Grey Cube Gallery proudly presents the first Colors online art show for the month of July 2020. The show encompassed a range of artistic styles and mediums (photography, digital, mixed media, collage, oil on canvas, acrylics, resin and colored quartz, ink pen, ceramic, watercolor, alcohol ink, pastel, gouache and colored pencil). Each submission has been judged based on the following elements of artistic expression: orginality and quality of art, overall design, creativity, interpretation of the theme, demonstration of artistic ability and usage of medium. Out of all entries, 113 artworks were shortlisted for inclusion in the show. The competition attracted entries from many countries across the world: USA, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Belarus, Australia, United Kingdom, Poland, Italy, Netherlands, South Korea, Malaysia, Russia, Costa Rica. Enjoy the show and thank you for expressing an interest in our competition.

Fabio Tasso does Sculpture using self-made machinery built with low-cost components. The common point between them is the use of air, blown or sucked. The air, modelling a membrane, makes it lay down on multiple objects, wrapping them: when packaged, those become a single body. Producing like an industry, this machinery leaves sculptures in the world as “residues”. Even if the necessity that led to the creation of this system is unique, what the sculptor does could be done by anyone: the artist moves away from the ideas of “hand” and emotions in the creation of the artwork. The artist is inspired by the prehistoric sculptures that, often remaining incomprehensible to us due to the cultural and temporal distance, appears only as perfect shapes, made with the material, technology and sensibility of the time. Who was the prehistoric sculptor is not important. This is what the artist tries to do: anonymous but universal sculptures, made with the materials of today, that study the space, the shape and the relationship that our body has with these. For this reason, his works have no titles, but only cataloguing codes with all the information on the sculpture hidden. Without him, the only holder of the keys to read them, to codify them, it will be necessary to look for and hypothesize, as in a process of archaeological investigation.

Basha Maryanska is an internationally recognized artist and has been exhibiting her art around the world since obtaining her MFA at Academy of Fine Arts in Gdansk, Poland in 1979. She has received awards for her numerous groups and solo shows in media ranging from painting, sculpture, installation fiber art, assemblage, performance, photography and graphics. She is holding MFA (Painting, Sculpture, History of Art and Culture, Design) from the Academy of Fine Arts, Gdansk, Poland, she studied at the Ecole du Louvre, Paris and received a Fellowship in 1986 from the Kosciusko Foundation, NYC. Basha Maryanska’s artworks are found in the permanent collection of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; National Museum of Gdansk, Poland; and Museum of Casimir Pulaski (near Warsaw, Poland), and many private collections in:Poland - Warsaw, Krakow and Gdansk; France - Paris, Grenoble, Aix-en- Provence, Limoges, Montpelier and Metz; Germany - Munich, Berlin; Holland - Amsterdam, Hilversum; Czech Republic – Prague; Canada – Montreal. Quebec; UK – London; Sweden – Stockholm, Umea; Lithuania – Vilnius; Japan – Tokyo, Osaka; Mexico – Mexico City, New York – NYC, Queens, Brooklyn, and many places in Upstate NY; Washington DC; Chicago, IL; Bloomington, IN; Boston, MA; and all over the U.S. Most recently, she received the distinction of the Statuette of Golden Owl from Vienna, Austria for her artistic achievement and international artists promotion in Europe and the US. She is a Finalist in National Biennale North Carolina 2015, Hilton Head, and Award Winner in IEWAAC International Show 2015, London, UK.

I am concerned with communicating a sense of harmony, balance, order and spirituality. We are all confronted on a daily basis with the fragmentation of our non-linear lives, trying, as in a puzzle, to make the pieces fit together to make sense of it all. My paintings, works on paper and sculpture depict imagery of personal and global events and psychological issues. They are a reflection of the world we live in, expressed through geometric shapes, color, light, space, texture, edges and movement, each interplaying with one another engaging the viewer to participate. The multi-dimensionality and multi-layering of my work reference what one must uncover to penetrate the illusions of reality in order to reach the mystery and essence of the soul. In my body of work entitled Elements of Peace, I embarked on a series of white paintings (in addition to the black paintings and paintings in color) that abandoned my signature bold palette. The white paintings pay homage to people who have been affected by war. White is soft, quiet, spiritual, unadorned and full of infinite possibilities. My intention was to create an architectural space for rest, retreat, connection, reflection and identification. The love of my family, gardens, ballet, music, and a profound interest in world issues have always found their way into my work. In my new interactive body of work 7 Finely Tuned, in progress, I have decided to formally bring back color and embrace music in my paintings.

This new series of abstract paintings, which began in mid 2017, evolved over time and were not only influenced by, but were a radical departure from my long-time painting on construction series, which was a reality/illusion dynamic addressing the shifting of the Picture Plane by painting my imagery on constructions of wood, plexi-glass, louver doors, car-hoods, etc., forming a pictorial/sculptural continuum. A return to my early roots in abstraction these new works are compositions of form, color and movement based both in nature as well as inspired by man-made cultural influences including neon, reflections, faded walls and billboards, shadows and light on walls.