Reiss' paintings evoke a life and magic beyond the two-dimensional. Known for both her sensitive portraits and lavish landscapes Reiss brings the joy of pure color and the white of canvas to infuse a space with light. Her subjects radiate from the canvas, whether human or still life.
As one of her portrait subjects put it, “Looking at this portrait, I was stunned that Vivian had perceived things in me I thought were gone. Unknowingly, but through her keen, insightful, artist's eye, she helped me re-discover key parts of myself ” Reiss' subjects range from celebrities of the Canadian and International creative communities to farmers living in rural Japan. “I love the Flemish primitives,” says Reiss about influences of her work, “especially how they put objects in their paintings that have a complex, coded meaning.” Her work is imbued with a rich symbolism unique to each subject she paints. She sites Frans Hals as an inspiration “for his bravado of brush stroke.” also a hallmark of her bold canvasses.
Reiss' portraiture is available by commission and arrangements can be made at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show to commission one of her unique works.
Another of Reiss' favorite subjects is her garden. “When I was younger I loved Monet and I couldn't imagine someone actually being somewhere so beautiful. As I became an artist, I realized that things become beautiful through the eye and the hand of the artist. Like Monet I have created a garden just outside my front door that has provided years of inspiration”.
Through her paintings, which can be seen as portraits of the garden she invites you to experience her natural world. Reiss' painting screens and 'garden rooms' re-create her garden anywhere, transforming any space into a botanical wonder and an oasis.
Fancy your own garden a work of art? Reiss can translate your horticultural art into her canvasses, giving you a unique portra
it of your most treasured space.
As well as inspiration, Reiss' garden has provided a dazzling array of edibles. As a pioneer of urban farming in Toronto, Ontario, Reiss grows a cornucopia of ingredients for the sumptuous dishes she creates. (A cookbook of her own recipes and photographs will be published shortly, visit www.vivianreiss.com for more information and she is working on a webisode series called Live Like Viv www.livelikeviv.com ).
“To me a garden is a growing force of energy and delight,” says Reiss, “like creativity itself!” The artist's garden has recently been featured in Ground the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects, American Style http://www.americanstyle.com/2012/03/artists-spaces-exuberance-lives-here/ and Edible Toronto.
New York born Vivian Reiss's work has been highlighted internationally including 35 solo shows including El Museo del Jardin de la Humanidad at the Gardiner Museum in Toronto. Her work stands in the collections of The Canadian Embassies in Washington and Paris, France, the private collection of the President of Hungary and former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Reiss was invited to create her “Satoyama Storehouse” for the Echigo-Tsumari Triennial, the largest international art exhibition in Japan.
Press features on the artist include numerous articles in Gioia Casa (Italy), House and Home, Canadian Interiors, Flare Magazine, The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, The National Post, Gardening Life, Edible Toronto, American Style and many more. For a full C.V. Please visit vreiss.com.
Join Reiss at The Architectural Digest Home Design Show in New York March 21 – 24 in booth M98.
http://www.archdigesthomeshow.com/
