About the artist:

Ari Gradus was born in a small village in Israel. He began painting at the age of eight, at which time his work already showed unusual promise. By the time he was twelve, he had won his first fine art award in Tel Aviv. After three years of army service, Ari came to the United States, where he completed his formal education at New York University. Shortly thereafter, he began to exhibit his work throughout the East Coast. In November 1968, Ari was invited by CBS-TV to be featured on a nationally televised program, “Look Up and Live”. Over the next years, the work of Ari Gradus became increasingly acclaimed and in demand. He received numerous awards and his work began to be in many important collections. In 1982, Ari’s work was chosen by the Washington Square Art Committee to tour the United States in a special travel award exhibition. In April 1983, he was featured on the nationally televised NBC-TV program “First Estate”. Articles about Ari appeared in the Ashai Journal, Japan in 1985 and in “Our Israel,” a Hebrew newspaper with worldwide circulation, in December 1989. Numerous other articles in various publications were to follow. In September 1990 in Memphis, Tennessee, Ari was a guest on radio station WKNO-FM on “Checking on the Arts,” and was interviewed on WMC-TV’s “Noon News”; his work was also featured on a special evening program on Channel 5 TV. In November 1990, Ari and his work was the subject of “A Road to Creativity,” a program aired on TV Channel 55 in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1995, Ari was featured on Channel 2 TV, Israel, in a special program “A Place Called Yesterday” and was a special guest on “Artist in the News,” PBS Radio, Wickford RI, in 1996. Since 1995 Ari Gradus has been included in “Who’s Who in America Art”. In 1996, Ari’s work was presented to the Mayor of Jerusalem, Ehud Olmert, in a special ceremony and is prominently displayed in the Jerusalem City Hall, where it is in the permanent collection. Ari has been commissioned by various private collectors and organizations to do special art projects. Among these are several large paintings, one of which is displayed in the entrance to Anshe Emeth Temple, New Brunswick, New Jersey, and an original oil of the New York Stock Exchange, which hangs in the office of N.C.Z. Commodities, Inc. on Madision Avenue, New York City. Ari’s work is in the permanent collection of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in NYC, as well as in the collections of numerous temples, Jewish community centers and corporations. Throughout his career, Ari has received many awards. Among them are: 2009 + 2010 - Ann Arbor Summer Art Festival — Best in Show 2008 - City of Skokie, I.L.— Merit Award 1998 - Washington Square Art Exhibit, N. Y. — First Place 1998 - City of Highland Park, Illinois — Best in Show 1997, 1996 - City of Boca Raton, Florida — First Place and Award of Excellence 1995, 1983 - Brooklyn Museum Arts and Cultural Association, New York — Best in Show 1994 - Greenwich Village Chamber of Commerce, New York — Award of Excellence 1993 - South Orange Chamber of Commerce, New Jersey— Award of Excellence 1992 - Montclair Art and Craft Guild, New Jersey — Special Award 1991 - Millburn Chamber of Commerce, New Jersey — Award of Excellence 1990 - Key Biscayne Art Festival , Florida — First Place 1990, 1989 - Garden State Cultural Council Award, New Jersey 1989, 1988 - Maurice Podell Historical Museum Award, New Jersey Ari’s work has been exhibited at: 2011 - Landscapes for Landsake, Cambridge, NY Gallery 2000, Coral Springs, FL Masterpiece Gallery, Boca Raton, FL Goldman Gallery, Rockville, MD Sansiao Gallery, Tokyo, Japan Art Expo, New York, NY Hilton Hotel Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel Brownstone Gallery, New York, NY Lever House Gallery, New York, NY Corey Gallery, Ft. Lauderdale, FL Alan Park Gallery, New York, NY Omanut Gallery, Jerusalem, Israel Citicorp Center, New York, NY The Chosen Gallery, Miami, FL Patricia Judith Gallery, Boca Raton, FL Shainberg Gallery, Memphis, TN Owl 57 Gallery, Woodmere, NY Other feature articles about Ari have appeared in publications such as: The Jewish Exponent, Philadelphia, PA (1998) The Jewish Living Magazine (1998) Baltimore Jewish Times (1997) San Diego Times (1995) Portsmouth, Ohio Daily Times (1994) The Sun Sentinel, Ft. Lauderdale, FL (1993, ‘92) Pittsburgh Jewish News, (1992) The Sunday Journal, Providence, RI (1991) The Cleveland News (1991) The Daily News, NYC (1986) The Miami Herald (1984) as well as in numerous Israeli newspapers and magazines. Major distributors who have handled Ari’s work include: Circle Fine Arts, N.Y.C., Los Angeles, Chicago AGE International, Denver, Colorado Arvern Art International, New York City Fine Art Acquisition, New York City Hollygraph, Hollywood, California Sansiao Gallery, Tokyo, Japan