First Impression: Elena Bond Will Make Her Ocean Galleries Debut With Her ‘New Impressionism’ Exhibit
Impression Sunrise
For centuries, impressionist paintings have captivated art lovers all over the world. With soft brushstrokes and ethereal images, the style was designed to evoke feelings of peace, contentment, and joy.
With a thoroughly modern approach, artist Elena Bond adds a jolt of invigorating energy to everything we love about impressionism. Her creativity and effervescent style will be on full display at Bond’s exclusive new exhibit, “New Impressionism,” at Stone Harbor’s Ocean Galleries on Saturday, Aug. 5 and Sunday, Aug. 6, with receptions with the artist from 7-10pm each evening.
“This is our first show with Elena Bond, and we couldn’t be more excited,” says Ocean Galleries owner Kim Miller. “It is an incredible feeling to introduce an artist of Elena’s caliber to our area. You get such a sense of joy when you look at her pieces. Her technique and creativity convey freedom, peace, love, hope, and happiness. It all shines through.”
Miller is not alone in her admiration. In fact, Bond’s paintings are coveted by collectors around the globe. A highly trained innovator, the Miami-based artist has also earned the respect of the art world, including none other than the grandson of French master Henri Matisse, who wrote the foreword to Bond’s book, “New Impressionism.”
In the book, Pierre Henri Matisse writes: “While Elena’s treatment of composition, color, and contrast is vastly different from that of my grandfather’s, or Picasso’s or Renoir’s works, it has a unique quality that identifies her as a master artist of our time. She uses her impeccable taste in a very subtle and sophisticated way, creating intense harmonies in her paintings as she keeps the contrast between color and value dynamically balanced. This is a graphic accomplishment of past masters, rarely seen in the art world, especially today.”
All of these qualities will be apparent at Bond’s Ocean Galleries exhibit. With a painting such as “Into the Sea,” crashing water is anything but serene, while nearly every shade of blue shimmers off the canvas, radiating calm amid the seafoam chaos.
Beach lovers will also be drawn toward the familiar scene in “Beachside Memories,” which depicts a friendly group relaxing under a bright blue sky, dotted with vibrant umbrellas. With clear intention, the vague images remain timeless, creating a scene that could have been painted 50 years ago, or 50 days ago.
No doubt, Bond’s vision and bold originality stem from her unique life experience. Born into a family of artists in Samsara, Russia in 1965, Bond grew up traveling and moving all over Russia due to her stepfather’s career as a military doctor. An artistic, observant child, she soaked up atmosphere and experiences throughout her formative years and began her art training at the age of 11, when she decided she would become nothing other than an artist.
Determined to make her dream career a reality, she began training at the State College of Art in Uzbekistan at the age of 15, majoring in scenic design, and eventually earned a master’s degree in fine art from the Academy of Art. She would go on to feature her art in many regional and international exhibitions, work as a set designer for theater productions for the State Theatre of Opera and Ballet, and the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, practice art restoration, and teach at a local University.
And all the time she was fueling the fire of her creative ambition, she kept another dream burning just as brightly inside her: to live freely in America.
Fortunately, fate intervened in 1999 when her family won a Green Card lottery from a pool of 300,000 applicants and she left Russia for a new life in the United States. Today she lives in Miami with her husband and two children.
“It was her dream come true to be here and she’s so grateful,” Miller says. “To have the ability to leave Russia, and then to be so successful on top of it … she has my admiration, not only for the way she paints, but also for the life that she’s lived.”
Bond’s love of life and freedom shows in her paintings full of movement and brilliant color. “Impressionism is an impression of an image,” Miller notes. “But these are not the staid images of the past. There’s so much energy and motion in her pieces.”
This signature style is the result of painting only with the palette knife. Eschewing gentle brushstrokes, Bond boldly swipes the canvas, creating swaths of color, punctuated by sharper lines. Images remain hazy, while emotion is crystal clear.
“She has the ability to create paintings that have great harmonies and their contrast between color and value is so balanced,” explains Miller. “She always creates a really dynamic piece of art. There is joyous creativity there.”
Miller also appreciates Bond’s mastery of diverse subject matter, saying: “My attraction to her work began with the beach, the sand, the colorful umbrellas. But her cityscapes are spectacular, and her ballerinas are simply beautiful.”
While Kim Miller is excited to host Elena Bond’s first exhibit in the area, she’s equally happy to introduce her to art patrons during the artist’s receptions. “She is full of humility and graciousness,” says Miller. “I can’t wait for people to meet Elena Bond. She’s just an incredible human being.”
Elena Bond’s “New Impressionism” Exhibit at Ocean Galleries
Just the Facts
Who: Modern impressionist painter Elena Bond
What: “New Impressionism” exhibit featuring an exclusive collection of mixed media and original paintings of seascapes, beach scenes, cityscapes, and ballerinas.
Where: Ocean Galleries. 9618 Third Ave., Stone Harbor
When:
Exhibit: Saturday, Aug. 5 and Sunday, Aug. 6. Art on display throughout the weekend. Patrons are welcome to peruse the exhibit anytime during gallery hours (10am to 9pm).
Receptions with Elena Bond: 7-10pm each evening.
Exhibit and receptions are complimentary and open to the public, though RSVP is encouraged.
How: RSVP for artist receptions at oceangalleries.com or by calling 609-368-7777. Walk-ins welcome as well.
