ARTIST LAURA FANTINI GUEST JUDGES AT GALLERY 364

Laura Fantini is a hyper-realistic artist who specializes in colored pencil still life. Her artwork is defined by strong contrast values and highly theatrical compositions with dramatic lighting. She was born in Bologna, Italy and graduated from the Liceo Artistico and Academy of Fine Arts of her hometown. In 1985 Laura Fantini won the 1st Prize for the Premio Culturale Panta Rei, Bologna. Her first group show took place in Modena, Italy in 1992. Since then Ms. Fantini's art has exhibited nationally and internationally and has been widely published and documented. After graduating, she worked on commercial illustrations and taught workshops on colored pencil technique at the University Primo Levi in Bologna. In 1998 one of her colored pencil artworks was featured in the M.E.I.N. newsletter, published in California and internationally distributed. In 2000 Laura Fantini was invited to participate to a charity auction at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania. In 2001 Ms. Fantini exhibited for the first time in the US in Soho, New York. In 2002, she was selected for “Premio Arte” promoted by Arte, a Mondadori’s publication. In 2003 Ms. Fantini was included into the group exhibition “Proposte” at the Galleria Forni in Bologna and had her first solo exhibition. From 2005 through 2009 Laura Fantini donated some of her paintings to the Fall Auction/Party to benefit the New York based non-profit organization Big Apple Greeter.

Since 2004 Ms. Fantini has started collaborating with the Object Image Gallery in Brooklyn, New York. In 2008 she was selected by “Profilo d’Arte” - Banca Profilo among the most interesting emerging Italian artists and exhibited at the Museo della Permanente in Milan. Laura Fantini continues exhibiting in Italy and New York. She was awarded 1st Prize for the “First Annual Sylvia Glesmann Floral Exhibition” and 1st Prize “Jane Peterson Memorial Award" at the Salmagundi Club in New York and received an Honorable Mention at Gallery 364 in Brooklyn in 2010. Ms. Fantini is a member of the Salmagundi Club in New York and the Colored Pencil Society of America.

OPENING FEB 25TH ART COMPETITION LOVE/DESIRE GUEST JUDGES, PAINTER DAVID JON KASSAN, PHOTOGRAPHER ANTHONY ALMEIDA, & PHOTOGRAPHER GARY HELLER.

Anthony Almeida, Photographer

“Circles of the Heart—A Photographers Journey Through Time and Place”

One never knows exactly what affect a photograph will have; they are, in a sense, the “wishbones of time.” The larger part, the captured wish-- the image, hardly more than a collaboration of pixels or a silver sensitized piece of paper, yet, a symbol, abstract and resonant, ready to give deeper meaning to the “smaller” part left behind. I have always recognized the beauty, meaning and excitement inherent in “everyday” people and events. For me the still photograph is in a sense a catalyst for thought; it freezes the moment and allows us a form of privileged proximity to situations and events. It allows us to carry the moment with us.

“Circles of the Heart” was a photo essay, which began in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. It was my intention to promote healing and understanding in Crown Heights by introducing my subjects by way of everyday encounters as individuals, rather than by stereotypical, faceless symbols of Black, White, Jew, Moslem, Asian, Hispanic, sometimes presented by the media. As time went on, the “Circle…” has widened to embrace people of all lands. It is my belief that intercultural understanding is the cornerstone of world peace. When cultures stop trying to understand one another, horrific things begin to happen. The present spirit of humanism ushered in by Barak Obama’s Presidency is, in a sense, a validation of so much of what my work has been striving to achieve, in focusing upon the ever widening “Circles of the Heart”

It is my hope that my photographic work --whether it be chance street encounters close to home, in Crown Heights. Brooklyn, or at the mouth of the Amazon-- will introduce my subjects, not only as individuals in the context of their diverse lives and communities but also as ambassadors of the human spirit.

Anthony Almeida’s photographic work was in many ways fueled by his childhood experiences in Brazil, his father’s homeland. When he arrived there at the age of six, family, friends, and outsiders, who derived from different racial, religious, and cultural groups, confronted him. Despite initial bewilderment, he quickly felt quite comfortable. Their “differences” seemed to present few barriers. “I just remember having good feelings about people who looked different. I try to draw from those feelings of connectedness when I approach my photography and my life.”

Anthony is a fine arts photographer, educator and photo-documentarian, who studied with Lisette Modell. He spent many years teaching English and photography in a high school in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. His photographic work is extremely diversified, and he has been the recipient of numerous awards. His work has been shown in national and international shows, and is in private, personal and educational collections.

More recently, (Nov. 4, 2009), his "Victory Kiss--Times Square" photograph gained international attention. It was used to introduce the Barack and Michelle Obama feature story in the new york Times Magazine and on the front page of the International Herald Tribune. The Courrier Japon, Tokyo's premier monthly news magazine also published it in January with the Obama "First Marriage" story.

When not teaching, he is often involved with photographic projects that are personally meaningful. One of Anthony’s photographic passions is “street photography,” and he considers the street to be, “the greatest stage of all," wherein position juxtaposition and sensitivity sometimes conspire to make the fleeting moment eternal.

-http://www.AnthonyAlmeidaphotographer.com Phone-917-804-2131