About The Artist

Hi, I'm Jerry Cantwell, a New York-based painter. My formal art training began at New York University in the Studio Art Program, and I completed my fine art education at the National Academy of Fine Art in New York City, where I studied painting and drawing under Serge Hollerbach. I consider him the master teacher who most influenced my development as a painter and artist.

Through his instruction, I explored both the classical and modern masters — Michelangelo, Rembrandt, and Cézanne, alongside modernists like Van Gogh, Rouault, Modigliani, Albers, Morandi, Rothko, Matisse, and Milton Avery. That blend of classical technique and modern sensibility continues to shape how I approach painting and drawing today.

Art Training

New York University
Art Therapy / Studio Art (Painting)
1982 – 1984

National Academy of Fine Art (NYC)
Studio Art (Painting)
1983 – 1986

Appalachian State University
Art Education/Studio Art (Painting)
1986 – 1988

Exhibitions

  • New York University (NYC)

  • National Academy of Fine Art (NYC)

  • Catherine Smith Gallery (Boone, NC)

  • South Florida Arts Center (Miami, FL)

  • Nth Gallery (Boone, NC)

  • Creekside Gallery (Foscoe, NC)

  • Reid’s Cafe (Banner Elk, NC)

ARTISTIC PHILOSOPHY

“I strip the design to essentials: The facts do not interest me as much as the essence of nature”. ~Milton Avery

My artistic philosophy is to strip down the image to it’s psychological essence through perspective, form and color. Something that connects us all. Through my art I attempt to guide the viewer into a space where the ego relaxes, the breathe is even and a graceful truth is revealed. The copy of a master drawing; the face of a shocked child clutching a mother’s hand; a man mopping a subway platform with noble intent; three cows in a field, a majestic cardinal in winter and an old chevy truck are all silent images for me of captured grace. I try to take perspective and show it where both light and form make sense. Each form is a meditative state. I want the viewer to have a sense of going into the painting and being silent with the figure. I simply like to describe my drawings and paintings as “Silent Spaces”.