Digital Arts: California is thrilled to present “Simply the Best,” our inaugural digital arts exhibit. You are about to see 271 dynamic works by 53 exceptional artists and photographers who hail from 19 countries. We are so pleased that our very first exhibit has drawn such international interest—our website has received visits from 818 cities in 87 countries.
The images in “Simply the Best” are remarkable, both visually and conceptually, and they represent the forefront of visual expression through digital technology. Consider the many types of cutting-edge digital art in this exhibit: digital painting, photo manipulation, vector art, light painting, photo montage, fractal art, scanned-gesture art, and others. The works here are truly exciting!
As you can well imagine, the judging for this exhibit was difficult—there were so many outstanding images. We jurors had expected to select five top images and identify them by traditional designations (first through third places, and honorable mentions), but we quickly realized that this singular exhibit would require a different system of recognition.
Before anything else, you should know that every work selected for this exhibit is outstanding. There is no question about that. The selection process was very competitive, and having a work in this exhibit is, in itself, a high honor.
We did want to go a step farther and recognize those images that moved us the very most, and so, we decided to create two new award names and a new award system, which will be features of our future exhibits as well as this exhibit. We call our awards the Stellar Art Awards and the Gold Stellar Art Awards. Their uniqueness is that each honors its designees equally. From the 271 works in this exhibit, we have selected 3 for a Gold Stellar Art Award and 12 for a Stellar Art Award.
Before listing the award-winning works, I would like, personally, to thank my fellow jurors, Glen Christensen and Gary Viskupic. Both these visual-arts professionals brought great expertise and experience to the judging process. Glen was for many years a major figure in graphic design in the music industry, as art director of Buddah Records, Elektra/Asylum Records, and 20th Century Fox Records, as well as founder and director of his own design studio in Hollywood. He has, to his credit, two prestigious Grammy Award nominations for Best Album Package. Gary also has enjoyed great professional recognition, both for the huge body of exceptional editorial illustration he did for New York’s Newsday and for his freelance graphics work, including many award-winning posters and illustrations for magazine and book publishers. Gary has received numerous awards from such prestigious organizations as the Society of Illustrators, Graphis, The Society for News Design, and Print magazine. Gary is currently an instructor of illustration at New York Institute of Technology.
It is with pleasure that we announce the following award-winning works:
GOLD STELLAR ART AWARDS
“…Also People”
HORYMA
Moscow, Russia
LightGraphic (Light Painting)
“Fire the Rich”
JASON SEILER
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Digital Painting
“Colors 2”
FERDI RIZKIYANTO
Jakarta, Indonesia
Digital Art
STELLAR ART AWARDS
“All Is Lost”
STEVE McGHEE
Cambridge, Ontario, Canada
Photo Manipulation Digital Art
“The Scientist”
HARDY FOWLER
New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Digital Painting
“Random Destination”
SARA G. UMEMOTO
Kyoto, Japan
Digital Photo Painting
“Fugazi Footwear”
JORGE AGUILAR REAKTOR
México
Digital Illustration
“The Becoming”
JEFF HUANG
New York, New York, USA
Digital Art
“Forest Kingdom”
ANDREAS ROCHA
Lisbon, Portugal
Digital Painting
“Silver Spiral”
SVEN FAUTH
Berlin, Germany
Fractal Art
“Little Red Wraith”
ARNAUD DE VALLOIS
San Diego, California, USA
Digital Painting
“City into Cube”
SERGEY SKACHKOV
Moscow, Russia
3D Still Digital Art
“The Book of Five Rings”
PALE HORSE
Saint Petersburg, Florida, USA
Digital Illustration
“3 Little Pigs”
BLAZ PORENTA
Cerklje, Slovenia
Digital Painting
“Looking at the Mirror”
ENRICO LAMBIASE
London, United Kingdom
Computer-Generated Art
Before sending you on to be amazed by the works in “Simply the Best,” I would like to mention one work in the exhibit that is especially apropos at this time. This digital painting by Jason Seiler, entitled “Steve Jobs,” is a masterful image that captures, and pays tribute to, the man who had the vision and drive to develop so much of the technology that enables artists and photographers to create memorable images like those in this exhibit. We will remember Steve Jobs for the immense contribution he made.
Now, it is time to enjoy the show! (return to exhibit)
Virginia Christensen
Director, Digital Arts: California
