2020’S BEST INNOVATIVE ARTISTS NAMED BY 25 GALLERIES:

8 min readOct 19, 2020

SIMON BECK, VALERY SIURHA, JISOO KIM, LINDA IRWIN, BRUCE KAHN, WANG YANG, TESA MICHAELS, TONY HOU, ALIONA GORDON, VALERY OKARSKY, KRIS MERCER, DONALD S. KOLBERG

Painters, photographers, sculptors and digital artists from 62 countries competed in the most prestigious online art call, AMERICAN ART AWARDS, https://www.americanartawards.com/, where America’s 25 best galleries and museums score art in 50 categories. In this column, I’ll reveal the world’s best contemporary artists of 2020 one category at a time.

Winners in this category are from England, Ukraine, Republic of Korea, Canada, USA, China, Belarus and Russia.

BIO OF FIRST PLACE WINNER: Simon Beck

“As of 18 August 2020 I have made 350 snow drawings and 141 sand drawings. (therefore getting close to halfway in the lifetime objective of making 1000 land drawings).”

Born August 19th 1958 / grew up in Southern England, school Millfield, Somerset; went to university at Oxford, studied Engineering Science. “I was rather too interested in orienteering, bell ringing and hiking, and found it difficult to focus on work, a problem compounded by the fact I was not interested course (I gave in to the persuasion I was put under to go to Oxford when I wanted to go to Loughborough)…Made various unsuccessful attempts at office jobs then abandoned all that, and became a freelance orienteering mapmaker.”

2004 Went to live (in winter) in the French ski resort of Les Arcs, and spent most of the daytime skiing but also started making drawings using snow tracks on snow covered frozen lakes.

2009 Decided to abandon competitive orienteering and make snow drawing my main form of aerobic exercise during the winter. At this time the long term aim was to build up a collection of photos and spread love and good karma and care for the environment over the internet but soon commercial concerns started to take an interest in the advertising value of the concept.

2014 my life (in winter) has been split between travelling (to other continents sometimes) to create commissioned drawings, and living in Les Arcs, where I make as many drawings (of my design) as conditions allow, for the “pension fund”, a collection of drawings I hold all rights to, hoping I can sell them to magazines, etc. .

2014 Somebody asked me whether I would be willing to fly to the Eastern USA for a public sand drawing performance, and this stimulated me to make sand drawings; there is an excellent beach for this 40 mins drive from my parents’ home in SW England. However, as of August 2020 I have only made 6 commercial sand drawings. http://snowart.gallery

BIO OF FIRST PLACE WINNER: Valery Siurha

born in 1963 in Ukraine, Kiev.
Graduated from the Republican Art High School in 1981, studied at the Kiev Art Institute at the Faculty of Graphics.
Worked in book publications, illustrated more than thirty books on science fiction.
Valery Siurha is a member of: «Union of Artists of Germany» «Union of Artists of the Czech Republic» «Graphics Club» (Philadelphia, USA) «Exlibis Center» (Arezzo, Italy).
Works are in private collections in Ukraine, European countries, USA.

Took part in exhibitions:
1990 — “My Generation”, MTV, New York.
Personal exhibitions in Cologne (Germany) and Kiev.
1992 — Personal exhibition in Kerpen (Germany) and International
Triennial of Graphics in Lviv “Interprint-92”.
1993 — Participation in exhibitions in London, Paris, Nuremberg, Kiev.
1994–1st International Exhibition of Ex-libris (Kiev, Ukraine).
International Exhibition of Ex-libris (Arezzo, Italy).
8th International Mini Graphics Exhibition (Seoul Korea).
Personal exhibition in Erlangen (Germany).
“Winter Exhibition-94”, Erlangen (Germany).
Participation in exhibitions in Cologne (Germany) and Prague (Czech
Republic).
International exhibition “Ukraine-Italy” (Bolonia, Italy)
Trading house “Ukraine-America”
International exhibition “Ukraine-Germany-95” (Hamburg)
1995 — International Biennial of Ex-libris “Sint-Niklaus” (Belgium).
Personal exhibition in the “Dresdner Bank” (Germany).
International Biennale of Mini-Graphics in Ostrow Velkopolski (Poland).
International Biennale in Olofström (Sweden).
1996 — International exhibition “Ukraine — UAE” (Caricature)
International Biennale of Mini Graphics in Barcelona (Spain).
Permanent exhibition in Prague (Czech Republic).
1997 — Personal exhibition in “Kunstverein”, Linz (Austria).
Personal exhibition in Torvisio (Italy).
1998–2002 — Personal exhibition in Dublin (Ireland), Linz (Austria)
Prague (Czech Republic), Cologne (Germany), Kiev.
Participation in the exhibition “Raiffesenbank” Austria-Ukraine.
International Exhibition (Bulgaria)
Ukrainian Cultural Center “Lebanon-Beirut”.
2003 — Personal exhibition in Switzerland (Bern).
2003 -2020 — Creative work and annual exhibitions in European countries.

Prizes:
1990–1st prize at the MTV International Poster Competition “My Generation” (New York, USA).
1994- (Prize at the 8th International Mini-Print Biennale in Seoul (Korea).
1995- Diploma in the 6th International Mini-Print Biennale in Ostrow Velkopolski, (Poland).
1997 — Listed in the Oxford Encyclopedia “Who’s Who with an Intellectual”, 13th edition, International Biographical Center, Cambridge, UK.

Personal site of Valery Siurha — https://siurhaart.com

Each May the American Art Awards organization selects the 25 Best Galleries and Museums in America, then in autumn these revered art institutions vote on online art to decide the world’s best contemporary artists.

Last month America’s 25 Best Galleries scored almost 2,000 works in 50 categories from 62 countries: Afghanistan, Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Croatia, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Republic Of Korea, Romania, Russia, South Korea, Serbia, Singapore, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Uganda, UK, Ukraine, USA, Venezuela, Zimbabwe.

COLLECTORS wanting to acquire these pieces or contact the artists can get direct links here: https://www.americanartawards.com/2020-winning-art/

Enter here: https://www.americanartawards.com/register-to-enter-3/

CONTACTS FOR CATEGORY 24. INNOVATIVE

1ST PLACE-TIE SIMON BECK ENGLAND http://snowart.gallery “Inverted Mandelbrot Set” 230x150meters Man-made snow art.

1ST PLACE-TIE VALERY SIURHA UKRAINE https://siurhaart.com
“Oh, My Dreams…” 20x24" Pencil, paper.

2ND PLACE-TIE JISOO KIM REPUBLIC OF KOREA Kjisoo02@gmail.com
“All Eyes On Me” 54.5x78.8cm Pencil and paper collage on paper.

2ND PLACE-TIE LINDA IRWIN CANADA www.calgarysketchclub.com/artists/irwin/index.htm “Forever Friends” 22x20" Mixed media acrylic on walnut board with turquoise resin inlay.

3RD PLACE-TIE BRUCE KAHN USA https://photos.app.goo.gl/AubmqAyX6aPxpSge6 “Octopus Dream” 15x25x3” Mixed media, acrylics, wood, plastic figures, electronics, hanger.

3RD PLACE-TIE WANG YANG CHINA seaforest_wy@126.com “Protecting Them is Protecting Ourselves” 100x155cm Oil.

3RD PLACE-TIE TESA MICHAELS USA https://tesamichaelsart.com/
“Eternal Bliss” 36x48" Oil on panel with semi precious stones.

4TH PLACE-TIE TESA MICHAELS USA https://tesamichaelsart.com/
“Essence of Lavender” 36x48" Oil on panel with semi precious stones.

4TH PLACE-TIE TONY HOU CHINA 15801157018@139.com
“Kurt” 70x50cm” Graphite, acrylic, gel pen, coffee on paper, mix-media.

5TH PLACE-TIE ALIONA GORDON BELARUS liveicon@gmail.com
“King Fisher” 33х33" Gemstone art painting on man-made marble.

5TH PLACE-TIE VALERY OKARSKY RUSSIA valery.okarsky@yandex.ru
“Firebird” 45x43cm Copper, brass, hot enamel on panel.

6TH PLACE-TIE KRIS MERCER ENGLAND www.krismercer.com “All Sewn Up” 90x90cm Acrylic medium poured on canvas.

6TH PLACE-TIE DONALD S. KOLBERG USA www.donaldkolberg.com “Pattern Woman #7” 24x18" Acrylic, ink and sewing pattern paper on W/C paper.

100 ARTICLES and 50 VIDEOS on the 50 CATEGORIES of the 2020 AMERICAN ART AWARDS WINNING ARTISTS will be at this link: https://www.americanartawards.com/press-on-2020-artists/