The Artist Space Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of the fourth Nature online Art Exhibition. Along with the selected artists, the jury selected award winners in the following art categories: painting, photography and sculpture. The show displayed a variety of artistic styles and mediums: acrylic, pastel, oil, digital art, photography, charcoal, scratchboard, watercolor, collage. Out of all submissions received 63 artworks were selected to be included in the exhibition.
Best of Show
Harvey Bodach
Short Biography and Statement
Harvey Bodach is an internationally recognized, award-winning landscape and wildlife artist known for capturing the natural world of creation with life-like depth in paintings and moving compositions using a realism style. Born in 1955, he grew up as the eldest of three sons, living in a three-story house on the edge of High Park in the City of Toronto. His creative and self-motivated personality in his early years set the pattern for his life. Bodach’s undergraduate studies earned him a Bachelor of Fine Arts honours degree, which led him into a commercial arts career as an art director, graphic designer and illustrator. A number of years were also spent freelancing part time. Later he completed post-graduate studies earning a Bachelor of Education degree which led him into a high school teaching career with teachables in visual arts, multi-media and photography. With retirement in 2019, Bodach solidified a third career path as a full time visual artist, successfully marketing his work with a number of solo and group exhibitions. A number of media forms have recognized his growing success including both magazine periodicals and a new book just published. Bodach works primarily with acrylics and oil-based paints expressed in a realism style on a masonite board that he prepares himself. As a realist painter and sculptor, he presents a strong compositional narrative of movement in landscapes within which animals and birds are depicted, landscapes are a stage where complexities of life are played out. “My mind is challenged to understand and explore this unique world, its expansive nature, with all its complexity, mystery and revelation. As I look around this creation, it testifies of a Divine hand, a Creator who has left a visible record. The natural landscape and its wildlife he explores are catalysts to understand and motivations to create.
Painting Prize
Holger A. Baehr
Short Biography and Statement
Rooted in the evocative landscapes of Ireland, my work captures the essence of place through an innovative approach to acrylic on canvas. Using layering and sketching techniques, I often immerse myself in a series of paintings simultaneously, creating a natural harmony within the body of work. While some pieces stand alone, others resonate as a series meant to be experienced side by side. My inspiration is deeply tied to my surroundings. Painting from memory rather than direct references, I draw from countless journeys through the Irish countryside, particularly the serene Shannon region where I live. This approach allows me to infuse each composition with the fleeting yet enduring impressions of light, texture, and atmosphere. Recently, I’ve explored Heidelberg, focusing on landscapes over traditional architecture. My impressionistic studies emphasize the river, light, and distinct red hues of local stone. The scenes, though recognizable as landscapes, lean into abstraction, breaking forms into their elemental essence and capturing the unique climate and spirit of a moment. Each piece invites viewers to experience landscapes in their own way—some demand distance for their fullness, while others reveal intricate layers upon closer examination. This dual perspective fosters a personal connection, evoking memories of places visited or long forgotten. By eliminating distractions like animals, people, or buildings, my paintings focus on meditative beauty, reacting to visual and atmospheric elements. This creates an intimate, calming experience for myself and those who engage with my work. My aim is to evoke an unexpected moment of connection, transporting viewers to a place of quiet reflection and shared memory.
Sculpture Prize
Paul Monaco
Short Biography and Statement
instagram.com/monacos_frontline_art
My practice explores the realm of surrealism, where memory collides with reality. It’s a space where imagination and our perceived world intertwine. Reality becomes disassembled while exposing the layers of the mind that mold the perception of experience. The idea of reality shifts from the perceived known world into a warped environment where the lines blend between clarity and distortion. I create my sculptures to shatter the constraints of reality, open a platform for endless possibilities. I want viewers to see the world in a new light. Materiality plays an important role in my artwork as I focus on texture, form, and scale to bring forth a dream world. I use clay, resin, and other materials to embody a surreal physical representation. The materials convey a sense of implied transformation, decay, and tension. I gain inspiration from the uncanny depths of my mind to the influential aspects of nature. A dialogue emerges with the final form, bringing thoughts to life. Symbolic meanings warp, memories distort, and emotions speak through the artworks. Surreal and abstract forms ignite a visceral reality. The viewers are invited to experience what they remember and what is now felt. The invisible now has a form, and the unspoken has a voice. Form unites with context and unravels reality in a vivid dream-like perspective. Reality is understood on a deeper level with a visual language of human perception. Sustainability and water conservation play a crucial role in protecting species like the sockeye salmon. These fish travel vast distances, from freshwater rivers to the open ocean and back again, relying on clean and accessible waterways for their survival. By conserving water and reducing pollution, we help maintain the delicate ecosystems that support their migration, ensuring future generations can appreciate the environment.
Photography Prize
Greta Schnall
Short Biography and Statement
Greta Schnall is a digital artist. Since 2006, Greta Schnall has specialized in nature photography, especially macro photography. She later discovered landscape photography for herself. In 2008 she began with digital image processing, which she soon practiced with increasing effort. Around 2010 she started to work with architectural photography. Especially in this area, she is continuously expanding her digital processing methods to this day. She loves cubism, surrealism and architecture. In her works she tries to bring these themes together. Her statement: „My main focus is photography with extreme digital editing processing. This means that I am creating pictures and graphics from architectural, natural and abstract subjects with often surreal components. My favourite themes are front facades of modern buildings or parts of them, which I'm digitally editing and finally changing it into a futuristic digital creation. Above all, I would like to show how the simple, often depressing architecture on photos can be changed imaginatively and excitingly with extreme image processing. In this way you can go from the functional to the purely imaginative motif, which you can be inspired by in a variety of ways.” Her latest participations in group exhibitions were since 2019 until now in Germany, Austria, Swizerland, Italy, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Hungary, Japan, China, Spain, France, Sweden, Greece, Canary Islands and USA.
Winners