Anna Kunz: Reimagining Painting as a Dynamic Social Space, Vol 33 

Frank Juárez

I met Anna Kunz at the Teacher Institute in Contemporary Art (TICA) at SAIC in 2008. She was one of two program facilitators. I was one of several secondary art educators selected to participate in this national residency program that provided us the opportunity to return to our studio practice, network, and participate in critiques led by artists such as the late Thomas Nozkowski, Amanda Ross Ho, Richard Tuttle, Charlene Von Heyl, Mark Dion, and Michiko Itatani. The TICA Program (founded by Phil Baranowski) and Anna left such a great impression on my creative work, which inspired me to live a life in art. I am excited to feature her and her work in this historical documentation of Artdose Magazine as we expand regionally. 

Anna Kunz makes works on paper, paintings, sculptures, installations, and projects that seep out of the rectangle, often using painted and dyed fabrics that function like nets to capture and manipulate light and color. Her experiential works are often combined with objects or surfaces that add complexity and invite viewers to structure the space in time by passing through them. 

Kunz has a broad practice that has enabled her to work both solitarily in the studio in Chicago, and collaboratively with architects, dancers, and musicians. She has used painting as a conduit to connect art forms,  creating décor for theatrical and dance productions, namely for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, The Seldoms Dance Co, Benji Ninja and Family Voguers, and the Performance Collective, “Industry of the Ordinary” for a retrospective at the Chicago Cultural Center. In Spring 2019, a suspended work was installed at 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC, a building designed by Helmut Jahn alongside work by Alice Aycock and Chris Wood. Recently, 7 large paintings have been installed at South West Texas University Medical Center’s collection.  Her exhibition at the Hyde Park Art Center invited collaborations with composer Beth Bradfish and jazz legend Mwata Bowden.

Kunz has been honored with nominations from: 3Arts Foundation,  Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation, Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Emerging Artist award from the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Artadia finalist, Chicago, the Rema Hort-Mann Foundation’s Individual Artists Grant, and The Joan Mitchell Foundation in 2020.

Kunz participated as an artist-in-residence in the Marie Walsh Sharpe Studio Program,  SKOWHEGAN, the Edward Albee Foundation, and the Adele and Sam Golden Foundation. 

Anna Kunz is represented at Galleri Urbane, Dallas, McCormick Gallery, Chicago and Alexander Berggruen, NYC and RUSHCMAN in Chicago. Upcoming  group exhibitions include Singing In Unison,  NYC, curated by Phong Bui, artist, and artistic director and publisher of the Brooklyn Rail, and Drawing With Scissors at Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco. Current solo exhibitions is Naked Light at Galleri Urbane, Dallas, and at Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco in January 2023. Her works are in numerous private and public collections. 

Visit annakunz.net and @annakunachicago to see more work. 

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