Location: Solas Studio, 117 East 24th street, Second Floor (2D), New York City, 10010
Opening Reception - Thursday, May 25, 2023 - 7 - 9 pm
Closing Reception - Saturday, June 3, 2023 - 5 - 8 pm
All other times: By Appointment Only - Request a private viewing via email at hello@solas.studio
Anna Pasztor is a New York-based multidisciplinary artist. She was born and raised in Budapest, Hungary where she started her art career as an actress in independent productions. In 1991 she relocated to Lisbon, where she created and produced numerous pieces as a choreographer/director.
In 2003 she received an achievement grant to study Laban Movement Analysis In New York City. After graduating, her interest moved toward the visual arts, multimedia, video, and film production. During the Covid-19 lockdown, she became a member of the NowNet Art Lab Ensemble - a group mainly comprised of musicians and sound artists. She contributed to the group’s weekly telematic presentations with visuals: video, live painting, and occasionally with movement improvisation. This collaboration inspired her most recent works and opened a new chapter in her artistic practice.
ARTIST STATEMENT:
"I started working on these large-scale paintings in February of 2022 after the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Saying that this series of paintings is about the war would be frivolous. At the same time, being born and raised in Budapest behind the Iron Curtain, the outbreak of this war was deeply disturbing for me. Since then, the war inhabits my imagination and constantly impacts my creative work. Even though I left my country more than three decades ago, anything that happens in that region touches me on a personal level.
The paintings created for this show, entitled “Beautiful Disasters”, are the visual expression of my angst, grief, and confusion about how to process my mixed identity. Growing up during the Cold War I experienced a clear distinction between the Eastern and Western parts of Europe. Freedom in opposition to oppression and claustrophobia, as it seemed at the time. At this point, I spent more time living in Western societies than in Eastern Europe and I have a more nuanced vision of both sides. I am painfully aware of my (Western style) detachment and aestheticization of everything that is happening far away from my immediate surroundings. As a former dancer and choreographer, the abstract is my natural form of expression." - Anna Pasztor
