World’s Best Sculptors / 2023 AMERICAN ART AWARDS:
EREN, MCAVOY, XIN, KANG, NIJSSEN, SHOOK, ASHBOURNE, ŠETER, PAOLINO, WHITTINGTON, LEIMKUELLER, KRAFT, AKANDE, WARD & PELUSO
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 TURKEY, USA, CHINA, KOREA, NETHERLANDS, CANADA, SRBIA, AUSTRIA, GERMANY & NIGERIA.
BIO OF 1ST PLACE WINNER:
Hakki Cengiz Eren (b. 1984) is a composer and a wood sculptor whose interests cover areas such as surrealism, mysticism, psychoacoustics, electroacoustic music and Turkish folk music, to name just a few. As a composer, he has had the opportunity to work with renowned soloists and ensembles throughout the world, such as Garth Knox, Juliet Fraser, Ensemble Schallfeld, Meitar Ensemble, Ensemble Modern, and as a wood sculptor there have been a number of occasions in which his works were displayed in installation projects, accompanied with his own music. https://www.hakkicengizerencomposer.com/
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.
ARTISTS’ CONTACTS / SEE MORE OF THE ARTISTS’ WORKS:
1st Place HAKKI CENGIZ EREN TURKEY https://www.hakkicengizerencomposer.com/ ‘’The Unlucky Ones II’’ 55x33cm Hand carved on basswood.
2nd Place — Tie SHAWN MCAVOY USA http://smcavoy.com/ “Terminal Velocity Osprey” 31x11x12" Bronze.
2nd Place — Tie FANG XIN CHINA 1978311311@qq.com “Divine Comedy” 379x160x88cm Stainless steel.
2nd Place — Tie MINJAE KANG KOREA minjaekang3@gmail.com “Chapeau Yokai” 12x12x16cm Sculpture.
3rd Place — Tie RINEKE NIJSSEN NETHERLANDS https://rineke.art “Diver” 30x36cm Bronze lost wax method.
3rd Place — Tie RICHARD SHOOK USA www.dickshook.com “Woman On A Pedestal” 72x36x36" Epoxy/resin, glass, led lighting, plaster, wood, and vitreous enamel on copper.
3rd Place — Tie TOM ASHBOURNE CANADA www.tomashbourne.com “Autumn” 20x13x2.5” Alabaster, marble.
4th Place — Tie IGOR ŠETER SRBIA www.art-igor.com “The Cut” 36x88x50cm Bronze-resin, wood.
4th Place — Tie ANDREA PAOLINO USA https://www.studiopaolino.com/ “Two Heads” 15x15.5x9.5" Bronze.
4th Place — Tie GARY WHITTINGTON USA garywhit33@gmail.com “Waiting For A Hike” 29x11x6" Bronze.
5th Place — Tie TATIANA LEIMKUELLER AUSTRIA https://tilda.cc/projects/?projectid=6472123 “Trojan War. Homer And Athena” 100x149x90cm Casting plastic.
5th Place — Tie ELENA KRAFT GERMANY https://www.singulart.com/en/artist/elena-kraft-8883 “Voiceless” 82x25x25cm Clay, integrated metal.
6th Place — Tie FEMI OLAJIRE AKANDE USA/NIGERIA https://www.instagram.com/femi_olajire_akande “Hidden Treasure” 86x60cm Ceramic.
6th Place — Tie BLAKE WARD CANADA www.BlakeWard.com “Ushabti Mafdet And Mayet” 83x23x18cm Bronze.
6th Place — Tie MIKE PELUSO USA mpelusofineart@yahoo.com “Supported” 12” Polymer clay and wire.
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.
