
Tim Cantor (born August 10, 1969) is an American self-taught
surrealist artist and writer. Tim was raised in
Marin County, California
Marin County is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and ...
and began painting at the age of 5 using a box of
oil paints and brushes that were his great-grandfather's. Tim's great-grandfather was the English Artist, Lloyd Dundas Whiffen (1885-1951). His first oil painting was created at the age of 5. When Tim was 15, he won a
Bank of America achievement in arts award. Also at the age of 15, Tim was given his first gallery exhibition where one of his paintings was acquired to hang in the
White House. Tim has since had exhibitions in
Athens,
Tokyo,
Singapore,
Paris,
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
,
Beverly Hills, and
San Francisco. He currently has galleries in
San Diego,
Sausalito, California, and
Amsterdam which are dedicated to his vision and his art. Cantor currently lives and works in
Southern California.
Works
Tim Cantor paints in oils on a variety of different surfaces. He learned on his own since early childhood, almost exclusively in oils. However, he often uses other media such as
watercolor and
charcoal
Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...
to create studies for larger compositions. Tim has a traditional style using brushes and paint.
Many of his works are based on his own fictional and non-fictional stories and poetry. These stories, he says, mostly come to him during the long process of creating the paintings.
Exhibitions
Tim Cantor began showing his paintings professionally at the age of 15 when he was honored with the
Bank of America achievement in arts award. At his first show,
Senator Barbara Boxer presented the award and then chose a painting to hang in the
White House. The early publicity created a demand for his work. After finishing high school in Marin County, he began traveling and exhibiting his paintings in galleries and open-air events throughout the Western United States. After seven years on the road he decided to display his paintings exclusively in fine art galleries and then in 2000, Tim Cantor established Ashby Galleries. Ashby Galleries and Ashby and Alfred publications are devoted exclusively to Tim Cantor and display his work year-round. One of Tim Cantor's paintings is in the permanent collection of the
White House. Some of his well-known collectors include baseball player
Bob Scanlan, football player
Dhani Jones, actors
Terrence Howard,
Robert De Niro
Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...
,
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the List of awards and nominations received by Robert Redford, recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award from four nomi ...
, director
Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born October 9, 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and actor. He directed the Academy Award–winning fantasy films ''Pan's Labyrinth'' (2006) and ''The Shape of Water'' (2017), winning the Academy Awards for Be ...
, actress
Maggie Q and the rock band
Imagine Dragons
Imagine Dragons is an American pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, consisting of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. The band first gained exposure with the release of their sing ...
.
Tim Cantor and his artwork were on tour with the band
Imagine Dragons
Imagine Dragons is an American pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, consisting of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. The band first gained exposure with the release of their sing ...
for their
Smoke + Mirrors North American Tour. Most of the
Imagine Dragons
Imagine Dragons is an American pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, consisting of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. The band first gained exposure with the release of their sing ...
North American tour stops will feature a SMOKE + MIRRORS ART GALLERY in the venue, showcasing original album and single art by Tim Cantor and immersive new mixes
Imagine Dragons
Imagine Dragons is an American pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, consisting of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. The band first gained exposure with the release of their sing ...
album featuring DTS Headphone:X technology.
In 2016, Tim Cantor exhibited his art in New York City. The exhibit, Titled "Tim Cantor: Sweet Favour & Fiend", could be seen at AFA Art Gallery in Soho, NYC through August 2016.In 2019, Tim Cantor released his Yesteryear exhibition.
In the winter of 2019, The Tim Cantor Gallery of Amsterdam, located in a 17th century building in the core of Amsterdam, opened with has a collection of Cantor's works. On March 17, 2021, Tim Cantor, in a partnership with Terra Virtua ltd the world's first fully-immersive entertainment platform, took six of his traditional oil paintings and enhanced them using animation techniques to bring them to life.
Spring 2021 brought a Live NFT Art Exhibition with Artist Tim Cantor. It was the first-ever live virtual reality exhibition with Tim Cantor who is the man behind the
Imagine Dragons
Imagine Dragons is an American pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, consisting of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. The band first gained exposure with the release of their sing ...
2014 album, stage designs and video, 'SHOTS'.
Publications and media
In 2005 Tim established Ashby Galleries and Ashby and Alfred Publications and also published a book in 2005 titled ''The Art of Tim Cantor''.
Harvest Productions, in 2011, released a releasing a short film looking at the Art of Tim Cantor. This film features interviews with Tim and Amy Cantor, as well as some of his closest collectors.
In June 2011, Tim Cantor and his piece "Beauty's Privilege" were featured on the cover of San Diego's City Beat Magazine. The article discusses his gallery in San Diego as well as his work on a new book and a new collection of art and writings.
Tim Cantor is currently (January 2012) the featured artist on the website of Fear & Trembling Productions. Fear & Trembling Productions is a not-for-profit company whose goal is to work with a select group of talented singer/songwriters as their Artist Development Manager to help them gain recognition by the recording industry. They have recognized Tim Cantor's gallery due to the fact that in his galleries Tim uses soothing background music to allow each viewer of his art to absorb and interpret the beauty of his art undisturbed.
On November 3, 2012, over 3000 people attended Tim Cantor's 2nd major book release and exhibition of new works at his Gaslamp Gallery in
San Diego. His new book is titled, "Tim Cantor, Paintings & Writings Book II".
In 2015, Tim Cantor’s work was featured in the Imagine Dragons Smoke + Mirrors North American, European and Asian tours.
Recording Artist
Bebe Rexha features Tim Cantor Art in her video for her song "Sabotage" from her Album Better Mistakes.
Evanescence features Tim Cantor Art in their video for their song "Across the Universe" .
Projects
In May 2010, Tim Cantor was asked to participate in a project called Art Meets Fashion. In partnership with the San Diego Visual Arts Network (SDVAN) and Fashion Opportunities Connect US (FOCUS), The Art Meets Fashion mission is to initiate collaborations between established fashion designers and visual artists of excellence, to showcase the creativity in San Diego, and to encourage local teens to be involved in the Arts.
Tim and international fashion designer,
Gordana Gehlhausen
''Project Runway Season 6'', premiered on Lifetime on August 20, 2009, the first season to be aired on that network. The production of this season started in September 2008 and finished the pre-finale filming on October 17, 2008. It is the onl ...
have been inspired to create works of art which express an emotional impression of loss, love, and ultimately- finding beauty in the midst of tragedy and adversity. Along with Gordana, Tim will be working with David Hartig, a photographer who will document the various steps involved to nurture an idea into a work of art and Denise Bonaimo (educator/ visual artist) will create a lesson plan that focuses on drawing from life experiences as the inspiration to create works of art with emotion.
This project continued through 2011 and included fashion shows and exhibitions of the team's final projects including a VIP fashion show at the
San Diego International Airport in April 2011. The Art Meets Fashion Event hosted a VIP fashion show on Thursday, April 28, 2011 at the San Diego International Airport Series of independent exhibitions for each of the teams 3 hubs including NTC Promenade at Liberty Station, North Park and Downtown San Diego. Beauty's Privilege project was exhibited at Shop Goga in downtown San Diego in April 2011.
On September 23, 2014, Cantor began working with
Imagine Dragons
Imagine Dragons is an American pop rock band from Las Vegas, Nevada, consisting of lead singer Dan Reynolds, guitarist Wayne Sermon, bassist Ben McKee and drummer Daniel Platzman. The band first gained exposure with the release of their sing ...
for their second studio album, ''
Smoke + Mirrors''. After meeting the band and becoming inspired by the music and lyrics of their upcoming single, Tim Cantor created artworks for each song of the album. All three singles released – "
I Bet My Life", "
Gold", and "
Shots" – feature the paintings as cover art. The paintings are included in the limited edition of the album. The artworks make appearance in the band's music video of "Shots".
In June 2016 Tim's Art was exhibited at the AFA Gallery in SOHO New York. "Tim Cantor: Sweet Favour & Fiend" at AFA was a showing of Tim's oil paintings which offered a disquieting remix of historical Renaissance canvases.
In March 2021 Tim Cantor partnered with Terra Virtua - the world’s first fully immersive digital collectibles platform announces today an exclusive partnership with world-famous artist, Tim Cantor, which will see six of Tim’s incredible oil paintings brought to life through animation.
In March 2021 Tim Cantor also joined the Digital Arts NFTs Space. According to a press release shared with Altcoin Buzz, Tim Cantor has enlisted the support of top digital collectible firm Terra Virtua with plans to transform six of his oil paintings into digital art pieces (NFTs). Terra Virtua is known as the first-ever immersive digital collectible platform in the world.In November 2021 Tim Cantor’s En Pointe is transformed into an NFT for the first time with Terra Virtua.
References
External links
The Art Of Tim Cantor Official WebsiteAFA Art Gallery NYC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantor, Tim
Living people
American male artists
Artists from California
20th-century American artists
21st-century American artists
1969 births