Kaho Nakamura, an influential figure in Japan's art scene, artfully combines traditional Japanese aesthetics with a bold, contemporary approach. Born in the culturally rich Kagoshima, Nakamura's artistic development was nurtured by her city's unique blend of historical depth and modern energy. She ventured into the art world as a teenager, finding her voice in oil painting, captivated by the vibrant nightlife of Kagoshima—a world she observed keenly but experienced from a distance. Nakamura's work is a fusion of subtle Japanese artistry and modern narrative, predominantly featuring Japanese women in moments of introspection and personal depth. Her mastery of oil painting is evident in each piece, which showcases both sensual grace and respectful elegance. A distinctive trait in her work is the inclusion of sweets, particularly ice creams, subtly referencing Kagoshima's reputation for confectionery. At the vanguard of the Contemporary Pop movement in Japan, Nakamura stands out for her authentic portrayal of her reality, deliberately eschewing Western influences to focus on her cultural and personal experiences. This approach resonates with a broader artistic trend of challenging established norms to redefine artistic expression. Nakamura's paintings offer a powerful commentary on societal norms, particularly concerning women's roles in contemporary culture. Her artwork represents a quiet yet impactful rebellion against societal constraints, bringing a fresh perspective to traditional narratives. As Nakamura continues to push the boundaries of her art, she gains recognition as a talented artist and an innovator in the artistic community. Her work not only challenges the status quo but also opens up new avenues for creative expression. Her journey is one of constant reinvention, making her a captivating figure in the modern art world. Nakamura's contributions are significant in shaping the future of art. Her paintings are more than just visually appealing—they are conversations about societal issues, cultural identity, and personal experiences. Each piece is a testament to Nakamura's journey as an artist who dares to explore uncharted territories and provoke thought. Her art is a reflection of her commitment to innovation and cultural exploration, making her a key figure in contemporary Japanese art and an inspiration to future generations of artists.
Sweet Vanilla : Glazed Elegance
By Kaho Nakamura
Located in PARIS, FR
Sweet Vanilla : Glazed Elegance is a key work from Surreal Innocence: Lolitas and the Whimsy of Frozen Delights, a signature series by Japanese artist Kaho Nakamura, one of the major...
Oil
Cornetto : Frozen Fantasia
By Kaho Nakamura
Located in PARIS, FR
Cornetto : Frozen Fantasia is a defining work from Surreal Innocence: Lolitas and the Whimsy of Frozen Delights, a major series by Japanese artist Kaho Nakamura, a key figure of the ...
Oil
Man 1, 120x55cm, oil on canvas
By Tatiana Levchenko
Located in Yerevan, AM
Man 1, 2021, 120x55 cm
Canvas, Oil
Nude in French Interior
By Paula Craioveanu
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Oil on canvas
Canvas, Oil
$1,650Sale Price|25% Off
H 31.5 in W 39.38 in
Blue woman, 80x100cm, acrylic, oil, canvas
By Tatiana Levchenko
Located in Yerevan, AM
Blue woman, 2022, 80x100 cm
Canvas, Oil
$15,500
H 60 in W 36 in D 2.5 in
Paradox of St. Sebastian - Contemporary Oil Painting with Graffiti and Shackles
By Bruno Surdo
Located in Chicago, IL
This painting is Bruno Surdo’s contemporary reimagining of Saint Sebastian, one of the most enduring subjects in Western art. From Mantegna and Botticelli to Guido Reni and Caravaggio, Sebastian has long been depicted as the bound, arrow-pierced martyr whose physical suffering becomes an image of spiritual transcendence. Surdo clearly situates himself within this lineage: the contrapposto pose, uplifted gaze, and carefully modeled anatomy reflect his atelier training and deep engagement with Renaissance ideals of the heroic nude. The flesh is luminous and sculptural, recalling Michelangelo’s influence on the canon of the male body as both aesthetic and symbolic form. Yet Surdo decisively destabilizes the tradition. The arrows piercing the body are not lethal shafts but rubber suction-cup darts—objects associated with toys and staged play. This substitution transforms martyrdom into performance. The gravity of sacred suffering is undercut by irony, even absurdity. The saint is no longer impaled by instruments of death but by harmless projectiles, suggesting that contemporary suffering may be theatricalized, trivialized, or culturally mediated. At the same time, the figure’s expression remains sincere and emotionally vulnerable; the psychological intensity is real, even if the wounds are not. This tension between authentic emotion and artificial harm introduces a modern critique of spectacle—how pain can be aestheticized, simulated, or consumed. The graffiti-covered urban wall further collapses sacred history into contemporary space. Instead of a devotional landscape or heavenly backdrop, Surdo situates his Sebastian against a chaotic, tagged surface, merging classical beauty with raw urban immediacy. Saint Sebastian has long functioned not only as a symbol of faith but also as an emblem of sensualized male beauty and coded identity in art history. Surdo acknowledges that layered tradition while reframing it through irony and cultural commentary. By replacing deadly arrows with toy darts, he transforms martyrdom into a meditation on vulnerability in an age where suffering may be symbolic rather than fatal—performed, projected, or socially inflicted rather than divinely ordained. As in much of his work, Surdo grounds contemporary psychological tension in the authority of Renaissance form, using the language of history painting to question what sanctity, sacrifice, and spectacle mean today. Bruno Surdo Paradox of St. Sebastian oil on canvas 60h x 36w in 152.40h x 91.44w cm Bruno A. Surdo b. Chicago, 1963 EXHIBITIONS 2018 Liberation, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Blood Sport, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Art on Paper 2018, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Pier 36, New York, NY SOFA Chicago 2018, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL 2017 POP!ARAZZI, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Coming Attractions, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2015 SOFA Chicago 2015, Ann Nathan Gallery, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Allegories, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2014 Bruno Surdo: Respond, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Modern Metaphors, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL 2013 Bruno Surdo: Revelations, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Vice + Virtue, Northern Illinois University Museum of Art 2012 Contemporary Realism Biennial, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN 2011 Bruno Surdo, University of St. Francis School of Creative Arts, Fort Wayne, IN Uncensored, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2010 Art Chicago 2010, Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2009 Art Chicago 2009, Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2007 Bruno Surdo, Art Institute of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN 2006 Context/Content: Making Meaning with the Figure, University of Arkansas, Conway, AR Creative Imaginings, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL Bruno Surdo: Cycles, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2005 Art Chicago 2005, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2004 Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Richard M. Daley Center, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2004, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Group Show, Arcadia Gallery, New York, NY Drawings VII, Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA Armory Show, New York Armory, New York, NY 2003 Paintings & Drawings, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL The Art Show, New York, NY Bruno Surdo: New Work, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2003, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2003-10 International Show of Contemporary Artists, Chicago Art Open, Chicago, IL 2002 Bruno Surdo: Perception of Appearance, Frye Museum, Seattle, WA Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Richard M. Daley Center, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Transcendence, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2002, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2001 Magic Vision, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR 1998 Evanston and Vicinity Artists, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL 1996 Bruno Surdo: A Personal View, University of Wisconsin, Kenosha, WI 1995 Bruno Surdo: Recent Works, College of Lake County, IL AIDS in Our Society, Loyola University, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Life, Struggle, and Hope, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL 2001 Magic Vision, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR Bruno Surdo: Dualities of Life, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1999 Group Show, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1998 Group Exhibition, Fine Arts Building Gallery, Chicago, IL 1995 Spiritual Inquiries, Struve Gallery, Chicago, IL 1994 Recent Works, The 14th Annual Juried Exhibition for Lake County Artists, Grayslake, IL Go Figure, Figurative Works on Paper, Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, Chicago, IL SELECTED COLLECTIONS The Re-Birth of Venus, Temporary Loan, Fort Wayne Museum of Art Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR College of Lake County, Greyslake, IL Flashpoint Academy, Chicago IL John Robert Wiltgen Design Shoemaker Ruud Collection Julie & Thomas Danilek Michael Vozzella and Mike Silver Benjamin Fernandez Tom Braake Betsy Colburn Michael Diemand & Lor LaRose Michael Staab & Kathy Brock Bruce Leep Frank Tzurect Mary Foley Rosalyn Carlson Mimmy Turney Janet Long Halstead Billy Hunt Carol Galli Myles Kerrigan Honorable & Mrs. Edwin Berman Theodore Gage Northrop Art Museum Past Present & Future Company Dr. James & Peggy Kemmler Salvatore Monastero Nix & Virginia Lauridsen Joel Miller David & Marlene Zerkel Ann & Andy Abel Claudia Rush Marc Miller Leonard Goldberg Lawrence Pucci Howard Tullman Collection Susan & Manny Kramer James Rinnert Richar Interiors Michael & Nancy Colt Khalid Altijir Dr. Joe Grodman Beryl & Jack Gore Larry Wolf & Eric Naegle Chuck Wolandi Jack Schwab & David Sandelin Thomas Kaczmarek Marti Dinerstein Craig & Michael Golden...
Canvas, Oil
$1,350Sale Price|25% Off
H 35.44 in W 31.5 in
Faun`s sweet dream, 90x80cm, oil on canvas
By Tatiana Levchenko
Located in Yerevan, AM
Faun`s sweet dream, 2021, 90x80 cm
Canvas, Oil
$200
H 9.5 in W 5 in
Sweetie Two Oil Painting on Wood Panel, Contemporary, 21st Century
By Lauren Rinaldi
Located in Philadelphia, PA
Original oil painting on wood plaque by Lauren Rinaldi measuring 9.5"h x 5"w. Lauren Rinaldi works using unbiased portraits of women’s bodies as a vehicle to explore ideas about b...
Oil
$2,374
H 11.82 in W 11.82 in D 0.79 in
The Moon - Modern Figurative Oil Painting, Sea View, Landscape, Romantic Art
By Julita Malinowska
Located in Salzburg, AT
Artodyssey "Julita Malinowska's paintings belong to those, which once seen - are never forgotten. The open spaces, sometimes cool and bright, at other times heavily saturated with co...
Canvas, Oil
Break Free 2
By Paula Craioveanu
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Oil on canvas
Canvas, Oil
Nude In Interior
By Paula Craioveanu
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Oil on canvas
Canvas, Oil
Nude in Venice
By Paula Craioveanu
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Oil on canvas
Canvas, Oil
The Fresco
By Paula Craioveanu
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Oil on canvas
Canvas, Oil
Falling Down
By Paula Craioveanu
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Oil on canvas
Canvas, Oil