Anne Russinof, Nature Close Up

ANNE RUSSINOF

N AT U R E C L O S E U P / PA I N T I N G S 2 0 0 3 - 2 0 0 8

Anne Russinof NATURE CLOSE UP PA I N T I N G S / 2 0 0 3 - 2 00 8

FORWA R D B Y JOE WA L E N T I N I

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ABOVE: C A S C A D E

OIL ON CANVAS

COVER: A L L T H E W AY, D E TA I L

11 x 11"

OIL ON CANVAS

2 003 40 x 30"

w w w. a n n e r u s s i n of.c o m ALL IMAGES COPYRIGHT © ANNE RUSSINOF arussinof@aol.com // annier@annerussinof.com

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DISPOSITION

OIL ON CANVAS

30 x 24"

2 006

Anne Russinof NATURE CLOSE UP

i f t h e p r e m i s e f o r t h e s e p a i n t i n g s i s t o e s ta b l i s h p a r a l l e l s t o n at u r e t h e n

their subject matter suggests cellular biology. But content for this work is defined by the competing elements of uniformity and disarray that equally compose nature. Each painting comprises variations on a theme where doughnut-like shapes persist throughout; sometimes with the center circles filled in.

Although the repeated forms maintain constancy, their placement, proportions, contrasts and color relationships all vary a great deal from one painting to the next and even within individual pieces. In most paintings the circles are relatively round but sometimes, as in the painting Stack, some appear warped and jammed together - just like a collection of cells.

Throughout this body of work the artist manages a tightly held signature style that adroitly avoids the pitfalls of serialization due to the variety referenced above. The repeated forms within the compositions initially suggest an implementation of the grid, but a more nuanced view reveals this as more tenuous than not. Yes the forms are stacked and arranged in a more or less orderly fashion with occasional overlapping and all of it on a ground of color. But how they are painted and presented compromises any imposition of compositional order. There are no truly hard or straight edges found here – these are definitively and foremost ‘hand-painted’ works. You see this in large and small ways; in many pieces the forms and backgrounds seem to glow with color such as in Blue Tumble. A few drips also appear here and there in some pieces which contributes to the ‘dashed-off’ quality of the paint handling.

Are these paintings abstract or realistic? At face value the former appears to dominate because the subject matter is non-referential to anything in particular outside of the shapes created. From this perspective what is presented are simply open circles on a ground of color. Although they are not directly figurative they do function as realistic paintings in that what is offered is an honest presentation of what painting is. Given this and the content referenced in establishing parallels to nature, the paintings move from one realm of reality to another. Thus we see visual forms anchored in orderly compositions allowed to go a bit wild, creating a tie-in to the same sort of underlying logic that exists between structure and anarchy in nature. And yet their first reading as abstraction remains undiminished. In these paintings the range and beauty of what abstract art does best is evident.

Joe Walentini, April 2011 Editor and Publisher, Abstract Art Online http://www.abartonline.com/

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CLOSE UP

OIL ON CANVAS

30 x 30"

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TOP: F I L I G R E E BOTTOM:

OIL ON WOOD

TA N D E M

17 x 17.5"

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2 003

16 x 16"

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ARRANGEMENT

OIL ON CANVAS

30 x 30"

2005

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RINGLEADER

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40 x 30"

2 006

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S TA C K

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24 x 24"

2 006

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FIRST BLUSH

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24 x 24"

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V A R I AT I O N

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24 x 18"

2 005

11

VICTORIAN

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24 x 20"

2 005

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BLUE TUMBLE

OIL ON LINEN

26 x 20"

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P E R S O N A L I N V E N T O RY

OIL ON CANVAS

26 x 22"

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TOP: T H I S W AY T H AT BOTTOM: C O M I N G A N D G O I N G

INK ON PAPER INK ON PAPER

20 x 16"

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12 x 9"

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ALL TOGETHER

OIL ON CANVAS

36 x 36"

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O V E R L AY

INK ON PAPER

20 x 16"

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PICOT

OIL ON CANVAS

30 x 30"

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ANNE RUSSINOF

SOLO & FEATURED EXHIBITIONS

2011 Anne Russinof and Sand T, Blank Space, New York, NY.

2001 The Summer Show, The Painting Center, New York, NY

2007 Recent Paintings and Works on Paper: Solo Show, The Painting

Center, New York, NY

1995 “Maximum Capacity,” Art Initiatives, New York, NY

Honorable Mention by Jacquie Littlejohn of Littlejohn Contemporary

2009 Anne Russinof, Tony Saunders, Elise Whittemore-Hill: Small Works,

215 College Gallery, Burlington, VT.

2006 Anne Russinof and Tony Saunders: Recent Paintings, The Painting

Center, New York, NY 2004 Shapes, Anne Russinof and Sarah Lutz, The Phoenix Gallery,

Burlington, VT

1989 Anne Russinof at One Main Street, Dept. of Labor. Brooklyn, NY SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2011 Red Black and White, Structural Madness, A New York Virtual Gallery

Curated by Gloria Klein 20

Paper 2011, Janet Kurnatowski Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

100 Works on Paper, Kentler International Drawing Space, Brooklyn, NY

New Walls Fresh Paint, The Painting Center, New York, NY

It’s All Good: Apocalypse Now, Sideshow Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

2010 Small Works Invitational, The Painting Center, New York, NY 2009 100 Works on Paper, Kentler International Drawing Space,

Brooklyn, NY 2007 Geometrics, Gallery 128, 128 Rivington St., New York, NY 2006 The Persistence of Paint, The Bendheim Gallery,

Greenwich Arts Center, CT

Conversations in Paint, Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery, Haverford College, Haverford, PA

2005 Conversations in Paint, The Akus Gallery,

Eastern Connecticut State University, CT

2004 NYU Small Works Show, 80 Washington Square East, New York, NY

Curated by Molly Barnes 2003 The Big Abstract Show, The Painting Center, New York, NY

Curated by Denise Gale

NYU Small Works Show, 80 Washington Square East, New York, NY Curated by Tatyana Okshteyn

1996 “Permutations,” Marymount Manhattan College Gallery, NY

Curated by Karen Harris

Group Show, Aron Packer Gallery, Chicago, IL

NYU Small Works Show, 80 Washington Square East, New York, NY

“Personal Visions III” An Art Place, Chicago, IL Curated by Michiko Itatani

1994 Group Show, Art Initiatives, New York, NY

Honorable Mention by Howard Scott of M-13 Gallery

1993 Spring Exhibition, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists’ Coalition, NY

Group Show, Kentler International Drawing Space, Brooklyn, NY

Group Show, Organization of Independent Artists, New York, NY

“The Shape Show” Brookwood Child Care, Brooklyn, NY

1992 Spring Exhibition, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists’ Coalition, NY

“150 x 150,” OIA at Rosa Esman Gallery, New York, NY “Choice,” A.I.R. Gallery, New York, NY

1991 Spring Exhibition, Brooklyn Waterfront Artists’ Coalition, NY

Group Show, Organization of Independent Artists, New York, NY

“Selections”, 55 Mercer Street, New York, NY Curated by Connie Butler

“Elements of Drawing,” AMMO Brooklyn, NY Curated by Judy Pfaff.

1990 “Disparity in Content,” AMMO Exhibition Space, AMMO Brooklyn, NY

“Into the ‘90s,” Brooklyn Waterfront Artists’ Coalition, Brooklyn, NY, “Gender: A Personal View,” BWAC, Brooklyn, NY Curated by Terry Lee Dill

1988 “Small Works Show,” Brooklyn Arts and Culture Association, Brooklyn, NY

1987 “Small Works Show,” Brooklyn Arts and Culture Association, Brooklyn, NY 1985 “Small Works Show,” Brooklyn Arts and Culture Association, Brooklyn, NY

1982 “Small Works Show,” Brooklyn Arts and Culture Association, Brooklyn, NY

1981 “Small Works Show,” Brooklyn Arts and Culture Association, Brooklyn, NY

BIBLIOGRAPHY

RESIDENCIES

Millay Colony for the Arts. Austerlitz, NY, April, 1990 Yaddo. Saratoga Springs, NY, March, 1989

Anne Russinof, Natural Forms/ 2005-2008, Catalog, 2011

Forward by Joe Walentini, April, 2011. 20pp

EDUCATION

Pratt Institute. Brooklyn, NY. MFA, 1982

School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois. BFA, 1979

ONLINE LINKS & ORGANIZATIONS

Art in New York City.com http://www.artinnewyorkcity.com/2011/02/28/anne-russinof/

Current member of the New York Artists Circle http://www.nyartistscircle.org Geoform, Curated by Julie Karabenick http://www.geoform.net Irving Sandler Artists File Online http://afonline.artistsspace.org MoMA PS1 Studio Visit http://ps1.org/studio-visit/artist/anne-russinof ArtSlant New York http://www.artslant.com Saatchi Online http://www.saatchionline.com/search?query=russinof NY Arts Magazine Online http://www.nyartsmagazine.com/index Gallery OneTwentyEight http://www.galleryonetwentyeight.org/2007-11-07/index.html Member of The Painting Center, 2004 - 2007

Pp 18 & 19 IMAGES

1. F L O W 2. F L O W 3. F L O W 4. F L O W 5. F L O W 6. F L O W 7. F L O W 8. F L O W 9. F L O W 10. F L O W 11. F L O W 12. F L O W

25 35 27 13 2 19 18 26 30 8 16 9

Anne Russinof, Recent Work / 2009-2010, Catalog, 2011

Forward by Joe Walentini, December, 2010. 20pp

Small Works: Anne Russinof, Tony Saunders and Elise Whittemore-Hill

Catalog for Exhibition at 215 College Gallery, June, 2009. 20pp Abstract Art Online, Review by Joseph Walentini in May 1, 2006,

Anne Russinof & Tony Saunders: Recent Paintings

Art New England, February - March, 2005. Sarah Lutz and

Anne Russinof: Shapes. By Rik Casini Kadour, Publisher Art

New England, Inc, Brighton, MA, 2005, p31.

Now Time #4 1995. God, Total Religion and Madness. Editor Miyoshi

Barosh, Publisher A.R.T. Press, NY, 1995, p.1, illus.

Time Capsule: A Concise Encyclopedia by Women Artists, Performers

and Writers. Editor Robin Kahn. Publisher Creative Time, Inc.,

NY, 1995, illus.

Promotional Copy: An Artists’ Anthology. Editor Robin Kahn. Publisher

Mimi Somerby. NY, 1993, p.246, illus.

The Phoenix, “Artistic Attempts to Answer the Gender Question,”

by Beverly Sanchez, March 1, 1990, p.9, illus.

http://www.thepaintingcenter.org/

GOUACHE AND INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11 X 8.5" 2 006 GOUACHE AND INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11.875 X 9" 2 006 GOUACHE AND INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11 X 8.5" 2 006 GOUACHE AND INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11 X 8.5" 2 005 GOUACHE AND INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11.875 X 8.875" 2 005 ACRYLIC AND INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11.875 X 8.875" 2 005 GOUACHE AND INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11.875 X 8.875" 2 005 INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11 X 8.5" 2 006 GOUACHE AND INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11.875 X 9" 2 006 GOUACHE AND INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11.875 X 8.875" 2 005 ACRYLIC AND INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11.875 X 8.875" 2 006 GOUACHE AND INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11.875 X 8.875" 2 005

13. F L O W 14. F L O W 15. F L O W 16. F L O W 17. F L O W 18. F L O W 19. F L O W 20. F L O W 21. F L O W 2 2. F L O W 2 3. F L O W 24. F L O W

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GOUACHE GOUACHE GOUACHE GOUACHE GOUACHE GOUACHE GOUACHE GOUACHE GOUACHE GOUACHE GOUACHE GOUACHE

AND AND AND AND AND AND AND AND AND AND AND AND

INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11 X 8.5" 2 005 ACRYLIC ON ARCHES PAPER 11.875 X 8.875" 2 006 INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11.875 X 8.875" 2 005 INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11.875 X 8.875" 2 005 INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11.875 X 8.875" 2 005 INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11.875 X 8.875" 2 005 INK ON ARCHES PAPER 12 X 9" 2 005 INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11.875 X 8.875" 2 005 INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11 X 8.5" 2 005 INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11.125 X 9" 2 006 INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11.875 X 8.875" 2 006 INK ON ARCHES PAPER 11.875 X 8.875" 2 005

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ORGANIZING PRINCIPLE

OIL ON CANVAS

36 x 36"

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ABOVE: A L L T H E WAY, OIL ON CANVAS

40 x 30"

FRONT: A L L T H E WAY, D E TA I L

w w w. a n n e r u s s i n of.c o m

2007