Interconnecting Lives - Art Exhibit March 15, 2012

Toronto painter Bisa Bennett and Italian artist and architect Ernesto Graditi collaborate on a new collection of paintings, which explore the relationship between man and nature, architecture and the pursuit of happiness.

Award winning Italian artist and architect Ernesto Graditi and established Toronto painter Bisa Bennett present their first collaborative exhibition “Interconnecting Lives”. They celebrate with a public opening reception on Thursday, March 15 (6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.) at Leonardo Galleries (133 Avenue Rd.) in Toronto, and the exhibit will run to April 5, 2012.

Bisa Bennett states, “The harmony of nature and beauty as the key to happiness is our main focus. The collection explores the interconnecting relationship between natural and material elements and how they interweave to form an ideal world.”

The paintings become a projection of the artists’ pursuit of happiness and their observation of this new perfect world, which encompasses a botanical element; a true imaginative architecture in a fairy tale setting. This theme runs throughout the collection despite the different styles and approaches taken by each artist.

“My signature colour is red. It is the colour of love, hope, temptation and passion,” says Bennett. The intensity and strength infused in Bennett’s work creates remarkable depth. Her compelling use of contrast and fascination with light make her work captivating, and many pieces are saturated in rich, deep colors. Although, viewers will find that even in her pieces that feature more muted palettes, her subjects reach beyond the canvas to provoke a profound connection.

Bisa Bennett (who lives in the Yonge and Lawrence area of Toronto) exhibited great promise as a young artist and continued to develop her craft into adulthood. Her paintings, now rooted in her life experiences, are ripe with mature sensibilities. Bisa Bennett received her formal training in Belgrade and Toronto, and her work has been exhibited in Europe, Canada and the USA.

Ernesto Graditi, born in the town of Misilmeri, Palermo, Sicily started his artistic career in 1990 after meeting Francesco Tripoli, a painter/mentor specializing in the human figure. Since his first exhibit in 1992, Graditi received many awards and showed extensively throughout Italy, and in 2009 and 2011 he won first prize as Artist of the Year in Misilmeri.

In 2001, Graditi began to study the art and history of the Normans, in 2002 he obtained a Degree in Architecture from the University of Palermo and in 2003 he received a Master of Set Design for Cinema and Television from Rome’s European Institute of Design. And in 2006, Graditi’s pictorial series “Normannesimo” was acquired by the Office of Cultural Heritage of the Region of Sicily and is now on permanent display at the Regional Museum of Natural History.

Since 2006, Graditi created many performances throughout Sicily, which integrate design, dance and music. In the academic year 2007/2008 he was a teacher of The History and Technology of Design and Chemistry for Environmental Protection and Cultural Heritage at the University of Palermo. And in 2009, Graditi exhibited the surrealistic “Death and Resurrection” at Galerie St. George in New York.

For more exhibit information visit; http://www.leonardogalleries.com.

As a member of the Yorkville Art Galleries Collective, Leonardo Galleries participates in the free monthly Yorkville Art Gallery Walk, which is held the first Thursday of each month and coincides with exhibition openings.

Leonardo Galleries, Toronto is devoted to the promotion of contemporary art. The gallery represents local and international artists and has a significant collection of works of art in painting, print-media, sculpture and photography. Leonardo Galleries also specializes in conservation framing and expert art restoration.

Official Website: http://www.leonardogalleries.com