A few words
About The Artist
History
The Art and Talent of Marinella
Marinella paints both Greek icons and beautiful oil paintings on canvas of flowers using vibrant colors. Born in Zurich, Switzerland in 1975, her Greek sense of beauty is inspired by a deep sensitivity for the painters of the Italian Renaissance.
Drawing from early childhood, at the age of 15 she bought her first canvases and oils. In 1998 she moved to Chania for two years, in a convent where she studied icons, clearly demonstrating her natural talent for color.
Upon her return to Switzerland she experimented with many styles and techniques, in 2004 she started a series of extraordinary floral oil paintings. Having found her particular language , based on traditional techniques but with a decidedly modern sensibility, images simply flowed out of her with an ease that only highly creative people can experience.
She found the reaction of those lucky enough to see her works strange as, “these paintings relax me”, “they give me a sense of peace and tranquility”, “the personal symbolism reflects a spirituality rarely seen in today’s art”, strange because that’s what she felt while she was painting them.
2007 is the year in which Marinella decides to be ready to become a professional artist. She opened her atelier-gallery in Switzerland and her works are now visible in several online art galleries. In 2008 her paintings could be seen on display in New York, Germany, Austria, Canada, Luxemburg, Italy and Switzerland.
Marinella is to be considered an emerging artist, however, with her knowledge of Renaissance techniques, her talent for colour and the deep and powerful reaction people have towards her paintings, she will not remain unknown to the international artistic public for long.
Milestones
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1975:
Marinella was born on March 8 in Zurich, her mother is Cretan, her father is Sicilian
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1985:
She discovers art thanks to her older sister's art book and begins to paint
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1990:
She paints her first oil paintings
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1994:
Solo art exhibition EVAG (Winterthur) Zurich
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1996:
Solo art exhibition, Credit Suisse, Zurich On commission he paints a scenography, 8m x 3m, for a rock concert in Zurich
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1997:
Her daughter Irini is born
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1998:
She studied Byzantine art for two years with a Romanian nun in a convent in Chania, Crete
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1999:
On commission she painted the Chapel of San Raffaele in Profit Ilias
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2000:
She returns to Zurich where she lives as an artist, painting icons and experimenting with different styles and techniques
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2004:
She moves from Zurich to Ascona and begins a series of oil paintings of flowers
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2005:
Birth of her son, Nico
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2008:
Beginning of the conception of a project consisting of 8 large paintings inspired by Byzantine art, 100cm x 160cm, "embracing forgotten values"
Art Exhibition, The Artist Fair, Miami Beach, Florida, United States
Art exhibition, Kunstmesse of Salzburg, Austria
Deepens her knowledge of Byzantine art and culture
Art exhibition, "Visionary Artists for Tibet", Sihl City, Zurich
Art exhibition, Palm Art Award, Leipzig, Germany; where they said "we don't like religious art, however what you do is stimulating, it is not traditional, it is Byzantine contemporary art"
Art exhibition, FIMA Art Fair, Montreal, Canada
Art exhibition, Kunstmesse Grenzlos, Feldkirch, Austria
Personal exhibition, "Forgotten values", Marinella-Art, Locarno -
2009:
Personal exhibition, "Inspiration Ascona", Al Topazio Gallery, Ascona, Switzerland
Meet prof. Zöe Zauartes, expert on Byzantine culture
Art exhibition, Galerie Kleiner Prinz, Baden-Baden, Germany
Art exhibition, "Bildende Kunstler", Colmar, France
Art exhibition, "Certificate of Excellence" from Art Domain Gallery, Leipzig, Germany
Art exhibition, International Art and Style Fair, St. Gallen
Personal art exhibition, SPAZIO ARTE images, Cremona, Italy
Meet the Italian art critic prof, Gian Luigi Guarneri -
2010:
Personal art exhibition, Hotel Europa, St. Moriz, Switzerland -
2011:
Art Exhibition, Books and Art, Muralto, Switzerland
Art exhibition, "Theater Basel dankt", Theater Basel, Switzerland
Personal art exhibition, ARTIUM ART GALLERY, Luxembourg
Embracing forgotten values "was exhibited at the church of San Biagio, Bellinzona -
2012:
Personal art exhibition, Bellinzona Regional Hospital -
2013:
Art exhibition, Open Art Roveredo, Switzerland
Kunst Forum International, Casadintella, Italy
Art exhibition, Swiss Artist Contest 2013, kunst Forum International, Meisterschwanden, Switzerland
Study Resins in Milan and start working and experimenting with resins on paintings, floors, furniture and sculptures -
2016:
Solo exhibition, "The state of the soul in the 21st century", Raiffeisen Locarno, SWICA Locarno -
2017:
Studies mosaics at a mosaic school in Ravenna
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2018:
Moves to Crete -
2019:
Start working on the mosaic wall (15m x 2m) -
2021:
Finishes the mosaic wall -
2021:
Studies ceramics in Crete -
2022:
Creates new website
Opens an online shop
Start planning to open the Marinella Mosaic Workshop in Crete with her daughter - 2023: First exhibition in Greece, at the old Turkish Hammam in Chania, Crete.