Born in Montreal, Elisabetta attended Dawson College in Creative Arts where she experimented with colours, collages and paints. She then obtained her Interior Design degree at LaSalle College where she painted nudes, experimented with sculpture, faux-fini and found a profound passion for negative-positive space.
In her early adult life Elisabetta’s attraction to bright colors led her to experiment with acrylic, which became her medium of choice. It’s in 2006 when she finally presented her first complete acrylic on canvas collection: 22 portraits, beautifully colored faces aptly entitled `Various Faces`. With their tremendous eyes and exaggerated lips, this collection of unknown faces was linked and brought to life with bright colored paint strokes that revealed nothing less then the profound beauty and sensuality of women.
Three years later in 2009, Elisabetta presented her second art collection with a style more defined. Many compared it to the work of Andy Warhol due to the familiar celebrity subjects but Elisabetta’s technique set them apart. Tremendously inspired by the Pop Art of the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s, Elisabetta painted famous blondes ranging from music stars to movie stars. A series of 30 paintings of acrylic on canvas finished with a layer of epoxy and rightfully named Blonde Icons. Elisabetta has since presented several other collections including ‘Iconic Brunettes’, ‘Blondes vs. Brunettes’ & ‘Nelligan’, a collection commissioned by Montreal’s famous Nelligan Hotel and honoring the life of French Canadian poet Emile Nelligan. Elisabetta has been commissioned to paint portraits for such recognized personalities as Muhammad Ali, Celine Dion, Larry Walker & the Kardashian sisters just to name a few. Elisabetta’s fascination with the pop culture of yesterday and today inspires her to push her art and experiment with new visual mediums.
`Since my younger years, I have always been enthralled with the hope of sharing my personal outlook of the world of cinema, beauty, glamour and celebrities while dreaming of experiencing it as they do. I create work that is now motivated by my related experience of the alluring entertainment world. My paintings immortalize the preconceived expectations of beauty. My previous work dealt with the contrasting of fragility and aggression of ones constant battle with oneself and the fabricated image of splendor of a mediated world. My images are not a sincere study but more of a generalized idea.
`I present suggestive images of women particularly in a sensational approach, at times in rebellious behavior and at times in fragile state. Beneath the surface of some of my colorful chaotic paintings lies an overwhelming dark subtext; the provoking practice of judging human beings by standards having no basic relation to their quality. This loss of innocence visibly demonstrates the ever-changing character of life itself. I am less attracted in reproducing an exact or realistic portrayal of a photograph but more the way mass media would perceive it.
`In my latest work I was stimulated by some of the world’s greatest artists of yesterday and today. Recreating famous portraits, my images are frequently influenced by the pop culture of the 1950s. Perceived in a distinct manner by each being and possessing a powerful emotive quality, color is at the heart of my work. I choose to fill each one of my canvases with carefully orchestrated shades and tints creating images that leave a soothing sense of pleasure to the observer. It is in our capacity to distinguish and to differentiate images that allows beauty to subsist. The definition of beauty is shattered by society and is reborn in art.` Elisabetta Fantone.
