An appreciation for art is important because art can help inform others how we address the major social issues of our times, says Floyd Elmore. Elmore is a multifaceted individual. He’s not only the founder, president and co-owner of Colosseum Art Gallery, located at 7946 Ivanhoe Ave., but he has a degree in electronic engineering, is a talented abstract artist, publishes books and is an avid reader of philosophy and an ancient civilizations buff. “Art is the first to tackle many issues, for instance our modern concerns about the course of technology and mass communications,” said Elmore, who oversees the gallery with his partner, Richard Sertuca . Colosseum Art Gallery is named after the ancient Roman Colosseum and its current holdings include: Russian artists Vachagan Narazyan and Dimitro Dmyshyts, England-based Daniel Van Der Putten, Romanian artist Irini Negelescu, local photorealist Dennis Day and movie actress Jane Seymour. Elmore said Colosseum gallery is unique among La Jolla galleries because it carries everything. “We are not limited by category or genre like some of the other galleries in La Jolla,” he said. Narazyan’s paintings are bluish-gray pastel-colored works featuring circus and Louis the XIV characters. Foreground disappears into background in Narazyan’s work, which is playful yet sophisticated and serious. Fellow Russian Dmyshyts also works in a playful manner with circus characters. Both Russian artists worked underground early in their careers because of the threat of death for producing art that did not follow the state’s official style of Soviet realism. Van Der Putten, who was born in Rembrandt’s town in the Netherlands, uses an Old Dutch technique with extreme colorfulness and precision. His details are so fine that it appears he uses single hair brushes. Elmore said Van Der Putten’s work is “the best art in the entire city of San Diego.” Also on view: a collection of Dennis Day’s realistic paintings of attractive young women, a small sculpture by Jane Seymour and two paintings by Negelescu from her “Women in the Water” series. On view at Colosseum are also Elmore’s paintings, which he works on when he has a spare moment in his busy work schedule. Influenced by Salvador Dali and René Magritte, they are of eye-catching abstract geometrical forms and fractal designs, resembling maps and biological processes. Elmore’s interest in ancient history is guided by its parallel to modern times. “Although we have come so far, we are facing the same issues and the same paradigms as ancient people did,” he said. “Knowing how the ancients dealt with their problems can help us today.”