ANA STAZIA: PHANTASMAGORIA
CARLY SILVERMAN: SULTRY DAYS

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE | SUMMER, 2023

This summer online exhibition brings together new works by two contemporary artists Ana Stazia (b. 1971) and Carly Silverman (b. 1983). Despite the apparent differences in the style of the two artists, they both possess unique sense of color and composition. Each in their own way tackles the field of tension between the familiar and the strange. In contrast to the works of Ana Stazia, which are known for their expressiveness and bright colors, those of Carly Silverman are subdued, featuring a unique sense of the nuances. Ana Stazia’s materially rich sculptural arrangements combined with an elegant sense of space and atmosphere in Silverman’s paintings convey a wide range of ideas, histories, perceptions, and emotions.

ANA STAZIA lives in Paris and since the early 2000s has been developing curatorial and discursive events. She works with artists, galleries, and other institutions on the production of multifaceted immersive environments that take visitors on guided tours through different geographies and historical eras. In 2020 Ana Stazia began creating sculptural arrangements where, with her dual French and Russian culture, she crosses boundaries, blends traditions, histories, and cultures, connects far-flung facts, ties loose links, and gives voice to silenced objects. These fantastical, otherworldly creatures invite visitors on an inner journey imbued with spirituality and beauty, a reflection on our own quests and identities.

Ana Stazia was born in Moscow, but later moved with her family to live in Paris where in 1993 she graduated from the Paris-Sorbonne University with the Maîtrise degree in Slavic Studies. In 2021 Ana Stazia became a member of the Société des Artistes Français (Society of French Artists).

CARLY SILVERMAN explores femininity within contemporary city life. Engaging with the work, viewers experience both feelings of familiarity and uncertainty. The images are relatable to modern women, however they seem to feel not quite right, as if to exist in a dream-like state. Addressing the familiar aspect, the subject matter captures brief moments in time experienced by all women: the intimacy of two friends conversing as the world unfolds around them; a woman’s confidence exuding through her gait; a break as a reprieve from the heat of the city in the summer. These moments are often overlooked due to the omnipresence of technology, disconnecting one’s casual observations from everyday life. The work also invokes uncertainty. The subject is often in an indiscernible location, rendered against an abstracted background. The context is unclear as the work only depicts a moment in time. Obscured faces lend to the feeling of anonymity, as when one takes a fleeting glance at a stranger. The result is an ambiguous feeling. The subjects seem simultaneously friendly but distant, familiar but unknown, and clear but unintelligible.

CARLY SILVERMAN grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, lives and works in Jersey City, NJ. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2006 and later received her Master of Fine Arts in painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) in 2011.