At one colorful glance, you can almost taste the larger-than-life size chocolates and smell the rose and tulip blossoms.

"Chocolate and Flowers," a vivid collection of acrylic paintings on canvas by South Florida artist Reza, is a combination of two of his most recent series.

Realistic pictures of sweet-tooth heaven, with titles such as Reese's, M & M's and Chocolate Cherry Cake, are mixed with bright florals painted after the artist traveled to Holland last year to study flowers.

Reza, who was born in Presia, said his fascination with American culture from childhood has influenced his work.

"Candies were important to us. My father used to travel to the ports and bring us back chocolates. We'd save the wrappers," he said.

But he said his chocolate paintings, some of which are 6 feet wide, have other meanings, too.

"Every one of these items is industry in itself," he said, explaining that behind the candy bars are companies that employ hundreds of people.

That style of art, in which items popularized by mass media show up on canvas, is called pop art. It became popular in the 1960s.

Reza's florals are part of a collection he calls "Guns and Roses," which he said portrays the extremes of life and death. For an image of death, he hired a marksman to shoot bullet holes through canvases.

"We always hear about the gunshot, but never really see the villain," Reza said. "The villain is the bullet."

But Reza, said he really enjoys working with happy themes, like chocolates.

"I like to see the expression on a 5- or 6-year-old's face. They immediately recognize the picture," he said.

Reza, who lives on Singer Island near Palm Beach, started drawing at the age of 8. As a teenager he drew charcoal portraits of James Dean and other American movie idols. Although he said he had to be "pushed' ' ' into competitions, he won several awards for his work.

With no experience. except a portfolio of the work he had done at school, he found a job as a graphic artist.

He set up his own graphic arts business based in Washington, D.C., getting contracts with NASA and other government agencies. He said that by the time he left in 1984, it was a multimillion-dollar company. Against the advice of friends, he sold the company to pursue his love of painting.

"I always believed I could do it. You have to be born with the desire because the rewards are so small and the discouragements so many," he said. "I love this country very much. It is only in America that you can do what you want."

Reza's collection of 13 paintings is on display at Center Place through the end of the month. The exhibit is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

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Times photo - VICTOR JUNCO

Reza, whose works include the pop art M & M's has an exhibit at Center Place.