Claire Falkenstein

Claire Falkenstein ( July 22, 1908 – October 23, 1997) was an American sculptor, painter, printmaker, jewelry designer, and teacher, most renowned for her often large-scale abstract metal and glass public sculptures. Falkenstein was one of America's most experimental and productive twentieth-century artists.
Falkenstein relentlessly explored media, techniques, and processes with uncommon daring and intellectual rigor. Though she was respected among the burgeoning post–World War II art scene in Europe and the United States, her disregard for the commodification of art coupled with her peripatetic movement from one art metropolis to another made her an elusive figure.Falkenstein first worked in the San Francisco Bay Area, then in Paris and New York, and finally in Los Angeles. She was involved with art groups as radical as the Gutai Group in Japan and art autre in Paris and secured a lasting position in the vanguard, which she held until her death in 1997.An interest in Einstein's theories of the universe inspired Falkenstein to create sculptures from wire and fused glass that explored the concept of infinite space. Falkenstein's current reputation rests on her sculpture, and her work in three dimensions was often radical and ahead of her time. Wikipedia

Fernando de Szyszlo Valdelomar

"Fernando De Szyszlo Valdelomar (born July 5, 1925 in Lima) is a Peruvian artist who is a key figure in advancing abstract art in Latin America since the mid-1950s, and one of the leading plastic artists in Peru.He first studied painting at the School of Plastic Arts of the Catholic University of Lima. Then, in 1948 he went to Paris where he held his first exhibition the following year. He spent the next few years in both Paris and Florence, studying the classic and 20th century masters. Upon his return to Peru in 1951, Szyszlo became a major force for artistic renewal in his country, breaking new ground by expressing Peruvian Pre-Columbian themes in a non-representational style. While in Paris he met Octavio Paz and André Breton and frequented the group of writers and intellectuals that met regularly at the Cafe Flore engaging in vigorous discussions on how they could participate in the international modern movement while preserving their Latin American cultural identity. Upon his return to Peru, Szyszlo became a major force for artistic renewal in his country breaking new ground by expressing a Peruvian subject matter in a non-representational style. He was married to a Peruvian poet Blanca Varela, with whom he has two children.His use of color, rich textural effects and a masterly handling of light and shadow are hallmarks of Szyszlo's work which links ancient rituals, myths, and the geography of sea and desert landscapes often associated with pre-Columbian sacred sites to a modernist artistic language.Szyszlo has had over 100 individual exhibitions in museums and galleries in Latin America, Europe and the United States and has participated in the prestigious international biennials of Sao Paulo and Venice. His work is represented in important public and private collections throughout the world.
Lyricism of color enriched by rich textural effects and a masterly handling of light and shadow are hallmarks of Szyszlo's painting. Highly identified with the linking of ancient cultures to a modernist artistic language, Szyszlo's art reflects a broad culture that draws on many sources from philosophy and science to literature. His evocative allusions to rituals, myths, and the geography of sea and desert landscapes are often associated with pre-Columbian sacred sites. Since his first solo exhibit in Lima in 1947, Szyszlo has had over 100 individual exhibitions in museums and galleries in Latin America, Europe and the United States and has participated in the prestigious international biennials of São Paulo and Venice. His work is represented in important public and private collections throughout the world."(rogallery.com)

Bill Ainslie - Abstract Expressionism - South Africa

William “Bill” Ainslie was a South African artist, teacher, activist, as well as and the founder of several art projects. Ainslie was born on 10 April 1934 in Bedford, Eastern Cape, where his family farmed a parcel of land called Spring Grove”. His family moved to the Karoo when he was a young boy but subsequently left for Johannesburg because of a drought. His father died when he was eight years old.
Ainslie had intended to become a priest, until art claimed his imagination when he was a student. He studied at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg from 1952-1955. In 1958, he completed his honours degree in Fine Art. On completion of his studies he taught at Michael house, a school in KwaZulu Natal. He also taught art at Cyrene Mission in Zimbabwe and King Edward VII School in Johannesburg, his alma mater In 1960, Bill married Sophia Jansen-Schottell (known as Fieka). He died in a car accident in August 1989 returning from an international workshop at the Cyrene Mission in Zimbabwe.Ainslie’s paintings transitioned from monumental African figures featuring mothers and children, and farm labourers to abstract expressionism. He was renowned for his use of striking and vibrant colours His painting found connections with American abstract expressionism and as a result, Ainslie tended to teach abstraction.Wikipedia

John Balossi

John Balossi (May 28, 1931 – April 8, 2007) was a painter and sculptor.
"Painter, sculptor, printmaker, watercolorist, ceramicist, and teacher. Balossi studied at Columbia University, where he earned his BFA in 1956 and his MFA in 1960. Between 1956 and 1960 Balossi worked as a commercial artist and managed a gallery with J. Peplinsky, another young artist. He moved to Puerto Rico in 1960 and from 1962 to 1988 taught at the Río Piedras Campus of the University of Puerto Rico. Balossi was the recipient of an honorable mention at the First UNESCO Painting Salon and first prize at the Fifth. He worked principally in sculpture, using a variety of materials such as stone, wood, terracotta, hammered aluminum plates, iron (soldered), and ceramic clay; he joined the Manos Group of ceramicists in the eighties. Balossi was known as a colorist, and both his paintings and ceramic works almost always portrayed horses or female figures."(mapr.org)