Anna Kunz’s work has never conformed to categorical notions of geometric abstraction or color-field painting, or acquiesced to the polarities of expressionistic and conceptual painting. Instead, her entire oeuvre reflects art’s reliance on chance, associative color and the poetic reordering of form, especially as it all springs forth from near mystical combinations of disparate historical sources, personal memories and collective experiences. She is an artist who is well-known for creating surprising color palettes and calibrating tone and hue to produce distinctly painterly projects in a variety of media. Ranging from traditional paintings on canvas and works on paper to site-specific sculpture, theatrical stage-sets, and video and light installations, Kunz’s productions amount to the epitome of an expanded painting practice.
Building on this trajectory, Anna Kunz: Venus is a reflexive exhibition featuring one small work on paper—completed in 2016 and never before shown—alongside a large-scale installation comprised of a video projection and painted gauze scrims re-fashioned out of materials from “Warped,” a vaulted curtain Kunz exhibited at the EXPO Chicago fair in 2016. Dark painted walls and layers of sheer fabric suspended from the ceiling sheathe and bisect the gallery in ways that envelop the viewer’s body in atmospheric color and shapes. Huge swaths of colorful washes and brush strokes become animated as the light emanated overhead and from a video projection refracts on various fabric and architectural planes. The result is a jewel-like temple to all that is painterly. Like the goddess Venus’ arrival in a world on the verge of blooming, Anna Kunz: Venus is born into a world of painting on the verge of expanding.
Anna Kunz: Venus is organized by Jamilee Lacy, PCG Director & Curator.
