RICE POLAK GALLERY  

  

OLGA ANTONOVA, WILLIAM CICCARIELLO 

&

SUZANNE HOWES-STEVENS 

JULY 18 - JULY 31, 2013 

Opening Reception Friday, July 19th, 7:00pm

   OLGA ANTONOVA

Olga Antonova has built an international reputation with major exhibitions in Europe as well as the States. The Russian-born painter, trained at the prestigious University of Leningrad, has enchanted art collectors with her finely-rendered yet whimsically romantic still lifes and self portraits. Like the great European painters of the early 18th century, Antonova has the gift of taking ordinary subjects from everyday life and elevating them to the level of high art. Using simple compositions and monumental scale, she presents her subjects with loving care and romantic vision. 

  WILLIAM CICCARIELLO

 Structure is everything to this contemplative artist whose sharp eye and superb technique bring order out of a chaotic world. His intricate compositions combine elements of nature with  ingeniously positioned and balanced objects, an apt reflection on the precariousness of our carefully-juggled, modern lives. Ciccariello's work is less about the application of paint on surface than about how paint can be used to create form and capture light. His surfaces are purposefully flat and his color harmonies close so that nothing detracts from the compositions he so carefully constructs.

   SUZANNE HOWES-STEVENS

 Suzanne Howes-Stevens continues to build her national reputation as a painter. A widely-travelled and extremely literate artist, Howes-Stevens draws upon her extensive experience to create highly intelligent works of remarkable sensitivity. She quite literally grounds her work in the real world via her trademark of painting over maps mounted on canvas or panel. The geography of the underlying map relates to the subject of her painting for which it forms the support. The artist works in a delicate, romantic style, her landscapes literally running over their borders. Her skillful and sensitive renderings thus become feasts for the mind as well the eye.

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