“My language is that of pure abstraction
devoid of any allusion to an external reality…
I am the result of a confrontation of cultures expressed
through my individual personality and the inner world.”
-Fanny Sanin, 2001
New York City, NY — Frederico Sève Gallery is pleased to present Drawings and Studies 1960 to Now, a retrospective of the works on paper by Fanny Sanín seen at the gallery from February 2nd to March 31st. The Colombian-born, now American artist is best known for her symmetrical, geometric abstract paintings in oil and acrylic on canvas. This exhibition provides an illuminating history and insights into the methodical process leading to Sanin’s larger paintings on canvas. While each drawing can be appreciated on its own, the suites of drawings that she generates for each of her final composition evince her intricate thought process using a variety of drawing media on paper to build her final compositions. This exhibition project has been organized by New York independent art curator and writer Patterson Sims, and has an accompanying publication with all images of the nearly 100 works that will be on view and featuring an interview with the artist and text and commentaries by Sims. As Sims observes, “surveying her hundreds of drawings provides compelling evidence of Sanín’s protracted, methodical process and the deep meditation inherent to her art. Sanín’s sets of preparatory drawings explicate the meticulously deliberated and refined origins of each of her forceful, iconic canvases and larger works on paper. …Even in the Abstract Expressionist beginnings of her mature art, Sanín’s spontaneity was well thought through.”
When querried why she draws, she replied: “Drawings are the first and most important part of my creation … I used them to plan and reach the image that I would finally love to paint on canvas.” Sanín has further commented, “Color and structure go hand-in-hand in my work. It isn’t until they are both worked out in detail in my drawings that they can have meaning." As Sims states in his accompanying essay, “Seen in depth as never before, Sanín’s groups of drawings and the paintings that result powerfully attest to her relentless pursuit of abstraction and its remarkable capacity for transcendence and spiritual growth.”
The artist’s works have been displayed in over forty solo exhibitions, and more than 300 group shows throughout the world. Over forty museums own Sanín’s work, including the the Biblioteque Nationale, Paris, the Warsaw Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Art of the Bank of the Republic, Bogotá, the New York Public Library, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC. More than fifty books have been published presenting or discussing her works, in addition to numerous reviews and articles.
Sanín was born in Bogotá, Colombia, has studied and worked internationally since the 1960’s in Europe, Mexico and the US. She has been residing in New York, where she maintains her primary studio, since 1971.
ABOUT FREDERICO SÈVE
Frederico Sève is a leading authority in the art world who has been instrumental in bringing unknown Latin American artists to New York and propelling them onto the greater forefront of the international scene for the last forty-five years. He is credited with having discovered Carmen Herrera, the pioneer of Latin American Modernism, whom he instantly launched onto a worldwide platform after she received her first show at the Frederico Sève Gallery in 2004. Under Mr. Sève’s direction, now-acclaimed artists, such as Gego, Mira Schendel, Maria Fernanda Cardoso, and others, were exhibited at the Frederico Sève Gallery years before they reached their current status.
ABOUT PATTERSON SIMS
Starting in 1969, Patterson Sims has worked in the visual arts. His concentration has been in the modern and contemporary field with a specialty in American modernism and contemporary art along with non-profit arts institution board and museum management and administration. He was the Director of the Montclair Art Museum from 2001-2008; the Deputy Director for Research Support at the MoMA from 1996–2001; and from 1976–1987 was the first designated curator of the Whitney Museum of American Art’s comprehensive collection of 20th century American art and has organized numerous exhibitions, including co- curating the Whitney Biennial. Sims frequently writes and speaks on American art.
Frederico Sève Gallery, formerly known as latincollector, exhibits and promotes artists from Latin America and Spain in an international context. The gallery’s aim is to assist collectors, art professionals and academics to discover, view and purchase works that transcend territorial boundaries.
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For additional information or images, please contact us at info@fsevegallery.com or 212 334 7813
