Melissa Imossi
Contemporary Realist Drawings and Paintings
Astoria, New York

 

My first visit to the Art Students' League at the age of thirty, was a defining moment for me. As I walked down the paint splotched hallways and peered into the classrooms with artists busily at work, a surge of happiness welled up inside of me. This is where I belong, I thought. Encouraged with my work at the League, I decided to change careers and continue on my creative path full-time. In 2002, I enrolled at the Angel Academy of Art in Florence, Italy, a program modelled after the Leon Gerome (1824-1904) and Charles Bargue(1826-1883) drawing program - one of the most influential art-education programs in the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; Both Picasso and Van Gogh have followed the program for some time. At the Academy, and later at other studios in Florence, I acquired the tools necessary to express myself as an artist. Since then I haven't looked back - I officially changed careers. My artwork is in private collections in North America and Europe.

 

Selected Exhibitions

2007    "Time Out" , Solo exhibition
            La Dolce Vita, Florence, Italy

2007    "Timeless: The Figure and the Landscape", Group Show
            Sylvan Gallery, Clinton, Connecticut

2007    "A Tavola con Vista", two-person show
            Enoteca Le Barrique, Florence, Italy

2006    "Allied Artists of America 93rd Annual Exhibition" National Arts Club, NY, NY.
            Juried by Fred Staloff, Ch., Richard A. Bottoand Robert Palevitz

2005    "22nd Annual Juried Art Show of the East Islip Public Library"
            Bayard Cutting Arboretum, Oakdale, NY. Juried by the Arts Council of the Library

2004    "Hoyt Institute Mid-Atlantic Exhibition" Hoyt Institute of Fine Arts, New Castle, PA
            Juried by Peter Plagens, art critic Newsweek.

2003    "Still Classical: Recent Works on Paper from Florentine Academies and Studios"
            Traveling Group Exhibit:

  • Westbank Arts Gallery, NY; May-June
  • Rhode Island School of Design, RI; September - October
  • Palazetto Cenci, Rome, Italy; October-November

    Awards and Honors
2006    Finalist, Experimental Category. "23rd Annual Artist's Magazine Art Competition".
          December Issue. Juried by H.C. Dodd
 
2006    Finalist. " International Artist Magazine Annual Competition". Aug/Sept Issue.
 
2005    Merit Award. "22nd Annual Juried Art Show of the East Islip Public Library".
 
2005    1st Place, Figurative Category. "The Artists' Magazine Annual Competition";
           Student Category. January Issue.

 

 

 

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