Semadar On Paintings, Art World Style And Pointillist Handbags

Semadar stands out whenever she attends an art opening—be it her own exhibition, or others. She is known for her outstanding style, from wearing Gucci to Dior and Louis Vuitton.

“I always believe in dressing up for an art opening,” said the artist. “Our professors at art school always taught us to dress up for art openings and to visit a museum; always dress formally when visiting a museum, wear a collared shirt, dress pants, a dress, or business casual attire, not jogging pants or flip flops. It’s a sign of respect for the artists and the art.”

The Canadian artist, whose full name is Santina Semadar Panetta, is based in Montreal, but takes a global approach to her artwork. This month, the artist has two exhibitions coming up, at the Art Expo New York opening on April 3 at Pier 36 and at Carlton Fine Arts on April 2, as part of an exhibition which runs until April 25.

“Creating an exhibition is like planning a wedding, it takes a year,” she said. “It takes time to make a new series of paintings, to plan the music, the food, the invites, just as wedding guests should dress up, so should guests of art gallery openings.”

Semadar has seen the fashion world crossover with the art world, from Louis Vuitton’s recent collaboration on a series of handbags with artist Yayoi Kusama, to Santiago Sierra’s collaboration with Balenciaga for their muddy runway at Paris Fashion Week, to JW Anderson’s Tom of Finland tote bags and Amoako Boafo’s portraits embedded onto cashmere Dior sweaters.

“Its great exposure for the artists, and a great way for the fashion community to learn more about artists,” she said. “Art and fashion are imminently intertwined.”

Semadar calls herself a “neo pointillist” artist who is inspired by the 19th century French art movement that was pioneered by artists like Georges Seurat and Paul Signac. The dot-like technique is small brushstrokes of color on a painting that create patterns and images when you stand back.

Her own unique take on neo pointillism is a way to wedge herself into art history. As the artist explains: “I love the Pointillism movement because it gave me the opportunity to write my own page in art history; I am an eternal scholar. I loved studying the language of my predecessors, the Impressionist, Pointillists, and transcended their rhetoric,” she said. “I add to the alphabet a new vocabulary, therefore creating the neo pointillism movement.”

The 19th century art movement was built on scientific discoveries of light and color. Some of the most famous pointillist paintings include Self-Portrait by Vincent Van Gogh, The Port of Saint-Tropez by Paul Signac and Bathers at Asnières by Georges Seurat.

“I have studied the pointillist Master’s formula, much like Seurat, Signac, Monet, Van Gogh, Pissarro and other masters of the Impressionism and Pointillism movements did in their own time and manner,” said Semadar.

“I transcend in the same technique to create the works, by juxtaposing a myriad of fragmented dots that blend together to achieve an optical image, and to express the core of the creations, that evolves in the eternal search of the divine existence and the ephemeral of time,” she adds.

At her New York exhibitions, she shows her neo pointillist portraits of stars like Bob Marley, Robin Williams and Marilyn Monroe, as well as her landscape works.

Next up, the artist is in converstions with major fashion houses for art and fashion collaborations, and she remains open to all types of collaborations, including talks with champagne brands.

Semadar recently expanded into handbag and furniture design with a capsule collection of items available for sale on her website. “I started it just for fun,” she said. The handbags are large tote bags of hand-painted pointillist artworks in what the artist calls “spring colors,” bright hues of green, blue, orange and yellow. The furniture depicts floral patterns and landscapes.

She coordinates each art opening outfit to complement her paintings at art openings and wears certain colors that are shown in each painting. “It’s one thing for the art to stand out, but the artist must as well,” she laughs.

Visit @semadar_art on Instagram.