Richard Stabbert

The Artwork of Richard Stabbert

Born in Red Bank, New Jersey in 1959, Richard Stabbert is an American painter, author and researcher. A self-taught artist, he creates small intimate paintings inspired by the memories of people, both past and present, who made an impression on his life. Depicting the casual and positive experiences in life, Stabbert’s sentimental and often whimsical work presents an idyllic retreat from the speed and commotion of the industrial world.

Born to German immigrant parents, Stabbert spent time in his early years on the beaches of the New Jersey shoreline, a period in his life that provides both inspiration and reference for his work. Stabbert’s later summer experiences in Provincetown, Massachusetts, as well as the time he spent in Paris also serve as influences in his work. His paintings are known for their simple details, bold color composition and equally strong foregrounds and backgrounds, similar characteristics to those works in the Naïve genre.

Richard Stabbert’s acrylic and chalk paintings, almost gestural in execution, evoke a casual spontaneity and relaxed sensuality. He creates his work through a limited color palette that is dominated by pink and blue tones. Central to the compositions are Stabbert’s male figures constructed simply with broad, almost impasto, brushwork heightened by strokes of deep black and shaded areas of lighter grays. The background vistas in his work have a flat rendering style composed of simplified details and expanses of tonal primary colors.

Stabbert’s paintings have been included in the 2011 edition of “100 Artists of the Male Figure: A Contemporary Anthology of Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture”; the 2011 “The Art of Man: Volumes 1-6”, a special anthology edition that includes artist interviews and work from six quarterly journals of “The Art of Man”; and Firehouse Publishing’s 2014 “Vitruvian Lens – Edition 5: Fine Art Male Photography”.

One of Richard Stabbert’s first solo exhibitions was “Été”at the Les Mots à la Bouche, an established bookshop and gallery in Paris. He also presented his work in the 2011 “Memories of Moments” held at New York City’s BrianRiley1ProjectSpace, a Broadway creative hub that provides a platform for artistic visions. Other gallery exhibitions include those at Kathleen Cullen Fine Arts in Brooklyn, New York; Asbury Park’s APEX Gallery in New Jersey; Provincetown’s Ray Wiggs Gallery in Massachusetts; the Sidetracks Art Gallery in New Hope, Pennsylvania; and Red Bank’s Susan Berke Fine Arts in New Jersey.

Stabbert is the author of the 2013 “Provincetown Memories: Paintings and Words” published in two editions through North Carolina’s Firehouse Publications. This work presents Stabbert’s simple sensual paintings alongside a personal journal of self-discovery, love, and intimate memories of both the beauty and freedom experienced during Provincetown summers.

In addition to many private collections, Richard Stabbert’s paintings are housed in the permanent collection of the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art in New York City. His work is now available through Provincetown’s Art Love Gallery located at: https://www.artlovegallery.com as well as Galerie MooiMan in Gronigen, Netherlands: https://www.mooi-man.nl

Richard Stabbert’s website, which includes new works and gallery contacts, is located at: http://rstabbert.com

Second Insert Image: Richard Stabbert, “Carry”, 2021, Acrylic and Chalk Paint on Canvas, 22.8 x 30.5 cm

Bottom Insert Image: Richard Stabbert, “Craig”, 2018, Acrylic on Canvas, 20,3 x 30.5 cm

Dominic Finocchio

Paintings by Dominic Finocchio

Born in Detroit, Michigan in 1950, Dominic Finocchio is an American painter who creates narrative figurative works. The son of Sicilian parents who immigrated to the United States in the 1920s, he spent his childhood in St. Louis, Missouri, living with his parents and Italian-speaking grandparents. Interested in art from an early age, Finocchio began in his teens to study art more intensely with frequent visits to the Saint Louis Art Museum and the Central Library’s art department.

Finocchio, although interested in various genres and styles, became particularly influenced by the figurative works of Michelangelo and French neoclassical painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. He also discovered the Mannerist style of the late sixteenth-century Italian High Renaissance, a movement which paid attention to lighting, clarity of line, and color. Finocchio was particularly interested in the works of Mannerist portrait painters Jacopo da Pontormo, Agnolo Bronzino, and Rosso Florentino, one of the founders of the Fontainebleau School.

Dominic Finocchio, encouraged by his supportive art instructor Father T. Brug, prepared a portfolio of work and submitted a grant request for attendance at Missouri’s Webster University. He studied at the university for two years before enrolling in the art curriculum at Meramec Community College where he studied drawing under department head David Durham. While attending classes, Finocchio began singing in several bands and also working as a display designer, an occupation that would support his life as an artist for the next forty-two years.

During most of the 1970s, Finocchio continued his drawing but did not produce any paintings. Eventually, he began to focus solely on painting during his time away from the display work. Although St. Louis at that time was not an art-centered city, it did have several non-profit support organizations, such as Art Saint Louis and the St. Louis Artists’Guild, which provided exhibition opportunities and association with other artists. With such oppurtunities available, Finocchio retired early from his display work and concentrated on painting. Having gained exposure in the art world through the non-profit organizations, he was contacted in 2021 by contemporary gallery owner and lecturer Duane Reed for a studio visit. In late 2022, Dominic Finocchio had his first solo exhibition at St. Louis’s Duane Reed Gallery, recognized for showcasing innovative established and emerging artists.

Dominic Finocchio’s paintings are tableaus, narratives depicting the modern male set in contemporary social situations that explore aspects of masculinity. The initial combinations of figure, fauna and landscape evolve through a lengthy process of editing before the composition is finalized. Finocchio’s figurative compositions, like many of the early mannerist works, show attention to color and lighting as well as off-center placement of figures. Although aware of each other’s presence, Finocchio’s protagonists present an ambiguous story line that is left for the viewer’s exploration and interpretation.

Finocchio has presented his work in curated, invitational, and juried exhibitions for over thirty years. In 2014, his work was included in edition #17 of the quarterly publication “The Art of Man”, a journal featuring articles on artists whose portfolios contain male figurative works in the classical tradition. Finocchio’s solo exhibitions include the 2017 “Lies Provide” at the Mildred Cox Gallery in Fulton, Missouri; the 2018 “Imaginaria” at the Schmidt Art Center at Southwestern Illinois College; and the 2022 “Desire and Indifference” at the Duane Reed Gallery in St. Louis, Missouri.

Dominic Finocchio’s work has been exhibited regularly at the annual Art St. Louis Exhibition and frequently at such venues as the Springfield Art Museum in Missouri; The Foundry Art Centre in St. Charles, Missouri; The Jones Gallery in Kansas City, Missouri; the Jacoby Arts Center in Alton, Illinois; and the Evansville Museum in Indiana, among others. Finocchio’s paintings are housed in many private collections as well as public institutions, among which are the Evansville Museum of Arts and Science in Indiana, the St. Louis Marriott Renaissance Hotel, Koetting Associates in St. Louis, and the Bristol-Meyers Squibb Corporation in Evansville.

For his work, Finocchio has won the 2021 Mary Jane Twomey Award for Best of Show at the Buchanan Center for the Arts, the 2020 Caroline Karges Merit Award from the Evansville Museum of Arts and Sciences, the 2006 Phil Desind Award from the Butler Institute of American Art, and both the Elise Strouse Merit Award and Mary McNamee Bower Purchase Award from the Evansville Museum of Arts and Sciences in 2002-2003.

Dominic Finocchio’s paintings will be on exhibit April 25-28 at the 2024 San Francisco Art Market/Art Fair in the Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Boulevard, Building C, Suite 260, Booth A17

Notes: Dominic Finocchio’s website is located at: https://www.dominicfinocchio.com

Finochio is represented by the Duane Reed Gallery of Saint Louis, Missouri. Inquiries regarding his work and current exhibitions can be directed to: https://www.duanereedgallery.com or info@duanereedgallery.com

Top Insert Image: Dominic Finocchio, “Companionship”, 2022, Oil on Canvas, 61 x 45.7 cm, Courtesy of Duane Reed Gallery, St. Louis, Missouri

Second Insert Image: Dominic Finocchio, “Eight Eyes”, Oil on Canvas, 76.2 x 101.6 cm, Courtesy of Artist

Third Insert Image: Dominic Finocchio, “Worldly”, 2023. 76.2 x 101.6 cm, Courtesy of Artist

Bottom Insert Image: Dominic Finocchio, “Sit, Stand, Walk, Fly”, 2023, Watercolor and Gouache on Paper, 45.5 x 48.3 cm, Courtesy of Artist

Costa Dvorezky

The Artwork of Costa Dvorezky

Costa has drawn inspiration for his prolific works of art from board travels and his abundant life experiences as both a visitor and resident of numerous countries around the world. Born in Russia in 1968, Costa developed his unique brand of art through his extensive schooling at the Art College and the Academy of Arts in Moscow. His passion and talent for art was recognized by Russia’s Union of Young Artists when he received the Development of The Year Award in 1997.

Through his paintings Costa goes beyond the obvious to uncover the symbolism within the human aspect of daily life. His creativity and style come alive through his works depicting dark and surreal imagery. As a viewer of Costa’s images, one is transported to a world of fictional proportions that exists in the recesses of the artist’s mind.

Metamorphosed human and animal figures shrouded in darkness, suggest the existence of a distorted world-order. These images evoke one to closely examine and question the reality of what one sees. Through his artwork, Costa challenges the observer to not only understand the scope of the actual image, but to also comprehend the feelings that the image provokes. His paintings are as bold as the statements that they make, and it is up to each individual to decipher what the meaning behind the image really is.