Anna Davanzo was born in Islington, London in 1963 and graduated with an honours degree at Central Saint Martin's School of Art in 1992. She then went on to complete a postgraduate course in painting at the Royal Academy Schools in London. Having travelled extensively and lived in the the andalucian mountains, she now presently lives and works in Hackney, London.
Since graduating I have pursued my love of painting and photography and have gradually tried to access and develop what are, for me, the essential elements of a visual experience. Consequently I have found that I tend to favour abstraction and minimalism, having been heavily influenced by the American abstract expressionists whilst studying art, among them William De Kooning, Richard Diebenkorn and Robert Motherwell. Later, Gerald Richter and my favourite, William Turner. For me painting is primarily a means of self expression. The process of creating each painting is as important to me as the finished article itself.
As an abstract painter the inspiration behind my work portrays strong autobiographical elements that reflect and link directly with my love of nature and its quiet sense of the sacred. It is this 'Quiet Sense Of The Sacred' that is the emotive link between my inner world and my outer world.
I enjoy playing and teasing with the notion of a contradiction between the physical quality of paint and the spatial illusion of the taken photograph. As such much of the image making is directed and amalgamated from frozen captions of emotive information seen journeying through different realms of space.
This, combined with shifting picture plains, as well as my depiction of colour, then allows conscious as well as unconscious shapes and forms to present themselves on the canvas. The paintings are built up gradually with sometimes many layers, often revealing fragments of earlier work, thus contributing to the finished piece in ways that could not have been conceived when the paint was first put down.
| Education | |
|---|---|
| 1994 - 1997 | Royal Academy School of Art, London, Postgraduate in Painting |
| 1989 - 1992 | Central St Martins School of Art, BA (hons) Fine Art Painting |
| 1988 - 1989 | Sir John Cass School Of Art, London, Part-time Foundation |
| Exibitions | |
| 2013 | Saatchi - 'Burning Bright' Artists chosen by Saatchi online to show at Hyatt Hotel, London |
| Solo exhibition of large scale paintings - VJB Arts at 125 Old Broad Street, London | |
| 2012 | Curated show at DMH Stallards, New Fetter Lane Gallery, London |
| Artfact - Comissioned Art for London Hotels | |
| 2011 | WW Gallery, Hackney, London |
| Galeria Krabbe, Malaga, Spain | |
| Afternnon Tea, Venice Biennale with WW Gallery | |
| 2010 | Gallery 320, Bethnal Green, London | 2009 | Galeria Krabbe, Frigliana, Casa Cultura De Frigliana, Malaga |
| Galeria Espacio Tres, Malaga | |
| 2005 - 2008 | Hadriano Museum, Casa Cultura De Competa, Malaga, Spain |
| Zanik Gallery, Malaga | |
| Cadogan Contemporary, London, Casa Cultura | |
| De Competa, Malaga, Spain | |
| 2004 | Zanik Gallery, Competa, Spain |
| Cadogan Gallery, London | |
| 2001 - 2003 | Cadogan Contemporary Group Exhibition, London |
| Fresh Art, Business Design Centre, London | |
| 2000 | Photographic exhibition at Stoke Newington Church St Festival |
| Arbutus Open Studios | |
| Two joint exhibitions at Cadogan Gallery | |
| 1998 - 1999 | Arbutus Street Open Studios, Hackney, Cadogan Gallery |
| 1997 | Summer Show, Cadogan Contemporary |
| Royal Academy final diploma show, RA students Interim Exhibition | |
| 1996 | Arbutus Street Open Studios, Hackney, London |
| Cadogan Contemporary Gallery, Arbutus St Open Studios | |
| Photographic Exhibition at Stoke Newington Church St Festival, London | |
| Arbutus Open Studios, Hackney | |
| Two joint Exhibitions at Cadogan Contemporary | |
| Cadogan Contemporary Group Exhibition | |
| 1995 | Royal Academy Schools Premiums Exhibition Show |
| Royal Academy Summer Exhibition | |
| Cadogan Contemporary Gallery | |
| Royal Academy Schools Interim Exhibition | |
| Picture This / Bosnia Group support, at Agency, Shoreditch, London | |
| Royal Academy Final Diploma Show | |
| Royal Academy Summer Show | |
| 1994 | Joint Exhibition at Alternative Arts Galleries, London W.1 |
| Joint Arts Exhibition at Open Studios, Seven Sisters, London W.1 | |
| Participation at Whitechapel Gallerie's Open Exhibitions | |
| Royal Academy Schools Interim Exhibitions | |
| Cadogan Contemporary Gallery, Sloane Square, London | |
| 1993 | Joints Arts Exhibiton at Alternative Arts Galleries, Chiltern St, London |
| Solo Exhibition at Tablenacle Galleries, Portobello Rd, London | |
| 1992 | St Martins School of Art Degree Show |
| Solo Show at Alternative Arts Galleries, Soho, London | |
| Big Art, Exhibition of large scale paintings, Cromwell and Ward Galleries, Soho | 1991 | Joint Exhibition Cohn and Wolfe, St Martins School of Art |
| Joint Exhibition Charles Jones Park Architect Designers, London | |
| Ecole Royale De Beaux Arts, Brussells | |
| Mural Exhibition at Chichester Jazz Festival | |