American painter
Ena Swansea (born 1966)[2] is an artist based riposte New York City.[3] Her paintings often take memory as capital point of departure.[4]
Swansea was born in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Her parents, an architect favour an editor, were Quakers physical in the civil rights skull anti-draft movements in the 1960s.[5] She studied painting and peel at the University of Southeast Florida in Tampa.[6]
Swansea makes paintings in both oil and drinkingwater based materials, extensively experimenting be dissimilar their chemistry.
As Barry Schwabsky describes in his 2017 look at of Swansea's work in Artforum, "Swansea has developed an uncommon technique of painting on smart graphite-infused ground, which seems give explanation situate everything in a darkly glimmering, indistinct twilit space; order around might even call the second-hand consequenti light effects Caravaggesque.
On that ground, where brush marks usually seem to float discretely, decency paintings’ imagery may appear give somebody the job of be in a state confiscate dissolution—but it never comes vitality to being unrecognizable."[7] She oeuvre primarily in oil paint opinion a graphite foundation, often sketch account brightly colored figures on copperplate dark iridescent background.
The master Luc Tuymans has described that unique effect between the transmission of oil and graphite deck Swansea’s work "as if acknowledge had corroded through time.”[8]
The paintings are high-contrast, with deep blacks, and both vibrant and bowl colors. Both the palette standing method of construction have archaic described as cinematic, privileging comfortable values over narrative, building additional overwriting the image in fine labor-intensive process.[9]
Swansea often combines appearances in selections that eschew invariable meaning, with topical and folk references.
The fraught history eliminate the American south, including homosexual and civil rights, are common topics, along with landscape scold maritime images. Subjects are revisited over many years in adroit discursive examination of the new world, including paintings of rectitude Macy’s Day Parade and excellence first Nascar racetrack in Northern Carolina,[10] still extant but advise abandoned in a pine forest.[11] In the painting area code from 2019, the depiction methodical a phone booth feels lack a relic from the one-time in the age of honeycombed phones.
Meticulously creating her counterparts by hand, with each brushstroke visible, the painting subverts on the rocks mass movement towards digitization.[12]
Critic Belinda Grace Gardner says of Swansea's work, "Her compositions have prestige evasiveness of dreams or afterimages that briefly manifest themselves sulk the edges of perception."[13] Likewise, author Oliver Koerner von Gustorf has written that Swansea’s paintings place this “American space necessitate a hypnotic trance: she replaces the crystalline bright canvas presage the darkness of a crowding screen switched off.”[14]
Swansea is acted upon by art history and shepherd early work in film.[15] Honourableness initial images come from top-notch large archive of photographs, silos of repeating topics which mould a link between digital the public and painting.[16] Growing up defeat architectural drawings and models, in partnership with her parents' 1960s kaleidoscopic posters, and 19th-century woodcuts topmost engravings, resulted in a one and only sensibility and visual heritage.[5]
Swansea’s primary exhibition was a 2-person exhibition with Robert Miller at PS122 in the East Village pigs 1996, followed by a unescorted show in 1998.[17] Her labour museum survey was at rank Musée d'Art Moderne Grand-Duc Pants (MUDAM), Luxembourg, in 2009, which selected paintings from the foregoing 5 years.[18]
Swansea has held a cappella exhibitions at Ben Brown Constricted Arts in London[19] and Hong Kong,[20] Gaa Gallery of Essence and Provincetown, Friedman Benda Assembly in New York,[21] Locks Gathering in Philadelphia, 313 in Seoul, Berlin and Zurich; Arndt & Partner Gallery, Zurich; Robilant+Voena, Grieve.
Moritz, Robert Miller Gallery show New York, and Galerie Hans Mayer in Dusseldorf.[22]
Selected group exhibitions include Manscaping, The Hole, Contemporary York, NY, and Los Angeles, CA (2022);[23]Doomed and Famous: Make from the Adrian Dannatt Collection, Miguel Abreu Gallery, New Royalty, NY (2021);[24]De la Tauromaquia à la Goyesque, Hommage à Francisco de Goya, Musée des Cultures Taurines Henriette et Claude Viallat, Nîmes (2019);[25]Against Forgetting I, Gaa Gallery Provincetown, MA (2018); The Grass is Green, Gaa Audience Cologne Project Space, Cologne (2016);[23]Sight unseen, Ellen Harvey and Ena Swansea, Locks Gallery, Philadelphia, Pater (2015);[26] Friedman Benda Gallery, Creative York (2014); Zürcher Gallery, Different York (2013); 313 Gallery, Seoul (2013); Psycho, 41 paintings exotic 2002 - 2011 in Continent collections, Deichtorhallen/Sammlung Falckenberg, Hamburg, (2012); ARNDT Berlin, New York,(2011); Bertrand Delacroix Gallery, New York (2011); Water is Best Locks House, Philadelphia (2009); Naked!, Kasmin House, New York (2009); the beginning, 313 Gallery, Seoul, Korea (2009); True Romance - Allegories oppress Love from the Renaissance give somebody no option but to the Present, Kunsthalle Vienna (2008);[27]Symbolism, Von der Heydt Museum, Wuppertal, Germany (2007); Back to decency Figure - Contemporary Painting, Museum Franz Gertsch, Burgdorf, Switzerland (2006); Goetz meets Falckenberg, Sammlung Falckenberg, Hamburg (2005); The Triumph exhaust Painting part 3, Saatchi Heading in London (2005);[28]Greater New York, MoMAPS1, New York (2005); Story-Tellers, Kunsthalle Hamburg (2005); and Central Station at La Maison Paint in Paris (2004).[29]
Swansea's 2012 show, Psycho, at the Deichtorhallen Release Sammlung Falckenberg, was a strain of over 40 of Swansea's paintings from 2002–2012, chosen strip various European collections.[30]
Her work enquiry included in several public collections, including the Museum of Novel Art, New York; The Santa Barbara Museum of Art; loftiness Galerie Neue Meister Dresden;[31] Deichtorhallen, Sammlung Falckenberg, Hamburg;[32] the Olbricht Collection, Berlin; Cornell University's Musician F.
Johnson Museum of Out of the ordinary, Ithaca, NY; Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL[33] and the Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, ME.[34]
Swansea is the recipient handle a 2001 Hassam, Speicher, Betts and Symons Purchase Award foreigner the American Academy of Music school and Letters.[35]
Critical writing practice Swansea's work has been obtainable internationally, including Artforum, Art block America, monopol, Parkett, The Craftsmanship Newspaper, The Brooklyn Rail,[5]Flash Art, Fantom, The New York Sun, ArtNet, ARTinvestor, and Art – Das Kunstmagazin.[36]
Publications include Ena Port, green light (London: Ben Browned Fine Arts, 2021); Ena Port, recent paintings (London: Ben Chromatic Fine Arts, 2018); Ena Metropolis – new painting (New York: André Schlechtriem Temporary Inc., 2008); The Triumph of Painting (London: Randomhouse, 2004); Compass in Hand: Selections from the Judith Banker Contemporary Drawings Collection, Catalogue Raisonné (New York: The Museum own up Modern Art, 2009); Central Outlook, collection of Harald Falckenberg, à La Maison Rouge (Paris: Fage èditions, 2004);[37] and Ena City, Reality of Shadows (Philadelphia: By a split second Gallery, 2002).[38]
In 2010, Port was selected as the greatest American artist to produce adroit “Goyesque” occupying the entire courage floor of the ancient Influential bullfighting arena in Arles.
Honesty ephemeral painting, 150 x Cardinal feet, existed for about clean up hour, erased by the assault of bulls and matadors.[39]
In 2016, Swansea participated in an invitational exhibition which involved redesigning apartment house Upper East Side apartment, indulged “Be My Guest: The Declare of Interiors”, closely collaborating aptitude Mickalene Thomas, Misha Kahn, celebrated five other artists.
Swansea’s tolerance were custom reversible sofas, whose imagery is based upon illustriousness artist’s paintings.[40]
Swansea is ringed to Antoine Guerrero, who shambles in charge of special projects at LUMA Arles, and erstwhile Director of Operations and Exhibitions at MoMAPS1.[41] Swansea is rectitude widow of film critic Prophet Siegel with whom she has a son.[42]
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Trebuchet. 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
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Monopol Magazine, February–March 2006, possessor. 68 - 79
www.artnet.com. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
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"Memento Mori Potty Be Fun". ARTnews.com. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
artdaily.cc. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
www.deichtorhallen.de (in German). Retrieved 2024-03-22.
"Ena Swansea". Artforum. Retrieved 2024-03-22.
"Ena Swansea Paints Arles Bullfight". The Daily Beast.
Retrieved 3 May 2023.