Untamed/Unzoned

March 03 - April 01,2023

From Anya Tish Gallery: "Anya Tish Gallery is thrilled to present Untamed/Unzoned, a two-person exhibition of paintings which explore the various junctions of public space, memory, geography, and otherwise overlooked aspects and details of our daily life. Lillian Warren’s constructed images of urban landscapes capture unusual yet familiar scenes to tell a story about how society shapes the environment to reflect its own desires, whereas Marfa-based Ann Marie Nafziger deconstructs the surrounding natural landscape of West Texas with the intention to interpret one’s relationship with nature. Through their paintings, either abstracted or representational, our understanding of how we inhabit and mold the places where we settle, becomes fuller and more nuanced. Houston-based artist Lillian Warren’s new series, Constructed Realities, consists of poetic watercolor-esque landscapes of nondescript scenes that are constructed from her memories and a myriad of documented photographs. These imagined or reimagined places exude a moody, almost theatrical dream-like atmosphere. Warren’s iconic technique of combining oil and acrylic on mylar instead of canvas or paper, gives prominence to the hazy imagery that alludes to the artist’s collection of comprised memories. These eerie paintings all seem to be void of human existence, except for the evidence of mundane items, such as trash cans, cars, or discarded couches, giving an almost apocalyptic feel to them. “After a while I also began to paint works that are composites of different memories and places drawn from walks around my neighborhood. These are vaguely familiar, mundane spaces where no one would want to linger, in a slippery space between public and private, inhabited and abandoned. As I continue to work on this series, I have realized that it is a meditation on our relationship to the environment and to each other. As a society we construct realities, we shape our environment to suit our desires. Soon the environment reflects our values. Then it shapes us.” – Lillian Warren, 2022 Born and raised in rural Northwest Ohio, Ann Marie Nafziger moved to Marfa, Texas, over 20 years ago, where she was instantly inspired by the iconic western scenery. Nafziger’s gestural and vibrant paintings are reminiscent of Georgia O’Keefe’s abstracted landscapes of the Midwest, exploring similar ideas such as the interconnectedness of nature and immersive encounters one may have with the nonhuman world. Placed in the realm of American Modernism, Nafziger’s work is a love letter to nature, complex and alluring; these works embody the sublimity of the natural phenomena. “Experiences in wild and remote places – places far from human culture – are central to my artistic work. As humanity’s existence feels increasingly fraught, the paintings reflect my own parsing out of ideas, myths, and stories about the natural world and a desire to find a deeper respect for her power and intelligence. The elements in each picture are borne out of moments and places where I’ve spent time, combined together into loose daydreams of landscape. They teem with potential: as topographies that flourish and exist on their own terms, and as places that fulfill my own desire to understand and belong.” – Ann Marie Nafziger, 2022 About the Artists: Lillian Warren received her BFA in studio art from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, completed graduate courses in Art History from the University of Toulouse, France, and later received an MBA from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN. Warren’s artwork has been included in numerous solo exhibitions across Texas in venues such as: Galveston Arts Center, Galveston, TX; the Pearl Fincher Museum of Fine Art in Spring, TX; Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX; and Blue Star Art Space, San Antonio, TX (four person show). The artist has also exhibited in many juried group exhibitions across the country such as the Biennial Southwest, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, NM; ArtFutura, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL; The Lawndale Art Center Big Show, Houston, TX; Pittsburg State University Gallery, Pittsburg, KS; and The Assistance League of Houston, Houston, TX. In 2006, Warren received an Individual Artist Grant Fellowship from the Cultural Arts Council of Houston and Harris County, along with the Creative Capital Award from DiverseWorks Professional Development Workshop. Warren’s latest project involved her own multiple projection video-imagery in conjunction with a live performance by choreographer Annie Arnoult and composer Chris Becker at the Aurora Picture Show, Houston, TX, 2019. The artist was recently published for the 4th time in New American Paintings, #162, 2022, juried by Tyler Blackwell, Curator of Contemporary Art, Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY. Ann Marie Nafziger received her BFA in Art and Communication from Goshen College, Goshen, IN and an MFA in Painting from The University of Houston, Houston, TX. Has been exhibited nationally and internationally in places such as: Marfa, TX, Portland, OR, New Orleans, LA, Goshen, IN, plus institutions such as: Lawndale Art Center, Houston, TX, and at the U.S. Embassy, Vientiane, Laos. The artist has also been published several times in publications such as: The Big Bend Sentinel, 2008/2021; Artnet, 2017; Artdesk, 2014; New York Times, 2012; UTSA Today, 2010; Houston Press, 2008; New American Paintings, 2008. Nafziger also served as the mayor of Marfa, TX from 2017 to 2019."

Reception: March 03, 2023 | 6-8 pm

Anya Tish Gallery 4411 Montrose
Houston, TX 77006
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