Bright colors contrasting with dark backdrops permeate the work of Marie Kavadias, a talented Chicago artist. Simple features, such as frequently caught spiders and shattered light bulbs, illuminate questions of hurt, fear and frustration. Deliberate strokes paint themselves into pictures, emoting feelings that words cannot describe — for her symbols, her visions are her deepest, truest communication.

 

Marie's humble attitude towards her work represent this gifted talent. She considers it to be vital self-expression and means for emotional survival rather than art. A visual learner, Marie's ability to draw manifested itself at an early age. As young as three years old, she remembers making "little drawings" as something she could always do. Emerging in art circles as a “outsider, twice-gifted, artist” she has beat the odds of her past history and come out a survivor.

 

Marie states, "Creating artwork is a tool that allows my emotions to be expressed authentically. To this end, I use chalk and oil pastels with my hands. I assign a different color to each finger. The direct contact of fingers to paper allows me to express myself more freely and candidly".

 

The artist coordinated “Learning Disabilities and the Arts,” an art exhibition and lecture event which was featured on a special ABC tv news segment. She also produced “Offbeat Destinations,” a multimedia experience showcasing the work of five Chicago artists. Marie was selected to be in ABD 15 an international show held in Long Beach, CA at Gallery A. She was one of 43 artists chosen out of three hundred and fifty from Europe, Canada, and the United States.

 

2014 has seen the artist so far in the Art On Hale, The Great Chicago Chalk Art Fest, EdgeFest. Upcoming shows include the Chicago Edgewater Art Fair and the Chicago Ravenswood Artwalk.  In 2013, the artist participated in the Black and Blue Festival a live art show featured in Montreal as one of the largests events held in Canada with over 9,000 visitors.

 

To raise awareness of sexual assault she will donate $50 from the sale of an original or print as a fundraiser for RAINN. She has also created a series of artistic notecards featuring her designs on the front and the National Sexual Assault Hotline number on the back. The cards may be purchased at: www.mariekavadias.com

 

Marie returned from a successful opening reception in 2009 within the Chelsea art district of New York. “The Path to Abstraction,” was an exhibition of the artist’s abstract work, which exhibited for a month at Agora Gallery which brought in record visitors to the gallery.

 

In 2007 the artist also participated in her first international show in Italy. The International Scientific Committee, composed of art experts, reviewed her artwork and invited her to participate in the sixth edition of the Florence Biennale. The contemporary art exhibition took place in Italy at the historic location of the Fortezza da Basso.

 

Marie has also exhibited in ABD 15 an international show held in Long Beach, CA at Gallery A. She was one of 43 artists chosen out of three hundred and fifty from Europe, Canada, and the United States.Other galleries she has exhibited at include Judy A Saslow Gallery, Chicago Labor and the Arts Festival, Chicago Cultural Center, Arc Gallery, and Liz Long Gallery in Oregon, Ravenswood Artwalk, Chicago, Mac Worthington Gallery, Columbus, OH.

Artist Marie Kavadias