Introduction

International Contemporary Masters had its beginnings in Greece, in the International Art Festival of Chania, an annual event that attracted the participation of hundreds of artists from all over the world. It was an extraordinary sensation to stand in the vast exhibition hall, a 16^th century Venetian arsenali which had once housed hundred-oared war galleys, and to see hundreds of completely dissimilar works of art created by people of completely different backgrounds and mentalities, each its own scintillating world unto itself.

Another strand in the ancestry of this undertaking was the international artists’ workshops which we organized from Omma Centre of Contemporary Art in Chania, Crete, where each year between 20 and 30 artists, again from all over the world, would gather and create together, while learning from each others’ techniques and perspectives, at the end of which there would be an exhibition of the works created there. One thing which was perhaps unique about these workshops was that there was no leader or guide. Each of the participants was simultaneously both teacher and student. The chemistry was very interesting to behold, and it was clear that the workshops were an unusual and valuable experience for all those who took part.

A third element that was influential in the formation of the present book was the themed exhibitions which we organized at Omma. This began with our very first show, a pop art retrospective, with works by Warhol, Lichtenstein, Rauschenberg, Nikki de Saint Phalle and others. This was a phenomenal beginning for a little art gallery on a Greek island, partly the result of a stroke of luck, it must be said, but it certainly opened our eyes to the magnificent syntheses that could be achieved from a presentation of disparate elements. We followed this with a number of group exhibitions by contemporary artists from a particular country: Romania, Turkey, South Korea, Israel, and the UK, among others. What was particularly interesting about these shows was that underlying the apparent disparity of the works were some often unexpected common elements. While one would expect certain commonalities of mentality, it was interesting to see the lingering influences of the prevailing directions and tendencies of art schools – for example the long arm of Chagall and his sense of narrative among Israeli artists, and the pursuit – and attainment – by Russian artists of a technical excellence long overlooked in the west. Or the pursuit by Greek artists of three-dimensional, sculptural effects in painting.

Finally, in addition to the personal shows we organized at both Omma galleries, there was a long series of international group shows, with between four and eight artists, each from a different country. Again, each was a kaleidoscope which created a unique and often completely unexpected effect on the viewer.

However, while offering the immediacy of the works themselves, any art exhibition, however large, is ultimately constrained by bounds of space and is usually ephemeral, unless it is in a museum. We saw that one of the most interesting things that came out of the Festivals was the catalog. So the next step was the thought of a book, or rather a series of books that would continue this endeavor, but on an even wider scale.

The result was International Contemporary Masters, and when we first conceived it, the goal seemed almost absurdly ambitious: to encapsulate in a series of books a cross-section of all the really good art that is being created today, all over the world, covering all the visual arts that can be presented on the page of a book: painting, mixed media, sculpture, constructions, photography, lithography, prints, digital art, and anything new that might surface. We conceived it as an annual publication that would grow and grow.

One interesting development in the world of art that International Contemporary Masters was both influenced by and now actively contributes to, is that there are no longer any real centers of the art world today, in the sense thatParis and New York once were. This is not to say that cities like Berlin or London are unimportant as centers of art. But important and interesting art is being created over the whole planet, and we consider one the main missions of this publication is to showcase the global nature of art.

Our criteria for inclusion were basically two: to be chosen, any work had to show a certain originality of concept or idea, and the execution had to be technically proficient. The history of the artist was not so important; in fact, we were particularly interested in unknown and young artists or self-taught artists without any real track record. These are the people who are really breaking new ground. We have remained faithful to these simple principles – which has the virtue of ensuring a certain consistency - and we think they are vindicated by the results.

This third volume now seems to be attaining critical mass:  over 230 artists from nearly 50 countries, with nearly 400 works of art. More important, the art world – first and foremost, artists themselves, gallery owners, museum curators, collectors and critics – is beginning to realize the worth of such an ongoing presentation, and the value of this particular presentation. We plan to keep International Contemporary Masters growing constantly, and giving a ever more comprehensive depiction of the whole span of the visual arts today.