World’s Best Surrealists Named By America’s 25 Best Galleries: ŻYNGIEL, LEE, VODESIL-BARUFFI, PROMIŃSKA, GALICANO, PURUSHOTHAMAN, MINKEVICIUS, PARK, HADJINIKOLOVA & KANG / 2021 AMERICAN ART AWARDS

Thom Bierdz
6 min readOct 3, 2021

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.

America’s Best Galleries & Museums scored almost 2,000 works in 50 categories from 64 countries.

Winners in Category 40 are from POLAND, USA, AUSTRALIA, PHILIPPINES, INDIA, LITHUANIA & BULGARIA.

BIO OF 1ST PLACE WINNER: Krzysztof Żyngiel-artist, painter of Polish-Lithuanian origin, born in 1982 in Częstochowa. Winner of numerous national and international competitions. In 2005, the artist graduated from the Academy of Jan Długosz in Częstochowa, he defended his diploma with honors. In 2005, he received a distinction from Tomasz Sętowski for a drawing showing “a fantastic vision of a baroque female bust”. For many years he has been taking part in numerous exhibitions in Poland and abroad.

One of the most interesting experiences for Krzysztof Żyngiel was presenting his work alongside other Polish painters at the Metamorphoses exhibition. The works of over 60 artists came from the private collection of the Kruzyce family. Krzysztof Żyngiel was recognized as one of the 13 most popular Polish painters of the young generation in 2009. In 2010, the artist was officially included in the group of the world’s greatest painting artists. Undoubtedly, a distinction in 2017 was the nomination from Mondial Art Academia for its ambassador in Poland. The selection was made by an international group of titled and well-known artists from all over the world. At the same time, in 2017, Mondial Art Academia released an album of world painting, where she published two works by Krzysztof Żyngiel. She also awarded him a silver medal in the international surrealists’ competition for the painting “Oceanic Gravedigger”. In 2018, the painter joined the Association of Polish Artists and Designers and started using a pseudonym and signing his works as Animus. www.krzysztofzyngiel.com

BIO OF 1ST PLACE WINNER: Gian Lee was born in 2004 in New York City. She currently attends high school at the Academy of the Holy Angels in NJ and is planning to study art in college. She enjoys working with different mediums and exploring new types of art. She has won a few awards so far including regional awards from the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards as well as the Congressional Art Awards.

ARTIST CONTACTS FOR ART COLLECTORS:

Category 40. SURREALISM

1st Place-Tie KRZYSZTOF ŻYNGIEL POLAND www.krzysztofzyngiel.com “Enchanted Laboratory” 100x130cm Oil on canvas.

1st Place-Tie GIAN LEE USA 22_glee047@holyangels.org
“Forbidden Still Life” 18x24" Oil paint on board.

2nd Place-Tie JANA VODESIL-BARUFFI AUSTRALIA www.janavodesil.com “Crossroads” 121x100cm Oil on canvas.

2nd Place-Tie MARTA PROMIŃSKA POLAND www.martaprominska.com “Beyond The Gates” 100x100cm Oil on canvas.

3rd Place ROMULO GALICANO PHILIPPINES www.romulogalicano.com “The Apocalypse” 96x90" Oil on canvas.

4th Place-Tie KRZYSZTOF ŻYNGIEL POLAND www.krzysztofzyngiel.com “Psychomusic” 80x120cm Oil on canvas.

4th Place-Tie GIAN LEE USA 22_glee047@holyangels.org
“Left Behind” 24x18" Acrylic on canvas.

4th Place-Tie CHAITALI V. PURUSHOTHAMAN INDIA 24x24" cv.artist.painter@gmail.com “Shades Of Life Through Music” Acrylic.

5th Place GIAN LEE USA 22_glee047@holyangels.org
“Eyes Of The Beholder” 18x18" Pencil and colored pencil on bristol paper.

6th Place-Tie RYTIS MINKEVICIUS LITHUANIA https://minkeviciusart.lt/ “Evolution” 100x70cm Oil on canvas.

6th Place-Tie GAEUN PARK USA parkga28@gmail.com
“Nature Of The Human Relationship : The Way How To Love Each Other” 18x24" Acrylic painting on board.

6th Place-Tie ELEONORA HADJINIKOLOVA BULGARIA kartini.e.h@abv.bg
“Enemies Before They Become Friends” 115x100cm Oil on canvas.

6th Place-Tie ALYSSA KANG USA artistbonkoo@gmail.com
“My Childhood Bike” 18x24” Pastel on paper.

Click below to see the relaxing hour-long movie revealing 2021’s hundreds of winning artworks:

Artworks from 59 countries won among the 50 categories: paintings, drawings, photography, digital and sculpture. (Americans won more because Americans entered more since the competition is better known here.)

Number of winners per country: Argentina 1, Australia 12, Belarus 2, Belgium 2, Brazil 3, Bulgaria 2, Canada 30, China 85, Croatia 2, Cyprus 1, Denmark 2, England 2, Finland 1, France 7, Georgia 3, Germany 18, Ghana 1, Greece 3, Hungary 2, Japan 1, India 10, Iran 1, Ireland 1, Israel 1, Italy 14, Kazakhstan 1, Kuwait 2, Latvia 6, Lithuania 27, Macedonia 5, Malaysia 2, Mexico 2, Moldova 1, Morocco 1, Netherlands 3, New Zealand 1, Nigeria 8, Norway 1, Oman 1, Pakistan 1, Philippines 5, Poland 8, Republic Of Korea 12, Romania 2, Russia 45, Serbia 1, South Africa 8, Spain 11, Sweden 3, Taiwan 7, Thailand 1, Turkey 3, Uganda 1, UK 10, Ukraine 5, USA 264, Uzbekistan 1, Zambia 1, Zimbabwe 2.

ART COLLECTORS: all winning images and corresponding contact info of all the artists will soon be uploaded to this page:

This year’s 25 Best Galleries & Museums asked to vote on art were:

BEST IN ARIZONA: Exposures International Gallery of Fine Art

BEST IN CALIFORNIA: Revolver Gallery

BEST IN COLORADO: Mirada Fine Art

BEST IN FLORIDA: Art Fusion Galleries

BEST IN HAWAII: Sunshine Arts

BEST IN ILLINOIS: Trickster Cultural Center

BEST IN IOWA: Moberg Gallery

BEST IN KANSAS: Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery

BEST IN KENTUCKY: E&S Gallery

BEST IN LOUISIANA: Jonathan Ferrara Gallery

BEST IN MASSACHUSETTS: Boston Sculptors Gallery

BEST IN MISSOURI: Hilliard Gallery

BEST IN MONTANA: Dana Gallery

BEST IN NEBRASKA: Kiechel Fine Art

BEST IN NEVADA: Metropolitan Gallery Las Vegas Art Museum

BEST IN NEW JERSEY: Evalyn Dunn Gallery

BEST IN NEW YORK: LIK SOHO

BEST IN NEW MEXICO: GF Contemporary

BEST IN NORTH CAROLINA: The Arts Council of Fayetteville| Cumberland County

BEST IN SOUTH CAROLINA: Mary Martin Galleries Of Fine Art

BEST IN SOUTH DAKOTA: South Dakota Art Museum

BEST IN TENNESSEE: Stanford Fine Art

BEST IN TEXAS: Ao5

BEST IN WASHINGTON: Maryhill Museum of Art

BEST IN WEST VIRGINIA: Parkersburg Art Center

ENTER OR GET AN OFFICIAL GALLERY RATING:

www.AmericanArtAwards.com

--

--

Thom Bierdz

One of Medium’s TOP ART CONTRIBUTORS, award-winning author, actor, film-maker, painter. 12 books: 6 on art. President of WAA & AAA & ACCA.