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Anastasia Pelias
Pietà II (some people wanna die so they can be free)

2020

About the Item

ANASTASIA PELIAS was born in New Orleans, LA to Greek parents. Her artistic practice is rooted in the dual cultural identity of both her native and ancestral roots in New Orleans, LA and Skopelos, Greece. Blending the vibrant, compassionate nature of a New Orleanian with her weighty Greek heritage, Pelias creates work that is rich with personal depth of emotion and the spirit of exploration. Through a nuanced interpretation of paint, color, marks and ritual objects, Pelias unapologetically explores the overarching subjects of life, death, love, sex and the female experience. An abstractionist in the truest form, Pelias’ work reflects a seriousness and dedication to the traditional principles of painting – both the concept and the actuality. Anastasia Pelias received a BFA from Newcomb College of Tulane University, New Orleans (1981), and an MFA from the University of New Orleans (1996). She is a painter and sculptor whose work explores color and the tension between object and form. Pelias creates site-specific installations in which she examines personal history, familial relationships and human ritual. She draws from her Greek and New Orleanian heritage to infuse her work with her preferred subjects: love, sex, death, destiny, and the female experience. Pelias’ work invites viewers to immerse themselves in the expression of her story, but also to examine that story introspectively. Pelias has exhibited her work in numerous solo and group exhibitions at galleries and museums nationwide, including the McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; Ford Foundation Gallery, New York; Pensacola Museum of Art; Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans; Newcomb Art Museum, New Orleans; Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans; and the Louisiana State University Museum of Art, Baton Rouge. Her work is included in the permanent collections of the New Orleans Museum of Art; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans; Newcomb Museum, New Orleans; Mobile Museum of Art, Alabama, and in private and public collections around the world. ARTIST STATEMENT In my studio practice, I unapologetically embrace subjects of love, sex, death, destiny, and the human experience - in particular the female experience. The dual cultural identity of both my native New Orleans and my ancestral roots in Skopelos Greece profoundly inform my work. Greek rituals and ideas about fate and destiny as well as the rich pageantry of the Afro-Caribbean culture in New Orleans are major influencing factors in my work. I am interested in deep ancestral connections that are ever-present, that resonate even if they are not always understood. I embrace a process that is both intuitive and intentional. While I am working, I enter a space where I avoid conscious thought. I am drawn to content and meaning, abstraction and gesture, and the materiality of paint. Color and its emotional power is a critical component in all of my work. I am an interdisciplinary artist – my bodies of work include oil paintings on canvas, works on paper, sculpture, video, and multi-dimensional site-specific and site-responsive installations. The human-size scale of my interactions with diverse media allows the viewer to immerse themselves in the work as opposed to simply being an observer. I consider all of my work to be painting, even though it may not look like painting. I believe in the power of painting and its ability to evoke a visceral response from the viewer, and to change how people see the world. I want to create work that is full of emotion and visual pleasure.
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  • You were my friend and I loved you
    By Anastasia Pelias
    Located in New Orleans, LA
    ANASTASIA PELIAS was born in New Orleans, LA to Greek parents. Her artistic practice is rooted in the dual cultural identity of both her native and ancestral roots in New Orleans, LA...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil Crayon, Oil

  • She belongs to me
    By Anastasia Pelias
    Located in New Orleans, LA
    ANASTASIA PELIAS was born in New Orleans, LA to Greek parents. Her artistic practice is rooted in the dual cultural identity of both her native and ancestral roots in New Orleans, LA...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil Crayon, Oil

  • Me and you could've been a work of art
    By Anastasia Pelias
    Located in New Orleans, LA
    ANASTASIA PELIAS was born in New Orleans, LA to Greek parents. Her artistic practice is rooted in the dual cultural identity of both her native and ancestral roots in New Orleans, LA...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil Crayon, Oil

  • Why so many complications (flows off in time like poetry)
    By Anastasia Pelias
    Located in New Orleans, LA
    ANASTASIA PELIAS was born in New Orleans, LA to Greek parents. Her artistic practice is rooted in the dual cultural identity of both her native and ancestral roots in New Orleans, LA...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil Crayon, Oil

  • Pietà I (some people wanna die so they can be free)
    By Anastasia Pelias
    Located in New Orleans, LA
    ANASTASIA PELIAS was born in New Orleans, LA to Greek parents. Her artistic practice is rooted in the dual cultural identity of both her native and ancestral roots in New Orleans, LA...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Oil, Canvas, Oil Crayon

  • Did she love him and take her hair down at night
    By Anastasia Pelias
    Located in New Orleans, LA
    ANASTASIA PELIAS was born in New Orleans, LA to Greek parents. Her artistic practice is rooted in the dual cultural identity of both her native and ancestral roots in New Orleans, LA...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Abstract Paintings

    Materials

    Oil Crayon, Oil, Canvas

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