Welcome
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About Us
Avant- Garde
Cultivating experimental art through the exploration of life, cultures, rituals, and ceremonies utilizing mixed genres, styles, and techniques.
Exploration
Versatility in art and design. We offering origin paintings and prints on canvas and other functional items in our store. We are Avant-Garde fine art.
Explore, Expose, and Exploit
Explore the essence and being of humanity.
Artists‘ Bios
Our Background
Joseph and Kristine: American Artists
Joseph was raised by my grandmother in a small, rural coal mining town in Central Pennsylvania. Kristine grew up in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. In 1995 they met in prison. He was a correctional officer and she was completing a college internship. Kristine, with her own artistic talent as a photographer, encouraged and supported Joseph in going to art school. In 2000, Joseph enrolled at the Pennsylvania College of Art and Design. Reflecting back, it was in preschool where Joseph made the first connection between a word and the thing he was always doing, Art. Creating art is part of him. He graduated in 2004 with a Bachelors of Fine Art.
Our interest has always been humanity. It is the challenge of capturing the essence of the human being that intrigues us the most. As artists, we are the guardians of humanity. Our purpose is to explore, expose, and exploit Humanity. Early in Joseph's career his focus was on the technical aspects of drawing and painting the human figure. In time the subject matter became more important than the techniques. He is intrigued by cultures, ceremonies, rituals, and rites of passage around the world. For Joseph, the regalia and expressions of rituals attracts and holds his curiosity captive. This exploration is what is currently drawing him to the canvas.
Kristine's medium is photography. Provoking emotions in the viewer is what she strives to achieve in her photographs. In addition to her interest in humanity, she enjoys exploring the organic nature of our world. Kristine began her career in photography exploring the depths of black and white photography. The intrigue of black and white photography allows for contemplation and exploration of the image without any preconceived emotions. There is a delicate balance of exposure, highlights, shadows, and contrast. Kristine finds this challenging ,yet rewarding. In addition to photography, Kristine explores creative writing as a vehicle in exploring, exposing, and exploiting art. Interweaving visual art and writing through the wisdom of mindfulness, kindness, compassion, and empathy.
Our Mediums
Joseph's medium of choice is oil pint. Their corrigibility is what allows him to explore the paint more intimately. The artistic process is a collaboration of techniques. He starts with raw canvas and uses abstract-expressionism interwoven with realism to bring about the essence of the subject matter. His artworks are inspired by this technique with the idea of giving an iridescent effect.
Kristine uses a Canon and iPhone for her creative process. She prefers the organic photo over using applications to gain the desired effect. However, she uses the Darkroom to make any necessary adjustments in order to achieve the delicate balance of fine art and photography.
Our Inspiration
We believe artists are the guardians of humanity. We explore, exploit, and expose the essence. As artists we are interested in humanity's ceremonial rituals based on cultural and religious beliefs, expressions of dance, regalia, rites of passage, and other traditions. We have a duty to ourselves to create art and evoke emotion in you, the viewer.