Anita Kunz
“Wit & Wisdom”
New York, 534 West 24th Street
Kunz relays an expert understanding of art history with her mordant sense of humor in Another History of Art through subversive, feminist-minded recreations of iconic works by white, European-based male artists of the Western tradition. Contemporary aesthetics are juxtaposed onto art from the past through the point of view of "a secular female," breathing new life into works by Old Masters as if painted by women of the modern era. “Renée Magritte” decorates the nude female body in The Daughter of Man with floral, jungle green tattoos interlocking from head to toe. Olive Oyl cradles the limp, lifeless body of Popeye the Sailor Man in Popeye Pieta by “Ronya Van der Weyden,” lamenting the loss of her hero and savior. The Snog by "Gertrude Klimt," Woman with Monkeys by "Leona da Vinci," and Portrait of a Lady with a Titi by "Dame Petra Paula Rubens" incorporate primates as metaphors for human behavior in tribute to her animal advocacy efforts with an Ontario-based monkey sanctuary.
As a paid illustrator, Kunz finds herself confined to rigid environments bound by client deadlines and editorial limitations. She gave herself permission to pursue open-ended projects such as Another History of Art and paint freely with flexibility to adapt to changes within society concurrently with her artistic maturation. Historical events including the 2016 United States presidential election and the ongoing pandemic led Kunz to re-evaluate her work; what began as a sober critique about the erasure of women from art history turned into a stinging satire less concerned with being rooted in reality. Religious themes that dominated art for centuries become overturned with thought-provoking imagery bolstered through her whimsical combination of realism and surrealism.
