Arno Elias

ARNO E - Simba, Masai Mara, Kenya

2014

Arno Elias' work has been featured by The New York Times, PBS Television, USA Today, NBC, The Miami Herald, Miami Magazine, Florida International, and The Chicago Tribune. His paintings and photographs have been featured at art fairs across North America as well as the prestigious Art Basel fair in Switzerland. ""The Lost Series"" is a crystallization of the mixed media and powerful images he captured during his many travels across different continents The artist presents hand-painted photography as a means of engaging philosophical reflections about culture, humanity and wildlife. This selection of works reflects the artist's desire to maintain the cultural authenticity of nature which is or will be ""lost"" in the wake of globalization and industrialization. From the faces of the Mursi tribe of Ethiopia to the endangered animals of the Kenyan savannah, Elias' subjects, captured spontaneously and incidentally, are depicted in full-length or three-quarter views. His finely detailed, richly toned images resonate with a sense of longing and compelling emotion. Integrating the act of hand painting to create a sense of connection with his subjects, the artist creates multiple layers of narratives, rigorously investigating the most fundamental and intrinsic aspect of human experience, nature and culture.