Tour the $1 million art collection

Norfolk is a hotbed of arts and culture and when plans were originally developed for THE MAIN, the hotel's owners wanted to pay homage to this. Rather than filling the hotel with standard "hotel art", a vision was established to turn the hotel into an art gallery to be enjoyed by guests and locals alike. THE MAIN's owners spent over $1 million and an extensive amount of time curating the collection. The contemporary collection featured below, consists of 22 pieces. You'll find more than 100 pieces throughout the hotel so be sure to tour the art next time you're at THE MAIN.

Pink Skull

Artist Name: Brent Estabrook

Year: 2016

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Location: 1st Floor Gallery

Fun Fact: This is one of our “instagrammable” pieces in the hotel and frequently photographed/used as a backdrop for photos taken by our guests

About the Artist:

Born July 11th, 1985; Brent Estabrook grew up in Seattle, Washington and received a BA in Fine Arts from the University of Arizona and Doctorate of Dental Surgery (DDS) from the University of Louisville. Although he abandoned his dental profession the day after graduation, Estabrook's work benefit from his intense study of the human facial anatomy - as evident in his portraits and skull works. Estabrook's work has evolved alongside his life journey: struggles with school debt manufactured the series 'Minting Money'; the time wasted pursuing a degree he will never use highlighted mortality and encouraged his reawakening through 'Frivolous Pursuits'; and now, his achievement of a childhood dream (success as a painter) in the face of debt, doubt, and societal pressure has inspired his 'Perpetual Recess' stuffed animals. Estabrook has reinvigorated our love for fine oil paintings in an era that has been overrun by digital shortcuts, and me-too works created by sloppy stencils and copyright image appropriation. Throughout the various bodies of work, Estabrook displays an unrelenting focus on the detail and placement of every brushstroke. He's invented a science for color mixing and selection, and created works that captivate audiences of all ages and walks of life. Brent pays ode to the struggle and evolution he has experienced as a human, and artist. He hopes that this story, told through his works of art, will inspire others to negate the small road blocks and pursue what excites them in life… to follow their childhood dreams to do what undeniably makes them as happy as possible.

Jimi Hendrix

Artist Name: David Hollier

Year: 2017

Medium: Acrylic on Board

Location: 5th Floor Landing

Fun Fact: ‘Hendrix’ is from artist David Hollier’s ‘Imago Verbosa’ collection, meaning ‘an image made of words’.

About the Artist:

David Hollier is originally from Wolverhampton, England. He has been living and working in Brooklyn, New York since 2002, where he divides his time between painting and teaching at Parsons The New School in New York City. He sold his first painting when he was 15 years old and has been exhibited in solo and group shows around the world. He is represented in the States by New Apostle Gallery.

Susan Lillies in The Field

Artist Name: Michael Garlington

Year: 2016

Medium: Framed Photograph

Location: Day of the Arts Gallery Row

Fun Fact: Part of THE MAIN’s Burning Man Art Collection. Susan Sarandon is wearing a paper dress in the photograph.

About the Artist:

Natalia Bertotti and Michael Garlington reside in Petaluma, Ca. On any given day one can watch as they channel the horror and wonder of the universe into their creations. Come one, come all.

Free Fall

Artist Name: Jeff Robb

Year: TBD E-mailed artist to determine year on 7/15

Medium: Lenticular Photograph

Location: 21st Floor Empyrean Club Landing

Fun Fact: The galleries here are representations of lenticular photography that use a vertical lens array to present a stereo pair of images to the eyes.

About the Artist:

Since graduating with Distinction from the Royal College of Art in 1992 with a Masters degree in Fine Art Holography, Robb has continually made art, ceaselessly experimenting with three-dimensional imaging. Shortly after graduating, he was invited to submit a landscape work in to the V&A museum's permanent collection, the first ever hologram artwork to be accessioned by the museum. Robb's work now features in museums and private collections around the world.

Robb is currently best known for his lenticular photographic work focusing on the female nude and abstract forms in space, which he makes in series. The artist has recently begun to produce bronze sculptures working with the female nude, a subject familiar to him, using cutting edge modelling technology combined with historic casting techniques. This radical development is typical of Robb's open experimental approach in making art, using any combination of tools and technology available to him.

In parallel to developing lines of enquiry around the nude and abstraction in his lenticular work, Robb is beginning to work on projects which investigate how we experience sound, and large-scale kinetic installations for public spaces, museums and galleries. For many, these new directions will at first seem uncharacteristic. Those who are familiar with Robb's approach and what drives him as an artist will understand the significance of each project for him in testing possibilities with the lenticular medium, and creating new immersive experiences using three-dimensional imaging and cutting edge technology. This kind of experimental lenticular installation work is completely unchartered territory for artists.

Jeff Robb works in a variety of media including lenticular photography, painting, bronze and silver cast sculpture, reflection and transmission holography, photography, film, laser light and sound installations. The galleries here are representations of lenticular photography that use a vertical lens array to present a stereo pair of images to the eyes. They are 3D pictures without glasses. The screen images cannot convey the visual impact of the medium, so animations are used to simulate their 3D nature. While only eight images have been chosen for each gallery, there are many more images available in each series. Please visit or contact the gallery to see the full body of work. Jeff Robb is shown in galleries and art fairs around the world.

Solarius Copernicus

Artist Name: Natasha Kertes

Year: TBD

Medium: Grey and White Painting with 3D Horns

Location: 2nd Floor Gallery

Fun Fact: Was inspired by a piece that Bruce was drawn to at The Bazaar by Jose Andres (I believe that’s what I overheard during our art meeting – may need confirmation).

About the Artist:

Born in Russia, living in the United States, Natasha Kertes hones her photographic enterprise with sublime intricacy, delicate richness and incisive clarity.

After graduating from the Art Institute of Ft. Lauderdale (USA) in 2008 with the Best Portfolio award, she emerged on international art scene in 2011 with her elegant series of Fine Art portraits during a solo exhibition in Miami.

Joining emerging artists series exhibition at Miami Beach Botanical Gardens, curated by Irreversible Projects in January 2012, Natasha's entry expanded the boundaries of photographic art intervention with nature surroundings: - a unique installation of a large photograph within a tree in a pond.

During a trip to remote Mesopotamia in the summer of 2012, she shot an exquisite series of self- portraits in Mardin, Turkey, which were published in Art Basel edition of Irreversible magazine. Parts of the series were presented in Natasha Kertes solo exhibition at Carousel Studios during Art Basel 2012 and later in a group show curated by Irreversible projects at the Little Haiti Cultural Center.

In the winter of 2012 during Art Basel week her solo exhibition "FANTASTICO ERGO SUM. I DREAM. THEREFORE I AM "conjured disparate emotions and raw sensuality of a woman's beauty through a series of photographs that paid homage to the subtle ode of the exquisite light.

Natasha's work was showcased aboard SEAFAIR 2013 during the Miami International Art Fair, which led to her solo exhibition/art installation of AQUARIUS in May 2013. In September 2013 her Fine Art solo exhibition "PORCELAIN. PORTRAITS OF MODERN ANTIQUITIES" in the Wynwood Exhibition Center was named one of the best 10 art shows of the year in Miami, and resulting in Natasha's invitation to Art Scope 2013 during Art Basel Miami Beach in December 2013.

Natasha's additional national and international group and solo exhibitions include ART SCOPE MIAMI BEACH, SPECTRUM, MIAMI ART and DESIGN, ART MONACO 2014 with Hartinger Fine Arts (Awarded "MOST CREATIVE ARTS"), CARROUSEL DU LOUVRE 2014, Paris (awarded "BEST IN SHOW"), ART PALM BEACH, among others.

Kertes' visually stimulating conceptual style has been also embraced by the commercial world. Her campaigns for Yachts Miami Beach and Opustone marble won her advertising awards, and were featured on billboards on Florida highways. Her Client list includes Hard Rock Vodka campaigns, 150 Worth Avenue Mall, Marina B Bulgari, Dolce Vita Cashmere, Devolro car, Sofia Sherry Couture, Ema Savahl, Prestige Cosmetics, Oscar Garcia Lopez Couture. Her work is in demand for numerous editorials, magazine covers and publications, books and CD covers.

Dragon’s Dream

Artist Name: JD Miller

Year: ?

Medium: 3-Dimensional Oil Canvas

Location: 2nd Floor Gallery

Fun Fact:

About the Artist:

JD Miller's paintings engage with the senses in a unique way. Through the application of his trademark 3-D oil technique, Miller utilizes dazzling color and bold textural oil paint to reflect his life's journey.

Miller was born in San Diego, California in 1953. He spent his childhood studying music and art, eventually becoming a professional musician and jingle writer. In 1980, he completed his B.S. at the University of North Texas, followed by two years of graduate work in sculpture and ceramics. He then completed a seven-year apprenticeship with master oil painter, Liz Richardson. In October 2004, Miller co-founded the Reflectionist school, which is comprised of a group of artists who create art based on the Law of Attraction.

Miller is represented in numerous galleries and museums throughout the United States and is involved with multiple educational and charitable organizations. He is currently based in Dallas, Texas and operates out of his studios in the Dallas Design District. "I call myself a Reflectionist because I believe that the universe mirrors each of us in a unique way. My goal as an artist is to interpret that phenomenon, and my art is a multidimensional reflection of life and the way I perceive the world."

Chinese Rice Paper

Artist Name: Zhuang Hong

Year: ?

Medium: Mixed Media on Rice Paper

Location: 2nd Floor Gallery

Fun Fact: I remember Bruce telling the story about the piece getting damaged upon arrival and the artist being so kind to replace it for us.

About the Artist:

Born in 1962 in Sichuan Province, China, Zhuang Hong Yi lives and works between The Netherlands & Beijing. The flower motif dominates Zhuang Hong Yi's work - a significant image in Chinese culture which carries countless meanings and emotions yet with equally strong associations with the Netherlands, world famous for its flowers - and he works patiently and religiously on this subject year after year, intricately crafting his works with care and forethought. Zhuang's well known and highly collected 'flower bed' works are crafted from delicate pieces of painted rice paper, which he has bent and folded into hundreds of tiny buds.

Zhuang has developed his technique from working with a single uniform colour to creating dual- and multiple-coloured works that subtly shift from one dominant colour to another as you move your body and eyes from one side of the work to the other, adding movement, contrast and surprise to the works. Using the traditional Chinese material of rice paper, the works represent Chinese aesthetics, meditations on colour, nature and form, whilst the emphasis on technique and uniformity and the focus on his handling of material are all lessons adopted from the Sichuan College of Fine Arts, where he first studied.

Zhuang's painted canvases bear the influence of Impressionism and other Western artistic practices. Working with a freedom of style, as if liberated from his native country's well-established artistic traditions and boundaries, his impasto strokes of daring, bright colours are expressive and unconfined. Colours melt together and paint drips down the canvas, seeping over a collage of delicately unfolded rice paper flowers. The almost sculptural three-dimensionality makes these works both painting and object. Messiness, variety and chance are all embraced, drawing the viewer in, encouraging contemplation as they immerse us in a tapestry of colour and form.

Contemporary artist Zhuang Hong Yi is based in the Netherlands but was brought up in China. It is this combination of Chinese background and European influence that marks Zhuang Hong Yi's work. Embracing his present without losing his past, he attempts to define a sense of self that exists between the two. Zhuang enacts this personal struggle visually, vacillating between phases of controlled planning, emotional gesture and careful editing, creating works that represent beauty, sophistication and a perfection.

Zhuang Hong Yi has exhibited throughout Europe and China and his work is held in numerous esteemed public and private collections worldwide and has been the subject of multiple museum exhibitions at Groniger Museum, Groniger and the Netherlands.

Appetence

Artist Name: George Charriez

Year: 2016

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Location: 2nd Floor Gallery

Fun Fact: This piece had purpose. Bruce chose the location of the piece to shock and awe. His hope was that guests would stop and stare at the photo due to its scandalous pose – in that moment, they would realize that the art in the hotel was more than just “hotel art”, but a gallery.

About the Artist:

"By replacing the faces with objects, I project the identity of the figure, making the object or symbol the main theme of each work. My work opens a conversation about how identity can be seen from the outside" - George Charriez

George Charriez grew up in Newburgh, New York. Deriving inspiration from his artist family, Charriez committed himself to art at a young age. He studied at Savannah College of Art & Design and the Pratt institute. In addition to painting, Charriez worked as an illustrator and industrial designer, which contributed to his skilled and precise style of painting.

Much of his work illustrates modern perceptions of the human condition. He paints to inspire dialogue with his artistic commentary. The work of George Charriez has been successfully exhibited both nationally and internationally. He is actively painting and creating in Atlanta, Georgia.

Birkream

Artist Name: Becky Rosa

Year: 2015

Medium: Fiberglass and mixed media with automotive paint finish

Location: 2nd Floor Landing

Fun Fact: This funky and playful piece was purchased during one of Bruce’s trips to Miami and is a favorite among our visitors. The piece portrays a Birkan Bag dripping into a bright pink ice cream cone.

About the Artist:

Becky Rosa was born and raised in London, United Kingdom. Becky began her career through her streetwear brand; BRC STREET COUTURE (2013), a luxe label relying solely on her provocative designs. Selling worldwide, she became internationally recognized for her controversial style of manipulating pop culture icons and logos. Becky is responsible for the creation of designs such as Moet & Cocaine, Birkream, Chanerries, Habibi Dubai along with many others.

In 2015, Becky created her first sculpture, entitled 'Birkream'. And almost 6ft tall resin and fiberglass Hermes Bag melting on an ice cream cone, into a puddle base. Since then Becky has become renown for creating works focusing on delivering her provocative messages, focusing on consumerism, societal issues, fashion, current affairs and conflict. Becky does this through multiple mediums including sculpture, street, pop, appropriation and conceptual art.

Since her debut in 2015, Becky has received a significant amount of interest and private commissions, as well as awards, in 2015 she was the peoples choice winner of the Bombay Sapphire and Rush Arts Artisan Series. In 2016 she was sponsored to create a large public mural incorporating the 'Birkream' in Wynwood, Miami. She has also collaborated with other artists and media outlets such as COMPLEX.

Becky continues to extend her oeuvre creating unique designs and expressing them through multiple mediums.

Tree of Life “Ujamma”

Artist Name: Created in Masssai, a Tanzanian Village in Africa

Year:

Medium: Hand carved out of Ebony

Location: 1st Floor Gallery

Fun Fact: The Tree of Life or “Ujamma” in the native tongue is a Makonde carving made from Ebony depicting life in a Tanzanian village.

About the Artist:

The Tree of Life or "Ujamma" in the native tongue is a Makonde carving made from Ebony depicting life in a Tanzanian village. The carving was purchased and shipped from Africa by the owners of THE MAIN. It took 9 years and 8 months to hand-carve this piece out of Ebony. Bruce was inspired by this piece during his trip to Africa, and it serves as the substantial centerpiece of our first-floor gallery.