A sudden flash of bright, vivid eyes. A toss of exquisitely styled hair. These are timeless moments when we encounter high fashion, and artist Anja has caught them all and more in her truly remarkable new body of work mixing both classical and contemporary ideas of fashion. Anja specializes in large-scale portraiture featuring beautiful, expressive women, and her images have the power of enticing viewers and leading them to interpret a variety of meanings in each expression.

Born in Belgium in 1969, Anja Van Herle combines a European sense of high fashion in her artwork with an American sense of wonder. Her childhood years were devoted to exploring the fundamentals of her art using crayons, pencils and watercolors. In 1987, she enrolled in Belgium’s Higher Institute for Art Education where she earned a Master’s of Fine Arts in Painting. In 2003, Anja relocated to Los Angeles, where she now concentrates on figurative paintings that are inspired by both classic and contemporary fashion while exploring issues of identity, emotion and human interrelationships. As timelessly chic as Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Anja’s women are playfully sexy, and their expressions and eyes tell stories that go far beyond the simple exhibition of fine fashion. In Anja’s masterful hands, fashion becomes alive. “These women-they feel.”

“My work is an attempt to capture the complexity of emotions that are conveyed in the human face. I’ve been painting portraits since I was a child, continually drawing closer to the face and eyes in order to explore the emotions they contain. There’s a story behind every face; my paintings are an attempt to tell these stories by capturing delicate facial expressions and juxtaposing them with vibrant color and the dramatic interplay of shadow and light that both inform my subjects and maintain their enigmatic aura. I’m constantly delighted by the various interpretations my work receives. For some, a subject may be pensive, while to others it may be seductive or confrontational. Part of the viewing experience is for a viewer to attach his or her own emotional meaning to a work.”

Selected Exhibitions:

Jack Gallery, New Orleans, French Quarter, January, 2010
Michael J. Wolf Gallery, San Diego, CA June 2009 – Present
Arty Gallery, Los Angeles, CA August 2009
White Orchid Gallery, West Hollywood, CA July 2007 – July 2009
The Lurie Gallery, Beverly Hills, CA October, 2008
James Gray Gallery, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, CA Oct.-Nov. 2007
NOHO Gallery L.A., North Hollywood, CA November-December 2006
Girari Contemporary Art, Beverly Hills, CA October-December 2006
Juried Exhibitor, Malibu Arts Festival, Malibu, California 2006
Juried Exhibitor, Affaire in the Gardens, Beverly Hills, California 2006
Juried Exhibitor, Affaire in the Gardens, Beverly Hills, California 2005
Solo Show, Diest Provincial Museum, Diest, Belgium 1995
Solo Show, Da Carlo Gallery, Heusden, Belgium 1994
Juried Exhibitor, Antwerp City Art Council, Antwerp, Belgium 1992

Selected Collections:

Jordan McGraw & Dr. Phil McGraw, Los Angeles, CA (Dr. Phil)
Jamie Kennedy, Los Angeles, CA(Scream, Malibu’s Most Wanted, Boiler Room)
Fred Savage, Los Angeles, CA (The Wonder Years)
Ben Savage, Los Angeles, CA (Boy Meets World)
Cassandra Mann, Alfred Mann Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
John Calley, John Calley Productions, Los Angeles, California
Scripps Research Institute, San Diego, California
Siegfried & Roy, Las Vegas, Nevada
Warren Beatty, Los Angeles, California (Bonnie & Clyde, Reds, Bulworth)
Deaniemel Custom Jewelry Designs, Beverly Hills, California
The Glowacki Group, CPA Financial Planners, Los Angeles, California
Randall Davis Company, Houston, Texas
Weytjens Optical, Brussels, Belgium
VanWassenhoven-Vangenechten Architects, Brussels, Belgium
Spar Supermarkets, Beringen, Belgium

Bibliography:

Bluff Magazine, August, 2006.     Advertising Artwork, Image: ‘Focus’
Cardplayer Magazine, Vol. 19/No. 13 July 11, 2006. Advertising Artwork, Image: ‘Focus’
Belang van Limburg, Chris Craps, May 9th, 2005.