wow!"
Jacob’s art works can be found in many different collections worldwide, including the following:
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Jewish Museum, New York, The Brooklyn Museum, New York, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada, The Menil Foundation, Houston, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Philadelphia Museum, Philadelphia, The Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC, The Art Institute of Chicago, IL, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, The Tel-Aviv Museum, Israel, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Caracas, Venezuela, Rose Art Museum, Waltham, MA, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN, Yale Art Gallery, New Haven, CT, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina – Greensboro, NC, Neuberger Museum of Art, State University of
New York – Purchase, NY, The British Museum, Great Britain, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York,
and other.
“Jacob’s drawing 'Untitled' appeared in the Entries Gallery of this competition as a result of our meeting in New York City and will be published in the book ‘NeoPopRealism Starz: 21st Century ART,’ 2nd Vol. ‘Erotica As A High Artistic Aspiration.’ among other selected art works. This deluxe edition will be available in the beginning of 2010,” Juror Nadia Russ said.
Jacob El Hanani was born in 1947, in Casablanca. In 1969, he graduated from theAvni School of Fine Arts, Tel Aviv, Israel.
His art style developed as a reaction to the life he experienced when he moved to New York many years ago. He is interested in micro aspect of drawing. It was natural for Jacob to use ink and paper. Why? Because the abundance of time and lack of money. He could not even buy art supplies.
It was a personal challenge for Jacob El Hanani to bring drawing to the extreme and see how far his eyes and fingers could go. He tries to compete with a computer to make his drawings as perfect as a machine would, and he thinks, he fail for only one reason - because of the human imperfection. By using the square, he is trying to give attention to the execution which was neglected by minimalism that gave more importance to the idea.
When people look at his drawing, he would prefer to hear "How?" rather than "Wow!"
Jacob’s art works can be found in many different collections worldwide, including the following:
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, The Jewish Museum, New York, The Brooklyn Museum, New York, Musée National d'Art Moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada, The Menil Foundation, Houston, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Philadelphia Museum, Philadelphia, The Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC, The Art Institute of Chicago, IL, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, The Tel-Aviv Museum, Israel, The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Caracas, Venezuela, Rose Art Museum, Waltham, MA, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN, Yale Art Gallery, New Haven, CT, The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina – Greensboro, NC, Neuberger Museum of Art, State University of
New York – Purchase, NY, The British Museum, Great Britain, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York,
and other. “Jacob’s drawing 'Untitled' appeared in the Entries Gallery of this competition as a result of our meeting in New York City and will be published in the book ‘NeoPopRealism Starz: 21st Century ART,’ 2nd Vol. ‘Erotica As A High Artistic Aspiration.’ among other selected art works. This deluxe edition will be available in the beginning of 2010,” Juror Nadia Russ said.
3rd Place WINNER: Sigmund Abeles
(New York, USA)
Sigmund M, Abeles was born in Brooklyn, New York City in 1934 and grew up in Myrtle Beach, SC. In 1955, he earned a B.A. Degree
from the University of South Carolina, and studied at the Art Students League of New York in NYC, and the Skowhegan School
in Maine. In 1957, he received a Masters in Fine Arts from Columbia University.
In 1961-64, Sigmund Abeles was an instructor at the Swain School of Design in New Bedford, Massachusetts
and in 1964-69 at Wellesley College. He has been a member of the National Academy since 1990. Since 1994, he lives and works
at his studio in New York City.
Sigmund Abeles focuses in an empathetic investigation and intense of the human figure and how it relates to our world. He believes an artist needs to be able to draw well in order to communicate what he senses, sees, and dreams about, to create convincing visual expression.
Mainly figurative, his work has been critically acclaimed. His awards include National Institute of Fine Arts & Letters Award, National Council of Arts & Humanities Sabbatical Grant, Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant for Graphics, and now, he is the 3rd place winner of the 3rd NeoPopRealism Starz Int’l Art Competition. His works are in more than 100 private and public collections worldwide, including the leading institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and top art museums of the U.S.
Juror Nadia Russ said, “Sigmund Abeles’ work Look Mare, No Mom is a strong voice which is good and important as a part of art history and the time it reflects.”
Sigmund M, Abeles was born in Brooklyn, New York City in 1934 and grew up in Myrtle Beach, SC. In 1955, he earned a B.A. Degree
from the University of South Carolina, and studied at the Art Students League of New York in NYC, and the Skowhegan School
in Maine. In 1957, he received a Masters in Fine Arts from Columbia University.
In 1961-64, Sigmund Abeles was an instructor at the Swain School of Design in New Bedford, Massachusetts
and in 1964-69 at Wellesley College. He has been a member of the National Academy since 1990. Since 1994, he lives and works
at his studio in New York City.Sigmund Abeles focuses in an empathetic investigation and intense of the human figure and how it relates to our world. He believes an artist needs to be able to draw well in order to communicate what he senses, sees, and dreams about, to create convincing visual expression.
Mainly figurative, his work has been critically acclaimed. His awards include National Institute of Fine Arts & Letters Award, National Council of Arts & Humanities Sabbatical Grant, Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Grant for Graphics, and now, he is the 3rd place winner of the 3rd NeoPopRealism Starz Int’l Art Competition. His works are in more than 100 private and public collections worldwide, including the leading institutions such as the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and top art museums of the U.S.
Juror Nadia Russ said, “Sigmund Abeles’ work Look Mare, No Mom is a strong voice which is good and important as a part of art history and the time it reflects.”
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