realism – Circle Foundation for the Arts

John Kelly

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Born in Paris, John Kelly grew up in New York and has been drawing and painting since childhood. He attended the School of Visual Arts in the 1980s and after graduation, he worked as the Advertising Art Director of Details Magazine and designed advertisements for clients like Geoffrey Beene, Christian LaCroix, and Jean-Paul Gaultier. Kelly participated in the East Village Art Scene at the time, showing at 301 Houston Street Gallery, and Ground Zero Gallery.

"My work then was influenced mainly by the Abstract Expressionists and the German Expressionists, but that changed when I saw the large Balthus retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1983, and my work became primarily figurative, and has remained so ever since. My influence since then gravitated toward 19th-century French painting, especially Degas, as well as contemporary figurative painters like William Bailey and Jeremy Lipking, and traditional Japanese prints. I studied with Jeremy Lipking from 2012 to 2014, and he has been an enormous influence."

After moving to Los Angeles, John Kelly studied with Jeffrey Lipking, and began showing at the Hawthorne Arts Complex, both one-man and group shows. He also participated in group shows at Muses Gallery, and in the Gallery Girls' annual exposition. Kelly was a finalist for the Art Renewal Center Salon, and a finalist for the Richmond 75 salon. He has now relocated to Paris.

"My feeling these days is that although I love abstract and conceptual art, using the figure in an academic manner is more interesting to me. Seeing a figure painted in a way that people can recognize easily creates an intimacy and a challenge that is visceral."

Ni Pan

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Ni Pan was born in Shanghai, China, in 1991. She received her Bachelor of Architecture from Tianjin University, China, in 2014, and received her MFA from San Francisco Art Institute in May 2019. She worked as an architect in Shanghai from 2014 to 2016 and began painting three years ago since 2016 in San Francisco.

Ni Pan's paintings tell stories about landscapes and structures that can evoke feelings of loss, desire, and fear. Her paintings are devoid of figures because she wants to invite the viewer to bring their own experience and memories to the act of looking. Her works have shown multiple times with groups in San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York, and Portland.

Paola Boni

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Italian painter, Paola Boni was born in Colorno, Parma where she lives and works today. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Economics and Commerce and for years she has worked in her family's business until she decided to follow her strongest desire: to work every day with colors.

Paola's passion for drawing has been part of her life since childhood and thanks to Lesley Harrison’s book “Painting Animals That Touch the Heart”, she fell in love with pastel painting.

"Being very meticulous in reproducing details, I have thus discovered oil painting as a means to satisfy my requirements, even if I am constantly looking for new techniques to make my subjects ever more realistic, by experimenting with new tho and three-dimensional possibilities."

Very active on the international art scene, Paola Boni has exhibited in solo and group shows nationally and internationally including in Parma, Palermo, Brescia, Viterbo, Riccione, Noto, Bologna, Longarone, Forte dei Marmi, Cannes, Montecarlo, Oviedo, Madrid, Genova, London, Santa Monica.

Martha Espinoza

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Eugene Kuperman

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Eugene Kuperman was born in Kharkov, Ukraine in 1987 and now lives in Southern California. Since childhood, Eugene enjoyed drawing anything that inspired him. Eugene has been sketching since he was three years old and painting since he was seven. He has created over four hundred pieces and thousands of sketches. Eugene’s work is in many private collections including in a private collection of Robert Harris Rothschild who has many notable works in his collection by artists like Rembrandt, Chagall, Dali, Ernst, Lichtenstein, and many more. An art catalog came out in 2012 featuring many of those artists as well as the work commissioned from Eugene. From 2010 to his passing in 2014, Eugene Kuperman studied with a renowned Russian artist Leonid Steele whose works are in many museums in the world, including pieces in the notable Tretakov Gallery in Russia. One of Leonid’s former teachers was a student of a famous Russian landscape painter: Isaac Levitan and another teacher he had, was a student of the famous Russian artist: Ilya Repin.

For Eugene, art is about inspiration. He has been exhibiting since 2006. In 2008, Eugene traveled for a study abroad trip to Paris, France to study the old masters from life at the Louvre. He was very much inspired by the Rubens room there as well as the two Michelangelo sculptures; Dying Slave and Rebellious Slave. Another piece that left an impression on Eugene was Theodore Gericault's The Raft of the Medusa. In October 2017, Eugene Kuperman traveled to Italy to study the great Italian Renaissance and Baroque masters. He’s witnessed the greatest works by Michelangelo first hand, such as Statue of David, St.Peter’s Pieta, Sistine Chapel, Tomb of Pope Julius II, Doni Tondo, Pieta Palestrina, the unfinished Slave sculptures, Dome of St.Peter’s Basilica and more. Michelangelo serves as his greatest inspiration for his incredible sense of design and composition. Since late 2014, early 2015, Eugene took a new direction in art. He took upon himself to create works of social commentary which to any extent educate, enlighten, and promote change in society. Eugene Kuperman is a listed artist and his work has been published in various art books, magazines, and newspapers.

Celia Carl Anderson

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Celia Carl Anderson, Associate Professor of Art (Retired) grew up in the Willamette Valley in Oregon and moved to Alaska in 1979 where she maintains a studio in Kenai. She holds a BA Degree in Fine Arts from Oregon State University, an MA in Interdisciplinary Studies (Fine Arts, Arts Education & Anthropology) from Oregon College of Education and an MFA in Illustration from Syracuse University. Anderson taught Visual Arts for 10 years at Mat-Su College and for 10 years at Kenai Peninsula College, both in Alaska. She then directed the Visual Art Program at Kenai Peninsula College and campus gallery from 2002 until her retirement in 2013. Anderson’s great love is figurative painting in any medium or mix of media. Her work is infused with intense energy and always expressive.

Jose Luis Quinones

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"I was born in Yauco, Puerto Rico and moved with my family to Ohio as a young child. My passion for realism lead me to pursue my career in fine art. I completed my Art Education at Cooper School of Art and the Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland, Ohio.

My oil paintings were originally based on a series of objects from my father’s small grocery store. I was fascinated with painting objects, and soon the backgrounds became unimportant to me, so I let the gallery walls serve that purpose. I shaped the canvas to fit the contour of the object involved.

Like Rosenquist, I had painted mural size billboards for an outdoor media company for many years. Constantly painting on such a large scale had influenced the size of my artwork. I found that size was a significant factor on the impact of the viewer. I was also captivated by the abstract quality of something so large when observed up close. My paintings are done in oils and hand brushed to look like it is created with an airbrush technique.

Recently, I am in the process of investigating paintings shaped in a circular format. I still strive for a three-dimensional feeling even though the painting is a flat surface. My fascination with realism and the shaped canvas will enable me to envision many new and intriguing paintings. It will be interesting to see how far I can manipulate the shaped facade to create a two-dimensional surface into a three-dimensional illusion of genuine excitement!"

Jocelyne Deschamps-Kus

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French artist, Jocelyne Deschamps-Kus was born in 1948 and lives in Lyon. She has been drawing from a young age and never gave up. Jocelyne received her Bachelor's of Fine Arts and a Diploma in Graphic Art. She exhibits regularly in France and abroad but in her own words, what she likes best is "to stay every day in my atelier, working hard on different topics and depict the common world. Art is my passion, I am constantly creating and inventing new themes and paths. Add a passion of color and a touch of humor and sensitivity and you will get the full and deep meaning of my work."

Jingfeng Li

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Kexin Di

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Full-time fine artist at Wuhan Art Institute Kexin Di is a member of China Artists Association; Fine Art Society of Zhejiang Province, China; ArtSpace; and Wuhan Artists Association. Kexin is the Ambassador of Mondial Art Academia and a member of the American Artists Professional League, the National Oil & Acrylic Painters Society and World Wide kitsch(Odd Nerdrum).

Kexin's resume includes exhibitions in association with the following institutions, First China's Art College Teachers' and Students' Oil Painting Exhibition held by China Artists Association, China's Ministry of Culture, the National Exhibition of Art Works: Commemorate of the 30th Anniversary of China's Reform and Opening held by China Artists Association at the the Guangdong Museum of Arts, National Art Museum of China and Sichuan Art Museum, recipient of the Earl of Cromier Scholarship Awards and exhibited in Sichuan Art Museum, the International Figurative Art competition in Barcelona, held by MEAM museum and ARC Gallery, a Best in Show Award at 39th annual international figurative art competition in Salmagundi, Club in 5thAve. NYC, First Place in Figurative Oil at AMERICAN ART AWARDS and the Ridgewood Art Institute Award.

John Kelly

"A Dancer prepares for her performance. A woman by a window looks at a bird. A woman looks out from under white drape. Within each frame, he masterfully captures a psychological drama."

Ni Pan

Paola Boni

Martha Espinoza

Martha Espinoza is a bird, marine life, wildlife, and botanic illustrator. On every artwork she wants to show the beauty that can be found at national parks, wildlife refuges and biological center of her home country, Costa Rica and other countries.

Eugene Kuperman

Celia Carl Anderson

Often with sociopolitical overtones, Anderson uses images, particularly the human form, to express ideas, emotions, and to make people think.

Jose Luis Quinones

Contemporary artist's Jose Luis Quinones' passion for perfection and artistic ability combine for an exciting blend of dazzling colors and the illusion of a three-dimensional surface. His oversized paintings are shaped on the outer edge to conform to the object which enhances the idea of realism.

Jocelyne Deschamps-Kus

"My aim is to draw thoughts and feelings of everyday life. I paint current events in their beauty as well as in their darkness, and various themes such as global warming, exodus, joys and sorrows, and I like to add a touch of humor to everything."

Jingfeng Li

From Beijing, China, JingFeng Li graduated from Shenyang Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts and is a member of American Portrait Society, a contractor of the Sena Art Gallery in France, and a representative painter of modern Chinese painting.

Kexin Di

"For me painting is more than creating a picture; it is about telling a story from the heart and expressing past experiences. In my work necessity and chance converge into new possibilities."