Grey Cube Gallery proudly presents the third Skies online art show for the month of April 2022. The show encompassed a range of artistic styles and mediums (oil on canvas, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, ink, photography, digital). Each submission has been judged based on the following elements of artistic expression: orginality and quality of art, overall design, creativity, interpretation of the theme, demonstration of artistic ability and usage of medium. Out of all entries, 111 artworks were shortlisted for inclusion in the show. The competition attracted entries from many countries across the world: USA, Canada, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, France, El Salvador, Belgium, Hong Kong, Germany, Italy and Switzerland. Enjoy the show and thank you for expressing an interest in our competition.

In the images I submit I explore intervals of time and space in the different cities I travel, and in my daily life. I look up and the sky makes me dream. Sometimes the surrounding environment offer an immediate single view into multiple planes of time and space, and at other times I take advantage of the camera's capacity to record 16 consecutive shots in on single frame to create instantaneous compositions and grids.

Nero Cosmos is a conceptual artist, who invites the viewer to see the world through the eyes of a machine. His work focuses on ideas of perception and transformation through Artificial Intelligence and allows him to explore the reciprocal relationship between humans and machines. Interested in how consciousness changes in digital space and affects daily life, Nero Cosmos uses data collection, machine learning techniques and algorithms through Generative Adversarial Networks to create images and videos in a constant state of metamorphosis. Inspired by the aesthetics of life forms and solid structures reflected in the digital realm, his artwork combines a large quantity of image and video-based sources. Due to the training of the Generative Adversarial Networks model, the artist loses temporarily control as the algorithm takes over the creative process. The machine and the artist are intentionally forced to collaborate and exist in constant symbiosis. Consequently, the unpredictability of artificial intelligence generates results influenced by technology and brain-constructed reality, breaking the viewer’s perception into a multitude of possibilities. The more images involved, the more spontaneous the results. Through visualizations of these outcomes, Nero Cosmos creates work that mediates between a real and an abstract world, seemingly creating threads of logical patterning in the midst of random and chance. Nero is studio member of playform.io (artificial intelligence platform) and editor of the digital magazine bubmag.com. He has exhibited his work not only in Switzerland but also internationally, mainly in Europe. He graduated in design technology from the Zurich University of the Arts. Nero Cosmos is based in Zurich, Switzerland.

I was born in Russia where I studied drawing and paintings, and for me Russian avant—garde movement is a source of the inspiration. I trying to apply these principles in my landscape paintings to depict seasons in New England. The theme of skies is fascinating me especially in contrast of the woods colors, and skies with their deep blue and wide horizon. I tried to use spirals to fill up a big area of canvas and concentrated the attention to variety of blue colors of skies.

While making photographs in the field, I often find myself suddenly stopped in my tracks, with awe and wonder, struck by content that is visually stunning, unique in form, lines, patterns, or color. Focusing on initial impact and improvising throughout the edit process, I explore in depth the inconspicuous, so that subjects surface unforeseen, strangely pleasing. Total involvement, complete immersion, becoming a part of the circumstances and outcome motivate me with powerful force. Losing myself in this universe, in this creative process becomes my entire world. My final fine art print is a personal narrative that goes beyond the literal, creating a new reality - to provoke a reaction. Based in Houston, Texas and Ennis, Montana, I am a travel and nature photographer, having photographed worldwide for many years. Since 1999, I have been an active member of Professional Photographers of America (PPA), becoming a Certified Professional Photographer in 2015, a Certified Master Photographer in 2021. Additionally, I am an active member of the Texas Professional Photographers of America and the Professional Photographers Guild of Houston.