Amer Kobaslijaavailable works
Amer Kobaslija Originally from Banja Luka, Bosnia. Escaping the Bosnian War in 1993, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Düsseldorf, Germany. Later immigrating with his family to the United States, he settled in Florida in 1997. With a BFA from Ringling College of Art and MFA from Montclair State University in New Jersey, he is currently a professor of painting at the University of Central Florida.Kobaslija’s paintings are meditations on spaces and environments. He has created series based on travels to artist Balthus’ studio in Switzerland as well as the 2011 tsunami zone in Japan. Beauty is a preoccupation of his, and a particular quality of his works is the generous painterly treatment he gives to otherwise abject settings. Kobaslija's recent body of work looks at the landscape of his adopted home of Florida. The paintings reflect his appreciation of its culture and people, coupled with concerns over the impending effects of climate change and urban sprawl on natural environments.Kobaslija has exhibited internationally and participated in residencies including Brig, Switzerland in 2017. In 2019 he was shortlisted for the Florida Prize for Contemporary Art by the Orlando Museum of Art. Other awards include a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2006 and a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2013. His work is in major public collections such as the Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga; Staten Island Museum, New York; and the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brussels, Belgium.