Charles Billich Pages:
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Charles (Carlo) Billich (born 1934,
in Lovran, Istria, then in Italy, now part of Croatia) was named
Artist of the 1996 Summer Olympics. He is the recipient of the 2000
Sport Artist of the Year Award presented annually by the American
Sport Art Museum and Archives.
He was named Designated Artist 2001
Centenary Nobel Peace Prize.
Inspired by his work entitled The
Beijing Cityscape, the official image for the successful Beijing bid
to host the 2008 Olympic Games, Charles Billich conceived a
sensational series of images based on the Bing Ma Yong Terracotta
warriors. So well received was this work that the Bing Ma Yong
images are represented on a collection of 16 postage stamps
currently in circulation in China, adding to the cultural worth of
this collection.
Charles Billich's exceptional
spirit and talent have been forged by many dramatic personal
experiences in a career spanning some forty years and have taken him
to the highest pinnacles of artistic success, among which he counts
the honour of having his work hung in the The White House, the UN
and the Vatican.
Billich paints and draws in all
media and sculpts in precious and semi-precious metals.
He paints from what he sees around
him. Ballet and sport, architecture and town planning, eroticism and
classicism, portraiture and stage, all provide the imagery of his
work, and always in a way that challenges the norm. Sport and
movement have always been conduits for the immensely talented
Billich and much of his work is fuelled by these inspirations. As a
fitting balance to this, Humanitarian pieces and works of religious
significance are also within the focus of the Artist. Colour, drama,
compassion, humanity, the distilled elements of artist Charles
Billich life and work, generate the visual impact of his
internationally acclaimed achievement.
"Humanity United" is a stirring
creation from a brief extended to him by the Australian Red Cross to
commemorate the 2001 Centenary of the Nobel Prize for Peace. It was
a brief made poignant by the deprivations suffered during a youthful
incarceration as a political prisoner in former Yugoslavia which
ended only with the intervention of the Red Cross.
Billich was further honoured when
Dr José Ramos-Horta, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs and
Cooperation for Timor-Leste, requested he paint their Independence
painting to honour the determination, courage and patience that the
Timorese people have shown in their successful bid for independence.
Then, in June 2004, Billich again
fused humanity and fine art when he exhibited at the United Nations
Headquarters in New York. Hosted by the UN Friendship Club and in
another first for an Australian Artist, Billich has been invited
back with his "Humanity United" collection in September 2006.
Inspired by his work "The Beijing
Cityscape", the official image for the successful Beijing bid to
host the 2008 Olympic Games, Charles Billich has conceived a
sensational series of images based on the Bing Ma Yong Terracotta
Warriors. These world heritage listed historic treasures have been
transposed through the art of Billich into images of the New
Millennium, imbuing them with a new life and an everlasting future.
The collection of images, portray the Bing Ma Yong Terracotta
Warriors in a series of fabulous sporting compositions challenging
the conventions of space and time.
Fostering further his commitment to
China and Beijing 2008, in June 2004 Billich completed "Jubilation
China's 100 Year Olympic Dream Realised" - a piece depicting the
triumph, joy and celebration that followed the announcement of
China's victory in the quest to be the next Olympic host nation.
His Olympic involvement continues
and in this vein Billich created a symbolic cityscape painting of
the 2008 Olympic Water Sports Venue Qingdao, which has been
presented to the Mayor and the Beijing Olympic Committee in Qingdao
in July 2005.
Demonstrating that his skills and
imagination have no boundaries on the playing field of sports art,
Charles Billich also created "The World In Union." This is the
official image of the Rugby World Cup 2003. It captures the essence
of a great sporting event together with an artistic design that is
unmistakably representative of the host nation.
Charles Billich has received the
coveted "Honorary Citizen of Atlanta" and the Key to the City during
the Centennial Games; the title Sports Artist of the Year 2000, an
Honorary Doctorate and the "Order of the Eagle Exemplar" - three of
the world's most prestigious awards from the United States Sports
Academy and American Sport Art Museum. In 2004 he has also assumed
the role of Trustee of this premier sports education facility.
Moreover, Charles Billich has been decorated with the Olympic Gold
Order by the French Ministry of Sport for his contributions to the
French Olympic Team during the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
A master craftsman, he has
exhibited at some of the world's best venues, has been an honoured
guest and resident artist on many occasions and the recipient of
many prizes, such as the Spoleto Prize in Italy. His editions and
originals adorn boardrooms, galleries and collections across five
continents.
Charles Billich dreams of a
"peaceful, harmonious world, its values determined by compassion and
human inherent nobility of spirit."
see also:
Billich Charles
