Not many would have made such an unprecedented move to the industrial neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles from the serene beauty of Carmel California or the idyllic island of Capri, Italy where artist Lilliana Braico at one time shared a studio with her painter husband, the late Leo Braico. She is among those residents who settled and are bringing to life what was once the industrial hub and home to much of LA's homeless to what has now become known as the Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles.
For the past 20 years she had maintained her gallery, the Lilliana Braico Gallery, in Carmel, Ca. She initially came to Los Angeles just to visit and was impressed enough with the creative energy of the community to make a quite spontaneous decision to pull up stakes and move into a loft here. The Arts District also borders "Little Tokyo" and in recent years her work became immensely popular in Japan. Braico has sold over 500 original paintings through one woman shows at Mutsukoshi and Shikigaro galleries there.
Those works however, were the paintings of Capri landscapes or the vivid florals that she was known for. It is this representational painting that she was wanting to move away from and the move to downtown LA however impulsive, has had its effect on her painting. Since coming here she has completed dozens of large canvases of bold abstracts that pay homage to the city skyline looming over the post industrial neighborhood where she currently lives.
Please visit www.lillianabraico.com
Traveling to Europe with Patricia for a summer of study, she later ended up with on the island of Capri and with her late husband, set up a studio and stayed for seven years. “I started in abstracts but once in Italy, The subject matter was so enthralling I wanted to get it on canvas, so I went too figurative painting”.
Summers in Capri she spent working in her studio. In winter, the couple retreated to London and Paris to gather resource materials and to study the old and modern masters. Lilliana considered herself highly inspired by artists such as Giotto, Matisse, Bonnard, Dufy and Kandinsky.
“I was in Paris in the “60s and spent weeks absorbing a special showing of the Fauves and Expressionists. I couldn’t wait to get back to my Capri studio to start breaking all my “tonality” rules. My color sense came alive, and I haven’t been the same since. This unleashed exploration of color has been my greatest joy”
Although she did finally return to the States and to Carmel, the incredible beauty of the Mediterranean scenes is evoked in many of the canvases in her gallery. She maintained her Capri studio but devoted the next 20 years to painting her vibrant canvases in her studio above her gallery in Carmel, working in both oils and acrylics.
Her work is much admired and in demand from overseas clients. In 1995 she had the first full scale Asian exhibitions in Kyoto, Tokyo and another in Seoul, Korea. More recently she was under exclusive contract with Shikigaro Galleries in Tokyo who also arranged solo shows in the world famous Mitsukoshi Department Store Galleries throughout Japan. Her Asian shows met with great success.
Lilliana still finds a special delight in meeting her collectors in her own gallery and knowing where her artwork is going. It’s the same desire to be in touch with those who appreciate the beauty of her work that takes her into client’s homes for commissioned pieces. This extremely productive artist, who continues to venture into new directions with larger canvases, floor screens and her new collection of abstracts, is often called upon by interior designers. For those who love her work but can’t afford a painting, limited addition prints and museum quality posters are available. Soft spoken, her expression tinged with a modest lace of anxious hopefulness that her art work is pleasing, Lilliana looks around her new studio in the LA artist district where she recently has relocated to. “Visitors say they feel so good when they walk in here, the color is so uplifting. I consider myself a colorist – it’s my joy, it’s what I do”. At her studio, this joy is reflected with great sensitivity on every canvas gracing the walls.
Publishers:
Art in Motion, Vancouver
Day Dreams, Indianapolis
Main Floor Editions, Los Angeles
Art Print Japan, Tokyo
Tokyo Nichido, Tokyo
Main Floor Editions
Gallery Shows:
Lilliana Braico Gallery, Carmel, Ca.
Left Bank Gallery, Simons Island, Geogia
Seagull of Capri, Capri Italy
Braico/Lewis Gallery, Carmel, Ca.
Wharf Gallery, Monterey, Ca
Urshult Gallery, Urshult Sweden
Ane Elizabeth Gallery, Chicago, Ill
Zantman Gallery, Palm Desert
Sunset Center, Carmel, Ca.
Cambell-Knox, Tuscon, Az
Kahill Rubins Designs, San Francisco, Ca.
Iron Rose, Sonoma, Ca.
PJ Designs, Sausalito, Ca
Gallery Greco, laguna Beach, Ca
Tsutaya Gallery, Kyoto, Japan
Mee Kim gallery, Seoul, Korea
Shikigaro Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Asto Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca.
International Art Festival, Seoul, Korea
Museum Exhibits:
Monterey Museum "Miniatures"
Dallas Museum "Beaux Arts"
Asto Korean Museum, Long Beach, Ca.
Corporate Collections:
Day Dream Calendars Inc.
Anthony Federico Corp, Chicago, Ill
Agree Designs, San Diego, ca.
Spectrum Economics, Palo Alto, Ca.
Bing Grae Co. Ltd, Seoul, Korea
Martin, Ferrante, Monterey, Ca.
Publications:
California Art Review, Chicago, Ill
Game and Gossip Magazine, Carmel, Ca.
Buying the Best Magazine, Carmel Ca.
Guest Life, Carmel, Ca.
International Arts, Seoul, Korea
Art Business News, New York, NY
