Edward Abrams, an artist and resident of San Diego, California, has again won the first-place award in the continuingly competitive January 2022 San Diego Watercolor Society (SDWS) Member’s exhibition “The New Purple is Black”, an in-gallery show of the SDWS at 2825 Dewey Road in Liberty Station, San Diego, CA. Abrams’s painting entitled “Z1” was selected by prominent local artist and juror Linda Doll for this honor, out of 220 entries. Doll said of the painting, “It is extremely difficult to capture the personality and the soul in a portrait like this artist did. Technically it is exquisite, but emotionally and visually it is very exciting. The large shapes, the middle shapes, the small little shapes in the hair, the light on the figure, the eyes. They say you can see a person’s soul through the eyes, and I feel that I know this person just by looking at this painting. I think it is absolutely gorgeous.” Abrams has been a recent regular in the San Diego Watercolor Society member exhibitions, as well as a frequent award winner.
Abrams also received another high honor on the national art scene with the acceptance of his painting “Untitled” in the prestigious Salmagundi Club Gallery’s “Figurative Show” in New York at 47 Fifth Avenue, New York, on exhibit between January 10 to the 28, 2022. This painting was done from a photo he took through his studio window a local dumpster divers. He looked so focused and intent. Abrams has named it “Untitled” because it left you free to draw your own conclusions. The Salmagundi Figurative Show can be seen on-line at https://www.artsy.net/show/the-galleries-at-salmagundi-2022-figuratively-speaking-exhibition?sort=partner_show_position.
Edward has always been an artist. As a young boy in Cleveland, he saw an exhibit of Henri Matisse and started art classes. He studied at the Cleveland Institute of Art and was there included in exhibitions, juried by prominent artists. As a matter of practicality, his first job was with American Greeting cards where they nurtured artists and encouraged them to do outside exhibits. When Edward moved to Los Angeles, he worked in advertising and became the Graphic Design chief of a major department store, winning many awards in the L.A. area and from the American Advertising Federation. When the work in advertising became too narrow for him, he moved out into broader work, freelancing so he could put his painting skills to work. and he did many award-winning jobs for major publishers including Harcourt Brace, Westways, Atlantic Monthly, and Capitol Records, where he painted portraits of classical composers. Edward’s list of awards and accomplishments are too numerous to list. Spanning from the 1980’s to 2020 he has been recognized for his excellence as an artist and illustrator on an international level. More of his work can be found at http://www.abrams-art.com/artist.html
The SDWS Gallery Exhibit will run through Saturday January 29, 2022 at the SDWS gallery at 2528 Dewey Road in Liberty Station. Paintings can be viewed and purchased from the gallery as well as on the SDWS website at https://www.sdws.org/galleryart.php?cat=6964.
ABOUT SAN DIEGO WATERCOLOR SOCIETY
The San Diego Watercolor Society, a 501(C)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1965, is dedicated to expanding the appreciation of and involvement in watermedia painting through education, exhibition and promotion. More information can be found at http://www.sdws.org.
ABOUT SALMAGUNDI CLUB
The Salmagundi Club is a professional and social club, created in 1871 by artists and patrons to support one another. It is one of America’s oldest arts organizations with more than 1,100 current members throughout the United States and abroad. The Club has continuously championed representational art from its founding with iconic members, including: Thomas Moran (1837-1926), N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945), and Winston Churchill (1874-1965). Today’s members and recently past members are some of the most recognized names within representational art. The mansion on Fifth Avenue hosts hundreds of yearly art exhibitions, painting demonstrations, lectures, concerts, group meetings, classes, workshops, fellow member organization exhibitions and art auctions.
