Tony’s Art: Loud, Colorful, and All-Embracing

Tony Seker (Photo by Cagatay Okutan) Tony Seker (Photo by Cagatay Okutan)

A talented abstract painter whose vivid and vibrant art exists in three dimensions simultaneously. Tony Şeker is a New York-based multicultural artist who was born in Beirut, Lebanon in 1961 while his father was working at a multinational company. Due to the critical and unpleasant situation in his home country, caused by the civil war in 1975, Tony Şeker’s family had to migrate. First, they moved to Europe than settled in Ohio. He studied math in France and had an MBA degree from Rutgers University. He moved to Cliffside Park, NJ in 1977.


After graduation, he worked at Deutsche Bank and established a company that provides big data to hedge funds. Still, he has some shares at the company.
“The war in Beirut affected my art life deeply. They definitely became the drivers for my style and method today,” he says. He points out painting is not only hobby for him but also a deep passion.
Tony Şeker's art is dynamic and bursting with color. He is very active on the art scene with multiple exhibits each year and is the recipient of numerous juried awards. He participated in exhibitions in Hoboken, NJ, Soho, Utah and Piermont, NY. Lately he had an exhibition at Galerie Sonia Monti in Paris, France from December 2020 to March 2021 and he had an art show at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building at TOA 5th Awards ceremony in November 2019.

He explained that leafing through an edition of the Guinness Book of World Records– another childhood pastime – he discovered that Lebanon held two world records: One of them is the largest bank robbery and the other one is the most car horns, or klaxons, sounded per minute per square kilometer. “As a kid I always enjoyed the sounds of Beirut,” he says.
At his abstract paintings, it is easy to see his childhood memories from Beirut. He points some car horns on one of his paintings which is exhibited at one of New Jersey’s skyscrapers. He smiles and adds: “I still remember those cars’ horns and this has affected my art as well. They were a strange mixture of street vendors chanting, cars honking and chickens clucking, but somehow, they seemed to combine to produce a fantastic symphony. I felt that the sound ran in parallel to my artistic expression – loud, colorful, and all-embracing.”
He visited Beirut twice in 2006 and 2016 and spent some time at the places he spent his childhood. He found a photography film among the abandoned items at his family’s old apartment. The audio was fine but the image was damaged. It reminds him of his childhood and his eyes shine with joy while talking about it.

He has several prizes on different occasions such as The Artistic Excellence Award for "Hint of Tobacco with a Floral Finish" and Circle Foundation for The Arts - Featured Artist in Lyon, France. He was runner up at the 38th International Artavita Online Contest- Santa Barbara, CA.

HIS LATEST EXHIBITIONS
Galerie Sonia Monti (Paris, France) - December 2020 / March 2021
Piermont Flywheel Gallery - "Turning a Page" group Exhibit - Sep 17 thru Oct 21, 2020
"2020 Vision" - Group exhibition - West New York | July 2020
Hoboken Arts - Juried Online Exhibit & Fundraiser
Featuring "Gabbana Fever" - Hoboken, NJ | May 2020
"Life Is A Cabaret" - Sandy Bennett Gallery at Bergen Performing Arts Center - Englewood, NJ