Samuel Centrella – Mixed Media Artist of the Year 2026

Jury motivation

Samuel Centrella is awarded for a powerful and uncompromising artistic voice. His expressive works unfold through gesture, layering and material experimentation, resulting in compositions that feel immediate and emotionally charged. The jury especially valued the raw authenticity of his practice and the way his intuitive mark-making creates works of striking vitality and depth.

Upon winning Mixed Media & Urban Artists of the Year, Samuel says:

"I was truly thrilled just to be selected as a finalist among the very talented artists in my category. It is a privilege to be considered alongside such talented artists from all over the world."

About Samuel's work

Samuel had taken a roundabout path to becoming an artist having been a dancer, actor, playwright and finally coming back to drawing. "When I was a kid, my grandmother gave me charcoal and sketch paper. Drawing became my life. I kept notebooks that I didn't show anyone because it wasn't about a presentation, it was about the act of drawing and creating. It came so naturally to me that I never realized it was something I could pursue as a career."

For Samuel, creating art is about giving viewers the opportunity to connect with something bigger than themselves: "Art is a dialogue. The best painters tell me exactly how they feel within the first two seconds of looking at their work."

"My art is a communication between the spiritual world and the human world." To Samuel, painting is a way to pursue his true identity. "I've worn masks all of my life. These days I search for the truth. I have found that in painting."