20 Jay Street, Suite 616
Brooklyn, NY 11201
718.625.0080
Audrey Anastasi
Birch with Face, 2011 Mixed media 23 x 29 inches
ARTIST STATEMENT
Most of my work focuses on the human face, figures, animals and nature. I prefer direct observation, and I work very rapidly. In 1990, I abandoned the facility of working with my right hand, in order to begin painting afresh with my non-dominant left hand. Accepting the challenge of this new struggle enabled me to work intuitively, respect the spontaneity of the paint stroke, and to redirect attention to the soul of the subject matter. Among my countless influences from the broad history of Western art are Fra Angelico, Masaccio, the Impressionists, Anselm Kieffer and Lucien Freud. I admire the courage of Alice Neel and Helen Levitt for being true to their vision, and forging ahead, in an era when there still existed widely held assumptions that limited consideration of the significance of women artists.
ARTIST BIO
Audrey Frank Anastasi is a curator, gallery owner/director, educator and arts advocate. She graduated magna cum laude from the University of Miami before moving to Brooklyn to attend Pratt Institute, where she earned her Master's Degree in Fine Arts. From 1985 until 1994, she taught figure drawing, portfolio development and anatomy for artists at the Parsons School of Design. She was president of the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition and serves on the boards of directors of Dance Theatre Etcetera and the Brooklyn Arts Council.
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