World’s Best Spiritual Or Religious Painters: SAFAR, MINKEVIČIUS, MARIO, DAVIES, TŁUCZEK, VIZENA, RICHTER, ALMEIDA, MOORE & PURUSHOTHAMAN/ 2024 Art Collectors Choice Awards
Artists from 62 countries competed in the 2024 ART COLLECTORS CHOICE AWARDS. 20 international art collectors scored 50 categories of online images covering drawing, painting, sculpture, digital and photography.
The winning works will be revealed in this column one category at a time.
The ART COLLECTORS CHOICE AWARDS winners in CATEGORY 38. RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL represent FRANCE, LITHUANIA, ITALY, USA, POLAND, AUSTRIA & INDIA.
BIO OF 1ST PLACE WINNER: Mathieu Safar is a French artist born in 1976. After having experimented with numerous forms of artistic expression, it is through the advent of AI that he can finally fully express his creative universe. Gradually losing his sight, his vision was saved by a cataract operation which profoundly altered his perception of life. His lenses were replaced by synthetic prostheses. This experience reinforces his feeling that humans are destined to merge with the machine. Today he looks at the world with his bionic eyes, trying to find the balance between humanity and technology.
Mathieu aims to visually transcribe an aesthetic, sensual ideal, both unreal and tangible. Using AI, he brings out a unique and intimate universe seeking to materialize dreams. It is inspired by transgressive creative universes, often criticized and despised but always innovative, such as pop culture, manga, gaming, but also chic porn and even elements inspired by contemporary theater or Egyptian art. This mix of genres is intended to be disruptive, but always aims to achieve an ideal of beauty. AI makes it possible to transcribe a kaleidoscopic vision into a high-resolution image made to measure and down to the smallest details. This form of hybridization between technology and the artist’s emotions involves the synergy, even the fusion, of the human mind and artificial intelligence.
The original images created virtually are materialized in Ultra HD on a metal support, mainly on an aluminum plate for a hyper realistic rendering. This rendering gives the works a lively appearance, as if the characters were behind glass or on a screen, like windows opening onto a new world. The artist invites the viewer to pass to the other side of the mirror and get lost in his phantasmagorical universe. https://www.artmajeur.com/mathieu-safar
WINNER WEBSITES:
CATEGORY 38. RELIGIOUS OR SPIRITUAL
1st Place MATHIEU SAFAR FRANCE https://www.artmajeur.com/mathieu-safar “Crown Of Roses — Forgiveness” 134x76cm Digital art.
2nd Place — Tie RYTIS MINKEVIČIUS LITHUANIA “Prayer” 20x25cm Oil on canvas.
2nd Place — Tie ERMINI MARIO ITALY “Face Of Mercy” 23x22cm Graphite on paper.
3rd Place — Tie MICHAEL BLAIR DAVIES USA 12x11" https://slomotionarts.artspan.com/ “Janus Part 1” Polymer clay.
3rd Place — Tie WALDEMAR TŁUCZEK POLAND https://www.instagram.com/waldemartluczek_waldzior/ “He And She, Neverending Story” 90x70cm Oil on canvas.
4th Place — Tie MICHAEL BLAIR DAVIES USA https://slomotionarts.artspan.com/ “Salome” 26x21" Acrylic & gold leaf.
4th Place — Tie CAMILLE VIZENA USA https://camillevizena.com/ “Our Hands Sow The Seeds” 36x24" Woodcut reduction on okawara paper.
5th Place — Tie JOLANDA RICHTER AUSTRIA https://www.jolanda.at “Lost Birds” 31.5x31.5” Oil & egg tempera, canvas.
5th Place — Tie TONY ALMEIDA USA www.artbytony.org “Blue Angel” 30x36” Mixed media on canvas.
6th Place — Tie SUSAN MOORE USA www.foreverendeavor.us “Ascension” 40x30" Acrylic on canvas.
6th Place — Tie CHAITALI. V. PURUSHOTHAMAN INDIA https://linktr.ee/11TimeWorldAwardee.vastu.astro “The 7 White Horses…” 60x40” Acrylic, canvas with 3D hand painted frame.
6th Place — Tie CHAITALI. V. PURUSHOTHAMAN INDIA https://linktr.ee/11TimeWorldAwardee.vastu.astro “Chakra Balancing Energizer For Higher Consciousness…” 32x48” Acrylic on canvas with 3D hand painted frame.
ART COLLECTORS can see the hundreds of winning images and corresponding contact info to all the artists here::
In 2024, ART COLLECTORS CHOICE AWARDS had submissions from these 62 countries: Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Denmark, England, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tobago, Togo, Trinidad, Turkey, United Arabian Emirates, UK, Ukraine, USA, Vietnam, Wales, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
20 international art collectors asked to score art:
Andrew Cameron & Marcus Hamilton — Australia
Jason Stuckless — Toronto, Ontario
Floyd M. Elwell, III — Rancho Mirage, California
Jan Gold — Roseville, California
Michael Gregg Michaud — Los Angeles, California
Judi Evans — Los Angeles, California
Alec Wilder — Los Angeles / Las Vegas / New Orleans
Eddie Dyer — Los Angeles / Las Vegas / New Orleans
Michelle Foglesong Wilson — Las Vegas
Thomas Zora — Las Vegas
Paul Iacono — Chicago
Ron Lundin — Naples, Florida / Chicago, Illinois / Vail, Colorado
Jay H. Brewer — Orlando, Florida
Celeste Miller — St. Petersburg, Florida
Alan McMullen — Fannettsburg, Philadelphia
Brian Townley — Waco, Texas
Blaine L. Richards-Miller — Wichita Falls, Texas
Aimee Unakis — Georgetown, Illinois
Karen Valentine — Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Mitchell Antesky — Toledo Ohio
