About Us
History & Background
Holmes Fine Art originated 1980 in San Jose,
California originally as Holmes & Associates, a business comprised
by founder Meryle Karloff-Holmes, and other art professionals whose
function was to serve as art-media advisors and consultants to private
and public companies, developers, architects, designers, and individual
collectors.
Ms. Karloff-Holmes created, organized, curated and marketed exhibitions
in public and private environments, collaborating with established
and recognized curators and non-profit organizations. In 1993, Ms.
Karloff-Holmes and her husband, Roy Holmes, established the Holmes
Fine Art Gallery as a retail business in downtown San Jose, serving
the people of San Jose and Santa Clara County.
Ms. Karloff Holmes recognized that being in Silicon Valley, which
is the capital of technology has some of the greatest minds and
resources in the world. It seemed logical to create an Institute
that would be a resource to the technical world, and inversely,
technology would be a resource for the art world. One of the greatest
needs in technology of the 90's was to enable artists as content
providers. Yet, artists did not have adequate access to the tools
of technology. This paradox has been resolved via Art Tech: The
Silicon Valley Institute of Art & Technology becoming a leading
resource for artists developing technical applications in multi-media,
education, entertainment, and professional and consumer areas.
Meryle Karloff Holmes
Holmes Fine Art: Founder / Partner (1980-present)
Native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
M.F.A.1972, B.F.A.1970, Maryland Institute of Art.
Studies at Cheltenham Art Center, Philadelphia College of Art, Tyler
School of Art/Temple University, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art,
and New York School of Holography. Founding member of the Museum
of Holography. Continuing Graduate studies in Arts Administration,
Art and the Public Sector, San Jose State University, 1982.
Ms. Karloff Holmes started art marketing in the early 1970's, on
the East Coast as a practicing artist. Her clients in New York City
included Bloomingdales, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Macy's. She became
artist-collaborator with the Museum of Holography's Marketing Director
Roy Holmes. Under Mr. Holmes direction, they created the first international
exhibition of holography at the International Center for Photography,
New York. In 1975, Ms. Karloff-Holmes became resident artist and
holographer for Roy Holmes' company, Holocom Industries in Westport,
CT. She designed the first holographic commercial displays for clients
such as RJ Reynolds and Wm. Este Advertising. On July 4, 1975, with
the Museum of Holography, they created a holographic spectacular
event for NYC at Battery Park and the Statue of Liberty for over
500,000 spectators.
In 1979, Holmes & Karloff married and moved to California.
In 1980 Ms. Karloff-Holmes founded Holmes Fine Art. In 1986, the
American Red Cross of Greater New York hired the Holmes' to liquidate
their AAA print collection, bringing the Holmes' back to New York
as bi-coastal residents. After being successful with re-introducing
the collection and moving the inventory they explored the broadcast
industry as a more effective way to market art. In 1987, together
they created and executive produced , "The Art Market Report",
a national & international weekly television art magazine, which
ran for three years as a flagship program for FNN (CNBC) cable and
PBS broadcasts.
San Jose, California in 1993, the Holmes opened Holmes Fine Art,
a brick and mortar 12,000 sq.ft. gallery downtown, later to develop
into Art-Tech: Silicon Valley Institute of Art & Technology,
a pioneering new-media non-profit organization. For thirty years,
Ms Holmes has been an artist, entrepreneur, art dealer, gallery
owner, consultant and collector. Trained as a sculptor, painter,
and holographer paving her path into new media.
Roy Bentley Holmes
Holmes Fine Art: Partner (1980-present)
Native of Marinette, Wisconsin
BS. 1960, University of Wisconsin
A successful background in sales and marketing in the high technology
sector, as an executive with Fortune 500 companies, and as an entrepreneur,
Mr. Holmes continues to explore opportunities of combining technology
with art, including his quest of the art in technology. He has been
an active business partner with wife Ms. Karloff Holmes for over
20 years including co-founding the Museum of Holography in New York
City, and has been active in innovative art programming, pioneering
FM radio and TV broadcasts, art sales and collecting, as well as
co-founding Art-Tech.
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