World’s Best Figure Impressionists / 2023 AMERICAN ART AWARDS: CHIKEZIE, LIBING, LIEBENOW, ILICHEV, FORTIER, MITROFANOVA, KIM, PIER, YOO, YUAN, LIN, HUI & KRONE
Artists from 72 countries competed in the 2023 AMERICAN ART AWARDS. Twenty of the most revered galleries in the USA were sent around 2,000 online images to score in drawing, painting, sculpture, digital and photography. The 300+ winning works, 1st to 6th Place (and ties) in all 50 categories, can be seen in this series of articles.
USA’s top galleries decided winners in every medium: oil, acrylic, watercolor, charcoal, pastel, realism, impressionism, naïve, abstract, expressionism, human figure, animal, landscape, fantasy, surrealism, pop, portrait, self-portrait, political, erotic, cubism, floral, humor, spiritual, etc..
Art collectors can see all the winning images and corresponding contact info to the best contemporary artists in the world here: https://americanartawards.com/2023-winning-artists-american-art-awards/
Winners in this category are from NIGERIA, CHINA, GERMANY, TURKEY, CANADA, RUSSIA & USA.
BIO OF 1ST PLACE WINNER: Innocent Chikezie is a quintessential artist from Nigeria who harnesses the beauty of colors to create dazzling brilliance of artworks that portray the graceful and native ambience of the African culture. Using his artistic dexterity together with a keen ability for blending colors to produce a delightful splash of hues, he recreates the dynamic of rural life against a backdrop of indigenous African landscape. But, it wasn’t until he left Nigeria for the UK, where he suffered from culture shock and chronic nostalgia, that he began to find succor in traditional paintings that embodied the essence of his native land.
He earned a Master of Fine Art degree from the School of Art and Design, Nottingham Trent University, United Kingdom. Chikezie’s works have been featured in an exhibition in the Nottingham City Council and twice in the Nottingham newspaper. He has also been interviewed by the BBC Nottingham radio, after which some UK magazine companies began publishing his paintings in their catalogues after securing a Copyright.
His paintings are animated with strong expressions that show a profound appreciation of his ancestral roots and are greatly influenced by a deep desire to export the cultural identity of African beauty and lifestyle in immersive sceneries that are expertly captured on canvas using acrylics and oil.
Currently residing in Nigeria, Chikezie’s artwork has been featured in a lot of exhibition and art galleries as the benchmark for indigenous native artworks. He is also an esteemed member of various art societies such as: the Portrait Society of America, SAA Britain, and Society of Nigerian Artists.
His dream is to showcase the elegance of African heritage in art exhibitions around the world. https://www.instagram.com/innocino/
ARTISTS’ CONTACTS / SEE MORE OF THE ARTISTS’ WORKS:
1st Place INNOCENT CHIKEZIE NIGERIA https://www.instagram.com/innocino/ “Being A Mama” 48x60" Acrylic.
2nd Place — Tie MU LIBING CHINA mu1990@126.com “Street Chess King” 80x80cm Oil on linen.
2nd Place — Tie PEGGY LIEBENOW GERMANY www.peggy-liebenow.de “Kindheit / Abstrakt Nr. 1456” 50x50cm Acrylic on canvas.
2nd Place — Tie ALEKSANDR ILICHEV TURKEY https://www.saatchiart.com/account/artworks/84668 “Mystical Portrait” 180x140cm Acrylic on canvas.
3rd Place — Tie LUC FORTIER CANADA https://www.lucfortierpeintre.com “Carnival 6” 61x61cm Acrylic on canvas.
3rd Place — Tie ELENA MITROFANOVA RUSSIA www.lenamitrofanova.ru “Burning Down The Fears” 20x30cm Oil.
4th Place — Tie RACHEL KIM USA rachelkim100808@gmail.com “Heart Of Korea” 17x18.5” Gouache on paper.
4th Place — Tie BRIAN PIER USA https://wwwbrianpierart.com “Lady In Red” 36x36" Oil on canvas.
5th Place — Tie SEHUI YOO USA syoo2156@gmail.com “Appa Come On, Wake Up!” 18x27” Oil pastel on paper.
5th Place — Tie JOCELYN YUAN USA artistbonkoo@gmail.com “Lanterns” 12x12” Oil on canvas.
6th Place — Tie LIN LIN CHINA 1289303090@qq.com “The Silent Street In The Afternoon” 16x22.5cm Watercolor on paper.
6th Place — Tie LIANA HUI CANADA artistbonkoo@gmail.com “The Whole World Is Blue Under The Moon Light” 18x24” Linoleum cut print.
6th Place — Tie AARON KRONE USA https://kroneaaron.wixsite.com/aaronkrone “The Door” 32x40" Acrylic on canvas.
In 2023, AMERICAN ART AWARDS had submissions from these 72 countries: Afghanistan, Algeria, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Columbia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Myanmar, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Switzerland, Tobago, Trinidad, Turkey, UK, Ukraine, USA, Viet Nam, Wales, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
USA’s 20 Best Galleries & Museums who were asked to score online art in 2023 were:
American Art Awards 20 Best Galleries & Museums for 2023, in alphabetical order:
BEST IN ARIZONA: Exposures International Gallery Of Fine Art
BEST IN CALIFORNIA: Sparks Gallery
BEST IN COLORADO: Mirada Fine Art
BEST IN FLORIDA: MAC Art Galleries
BEST IN GEORGIA: Black Art In America™ (BAIA)
BEST IN INDIANA: Gallery Forty-Two
BEST IN KANSAS: CityArts
BEST IN KENTUCKY: KMAC Contemporary Art Museum
BEST IN LOUISIANA: Jonathan Ferrara Gallery
BEST IN MAINE: Clarke Gallery
BEST IN MONTANA: Cawdrey Gallery
BEST IN NEBRASKA: Kiechel Fine Art
BEST IN NEVADA: Elena Bulatova Fine Art
BEST IN NEW MEXICO: Thornwood Gallery
BEST IN NEW YORK: Gallery 23 NY
BEST IN SOUTH CAROLINA: Mary Martin Galleries Of Fine Art
BEST IN TEXAS: Ao5 Gallery
BEST IN SOUTH DAKOTA: South Dakota Art Museum
BEST IN VERMONT: Helmholz Fine Art
BEST IN WYOMING: Gallery Wild
American Art Awards https://www.americanartawards.com/ annually awards 20 museums and/or galleries, who agree to score art and award nearly 300+ deserving contemporary artists from 60+ countries: painters, photographers, sculptors and digital artists.
