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    William Anastasi

    Philadelphia (PA) • 1933
    William Anastasi © William Anastasi
    William Anastasi is an important exponent of American Conceptual Art and Minimal Art, he studied in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania before moving to New York in 1962. In 1965 he met John Cage and was impressed by his musical theories, and the component of sound became a frequent presence in his works. Starting in 1963 he analyzed the relationship between sound, time and the unconscious in his Blind Drawings, works made with the eyes closed, letting the movements of the pencil on paper be guided by music. The result of the operation is a drawing with an essential form, rendered forcefully dynamic by the graphic sign.
    A great admirer of Duchamp, Anastasi often builds on his work, especially in terms of the random factors that intervene in the artistic operation. This theme recurs frequently in Anastasi’s works, as in the case of the Subway Drawings made by allowing the arm and the pencil to be freely shaken by the movements of the subway, tracing a continuous, fluid line on a blank sheet of paper. The drawing becomes the visual translation of the perception of that particular movement. The automatic creation of the drawing caused by the movement of the body is also a factor in the Walking Drawings, produced by the motion of the artist in space, and the Pocket Drawings, created by rubbing a small pencil against a piece of paper placed in the artist’s pocket. For Anastasi the graphic sign becomes the imprint and memory of the movement of his own body.
    The idea of the drawing created through mnemonic automatism appears in the Donald Ducks, shown in his first exhibition in 1964 at Washington Square Park in New York. Because as a child the artist always drew Donald Duck, this became the most automatic thing he could depict. The subject is placed against backgrounds of different kinds, which are often also made with some degree of randomness.
    In 1981 he made his first work in which the word “Jew” appears, a word charged with historical and cultural meaning. Anastasi inserts it in the work painting it on its own, on a neutral background, or overlaid with other subjects such as his photographic self-portrait – though he was raised as a Catholic – or the figure of Christ.
    The insertion of the word in the work of art is also found in the Bababad series begun in 1986 and based on a neologism of 100 letters that appears on the first page of Joyce’s Finnegans Wake. This unpronounceable word is the sound of the divine thunder that marks the fall of man from paradise and his descent into hell. Every canvas in the series contains a small portion, painted with lively colors applied in a partially random way. During his career Anastasi has worked in various media, making many different types of pieces: paintings, sculptures, photographs, sound works, installations, architectural works, works on the body, films, performances, linguistic and literary works.
    His works are included in the collections of the most important museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the MoMA, the Guggenheim Museum and the Whitney Museum of New York, Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, the National Gallery of Art of Washington and the Art Institute of Chicago.
    He has had exhibitions in many international museums and institutions, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA and the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Castello di Rivoli in Turin, Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

    Lives and works in New York.

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    SOLO EXHIBITIONS - Selection

    2015

    Puzzle, Sandra Gering Inc. New York (NY), USA

    Continuum, Galerie jocelyn Wolff, Paris, France

    William Anastasi, Thomas Rehbein Galerie, Colonia, Germany

    2013

    William Anastasi: Sound Works, 1963-2013, Hunter College Art Galleries, New York (NY), USA

    2012

    Jarry/Du Joy, Jocelyn Wolff Gallery, Paris, France

    2010

    Drawings; Gering & Lopez Gallery New York (NY),USA; traveled to Isabelle Du Moulin und Nils Borch Jensen Galerie, Berlin, Germany

    2007

    Raw, The Drawing Center, New York (NY), USA

    Paintings and drawings, The Orange Group, Los Angeles (CA), USA

    2006

    Works from the 60's to the present, Bjorn Ressle Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    You're Through, Baumgartner Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    2005

    Drawings 1970-2005, Stalke Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Blind, Art Agents Gallery, Hamburg, Germany

    Ohne Titel, Rehbein Gallery, Cologne, Germany

    2004

    SolwayJones, Los Angeles (CA), USA

    2003

    Blind, The Annex, New York (NY), USA

    2001

    William Anastasi 1961-2000: A Retrospective, Nikolaj Contemporary Art Center, Copenhagen, Denmark

    2000

    Werkschau 1966-2000; Art Agents Gallery, Hamburg, Germany; traveled to Niels Borch Jensen, Verlag und Druck, Berlin, Germany; White Box Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    End Papers: Drawings 1890-1900, 1990-2000, The Neuberger Museum of Art, New York (NY), USA

    1999

    Drawings, Gary Tatintsian Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Perfect, Stalke Galleri and Galleri Specta, Copenhagen, Denmark

    ...vor mehr als einem halben Jahrhundert, Landes Museum, Linz, Austria

    1998

    I Am A Jew, The Philadelphia Museum of Judaica, Philadelphia (PA), USA

    1997

    The Painting of the Word Jew; Sandra Gering Gallery, New York (NY), USA; traveled to Hubert Winter Gallery, Vienna, Austria; Martin Lawrence Gallery, Los Angeles (CA), USA; Spring Benefit Reffle, Sculpture Center, New York (NY), USA

    1995

    Abandoned Paintings; Sandra Gering Gallery, New York (NY), USA; travelled to The Pier Gallery, Orkney, Scotland

    Ten manuscript pages from me innerman monophone: Jarry in Joyce, Rosenbach Museum and Library, Philadelphia (PA), USA

    William Anastasi: A Retrospective (1960-95), Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia (PA), USA

    1994

    Me inner man monophone, Faculte de la Sorbonne, Paris, France

    1993

    Du Jarry and me inner man monophone, , Sandra Gering Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Drawing Sounds: An Installation in Honor of John Cage, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia (PA), USA

    1992

    Works 1963-1992, Anders Tornberg Gallery, Lund, Sweden

    1991

    Sink, Trespass, Issue, Incision, Sandra Gering Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    1990

    Incidents and Coincidents: A Retrospective, Ball State University, Muncie (IN), USA

    1989

    A Selection of Works form 1960 to 1989; The Scott Hanson Gallery, New York (NY), USA; traveled to The Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh (PA), USA

    1982

    Diary Paintings, Ericson's Gallery, Des Moines (IA), USA

    1981

    Coincidents, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (NY), USA

    Collapse, Sculpture for a Public Space, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (NY), USA

    1979

    Re-visions: Perspectives and Proposals in Film and Video, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (NY), USA

    Coincidents, Kunstmuseum, Dusseldorf, Germany

    1978

    Terminus, The Hudson River Museum, New York (NY), USA

    1977

    P.S. 1 Museum, The Institute of Art and Urban Resources, New York (NY), USA

    1973

    O.K. Harris Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    1970

    Continuum, works from '68, Dwan Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Three Conic Sections, Dwan Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    1967

    Six Sites, works from '66, Dwan Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    1966

    Sound Objects, Dwan Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    1965

    Witherspoon Gallery, University of North Carolina (NC), USA

    1964

    Washington Square Gallery, New York (NY), USA




    GROUP EXHIBITIONS - Selection

    2016

    Drawing Dialogues: Selections from the Sol LeWitt Collection, The Drawing Center, New York (NY), USA

    2015

    Mirror Images, Berliner Medizinhistorisches Museum der Charite, Berlin, Germany

    Evans Editions, 315 Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Gray is the Color, If I Had a Heart, Marc Straus Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Alfred Jarry Archipelago: The King of Comedy – Act II, La Ferme Du Buisson, Noisiel, France

    Rock, Paper, Scissors: Drawn from the Joann Gonzales Hickey Collection, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia (PA), USA

    2014

    Horror Vacui, Gagosian Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland

    2013

    A Stone Left Unturned, Yvon Lambert, Paris, France

    2012

    Pencil Pushed, Exploring Process and Boundaries in Drawing, Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture, The University of Tennesse, Knoxville (TN), USA

    Art = Text =Art, Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, New Jersey (NJ), USA

    2011

    Plot, Plan, Process: Works on Paper from the 1960s to Now, Leslie Tonkonow ARTWORKS + PROJECTS, New York (NY), USA

    Drawn / Taped / Burned: Abstraction on Paper, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah (NY), USA

    Dance/Draw; The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, Boston (MA) USA; travelled to Grey Art Gallery, New York University, New York (NY) USA; Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs (NY), USA

    Artists Collect: Prints from the Collections of Sol LeWitt, Kiki Smith, Philip Taaffe, Richard Tuttle, International Print Center New York, (NY), USA

    2010

    ON PAPER, Stalke Galleri, Kirke Sonnerup, Denmark

    2009

    The Third Mind: American Artists Contemplate Asia, 1860 - 1989, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (NY), USA

    The Winter Salon - Works on Paper, Björn Ressle Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    One more, Thomas Rehbein Galerie, Cologne, Germany

    CHOOSING, Galerie Sfeir-Semler, Hamburg, Germany

    2008

    ONE MORE. In Memoriam: Sol LeWitt, Esbjerg Museum, Esbjerg, Denmark

    Photography on Photography: Reflections on the Medium since 1960, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (NY), USA

    A Matter of Time, Andrea Meislin Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Two, Sfeir-Zemler Gallery, Hamburg, Germany

    2007

    One, in memoriam: Sol LeWitt, Bjorn Ressle Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Blind Date, William Anastasi and Lucio Pozzi, Whitebox Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Group show, Stalke Galleri, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Slought in New York, ZONE: Chelsea Center for the Arts, New York (NY), USA

    Le cinque anime della scultura, Centro Sperimentale per le Arti Contemporanee (CESAC), Caraglio (CN), Italy

    Slought in Berlin: The New Epistemology, Galerie Heike Curtze, Berlin, Germany

    Group Show, Björn Ressle Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    WallCeilingFloor: Works by William Anastasi, Donald Judd and Fred Sandback, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham (AL), USA

    Anastasi-Bradshaw, Galleri 360, Tokyo, Japan

    2006

    Out of Time - A Contemporary View, Museum of Modern Art (MoMa), New York (NY), USA

    Portraits of Artists, works from Rex Capital, Luhring Augustine, New York (NY), USA

    Looking at Words, Andrea Rosen Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Selections From The Werner H. Kramarsky Collection, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham (AL), USA

    Locus, Björn Ressle Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    2005

    Anastasi, Bradshaw, Cage, Cunningham, University Art Gallery, University of California at San Diego, (CA), USA

    Reality, Stalke Galleri / Stalke Up North / Stalke Out Of Space, Kirke Saaby (DK), USA

    Edge Level Ground: William Anastasi, Dove Bradshaw, Ulrigh Erben, Jack Sal, Christian Sery, Stephanie Hering Gallery, Berlin, Germany

    William Anastasi / Dove Bradshaw, Les Yeux du Monde, Charlottesville (CA), USA

    2004

    Work Ethic; The Baltimore Museum of Art (MD), USA; traveled to Des Moines Art Center(IA), USA; and the Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus (OH), USA

    Selections from the Sol LeWitt Collection, New Britain Museum of Art, New Britain (CT), USA

    Infinite Possibilities: Serial Imagery in Twentieth Century Drawings,Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, Wellesley (MA), USA

    Stereognost & Propriocept, The Lab Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Marilyn - From Anastasi to Weegee, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Joyce in Art, Royal Hibernian Academy, Dublin, Ireland

    View point - works from the museum collection, Museet for Samtidskunst, Roskilde, Denmark

    2002

    One Hand Clapping, Smack Mellon Gallery, Brooklyn (NY), USA

    Into the Light: The Projected Image in American Art, 1964–1977, The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland (OH), USA

    20 years in Danish Art, Stalke Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Jesus_C_Odd_Size, Kunsthallen Nikolaj, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Memorial Concert For John Cage, 1912- 1992, Performances: William Anastasi, Ledger, Dove

    Bradshaw, Fire, Garry Tatinsian Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Charles Carpenter Collection, The Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield, (CT) USA

    Blobs, wiggles and dots, webs and crustillations, The Work Space, New York, (NY) USA

    Mattress Factory 25th Anniversary Auction, Mattress Factory, Pittsburgh (PA) USA

    Whitebox Benefit, Whitebox Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Collaborations, Dieu Donne, New York (NY), USA

    2001

    Visions From American Art: Photographs from the Whitney Museum of American Art, 1940- 2000, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (NY), USA

    Anastasi, Bradshaw, Cage, Museum of Contemporary Art, Roskilde (DK), USA

    William Anastasi: A Retrospective, Nikolaj Contemporary Art Center, Copenhagen, Denmark

    2000

    Into the Light: The Projected Image in American Art 1964-1977, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (NY), USA

    The Century of Innocence: The History of the White Monochrome; Rooseum Museum of Art, Malmo, Sweden; traveled to Liljevalchs Konstall, Stockholm, Sweden

    Photographic Re-View, Gary Tatintsian Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Topology, White Box Gallery, New York (NY) USA

    This is What It Is, Bard College, Annandale-on Hudson (NY) USA

    Destruction / Creation, Ubu Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    End Papers, Drawings 1890-1900 1990-2000, The Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase (NY) USA

    The American Century, 1950-2000, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (NY), USA

    1999

    Afterimage, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (CA), USA

    Merce Cunningham Fifty Years, La Fundacio Antoni Tapies, Barcelona, Spain; traveled to Fundaçao De Seralves, Porto, Portugal; Castello Di Rivoli, Italy; Museum Moderna Kunst, Stiftung Palais Lichtenstein, Vienna, Austria

    Manna Benefit for the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibet, White Box Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Benefit, Sculpture Center, New York (NY), USA

    1998

    Drawing is another kind of language: Recent American drawings from a New York private collection, Kunstmuseum Ahlen, Ahlen, Germany

    Re:Duchamp/Contemporary Artists Respond to Marcel Duchamp's Influence, Abraham Lubelsky Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    New Works, Stalke Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Pieces, 128 Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    1997

    Drawing is another kind of language: Recent American drawings from a New York private collection, Harvard University, Sackler Gallery, Cambridge (MA), USA

    From Time to Time, Iris and Gerald B. Cantor Art Gallery, College of the Holy Cross, Worcester (MA), USA

    Word to Word, Linda Kirkland Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    10th Year Anniversary Group Show, Stalke Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

    1996

    Hubert Winter Gallery, Vienna, Austria

    Linda Kirkland Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Drawing on Chance (Selections from the Collection), Museum of Modern Art, New York (NY), USA

    Time Wise,The Swiss Institute, New York (NY), USA

    Charles Carpenter Collection, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh and The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (NY), USA

    1995

    Sound Sculpture: Music for the Eyes, Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, Germany

    Joyce and the Visual Arts, The Rosenbach Museum & Library, Philadelphia (PA), USA

    Dark Room, Stark Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    1994

    Drawings, Werner H. Kramarsky, New York (NY), USA

    Autobodyography, Sandra Gering Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    1993

    Rolyholyover: A Circus, MOCA, Los Angeles (CA), USA; traveled to Le Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; The Guggenheim Museum, New York (NY), USA; The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PA), USA; Mito Art Tower, Mito, Japan

    The Return of the Cadavre Equis, The Drawing Center, New York (NY), USA; traveled to Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington (DC), USA; Santa Monica Museum of Art, Santa Monica (CA), USA; Forum for Contemporary Art, St. Louis (MI), USA; The American Center, Paris, France

    Concurrrencies II, William Patterson College, Waine (NJ), USA

    1992

    Concurrencies, Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York (NY) USA

    1991

    How to Use Small Areas in a Dozen Different Ways to Bring a Room to Life, Arte Museum, Austin (TX), USA

    1990

    William Anastasi, Dove Bradshaw, John Cage, Tom Marioni, Robert Rauschenberg, Mark Tobey, Sandra Gering Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Casino Fantasma, Winter Casino, Venice, Italy

    1989

    Benefit for the Contemporary Performance Arts, Leo Castelli Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Chaos, The New Museum, New York (NY), USA

    1988

    Benefit for Contemporary Performance Arts, Leo Castelli Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    The Cunningham Benefit Art Exhibition, Blum Helman Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Stalke Gallery, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Brigitte March Galleri, Stuttgart, Germany

    Espace des "Concept Art", Chalon-sur-Saone, France

    Art Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    Re-opening of the Jewish Museum, The Jewish Museum, New York (NY), USA

    Stux Gallery, Boston (MA), USA

    1987

    Bess Cutler Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Reading Art, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York (NY), USA

    On Line, An Exhibition of Drawings, City Without Walls, Newark (NJ), USA

    Benefit for AIDS, Lorence Monk Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    1985

    Science Museum, Koran-Sha Company, Tokyo, Japan

    1983

    Film as Installation II, the Clocktower, New York (NY), USA

    Benefit for Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Castelli Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    1982

    Annual Awards, The American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York (NY), USA

    Exhibition in Honor of John Cage, The American Center, Paris, France

    Biennial '81, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (NY), USA

    1981

    8 Painters, The Ericson Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Group Show, Ericson Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    1980

    Film as Installation, The Clocktower, New York (NY), USA

    Fur Augen und Ohren (For The Eyes and Ears), Akademie Der Kunste, Berlin, Germany

    Ecoute par les Yeux, Musee D'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France

    1979

    Sound, P.S. 1 Museum, Long Island City, New York (NY), USA

    Terminus, The Hudson River Museum, New York (NY), USA

    Benefit for Contemporary Performance Arts, Leo Castelli Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Fluxus' New Interpreters, Interart Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    1978

    Paula Cooper Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Anna Canepa, Video Distribution, New York (NY), USA

    Couples, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, LIC, New York (NY), USA

    Art For Jimmy Carter, The Georgia Museum of Art, Athens (GA), USA

    1977

    Projects for the Seventies, the Institute for Art and Urban Resources; traveled to Lisbon, Portugal; Warsaw, Poland; Ankara, Turkey; Tel Aviv, State of Israel; Bucharest, Romania; Madrid, Spain; Reykjavik, iceland; Ottawa, Canada

    1976 – 77

    Open to New Ideas: Art for Jimmy Carter, Georgia Museum's permanent Collection, Athens (GA), USA

    1972

    Paula Cooper Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    1970

    Musée Cantonal des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Musée D'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, Paris, France

    E.A.T. Benefit, Leo Castelli Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    Group Show, Dwan Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    1967

    Language, Dwan Gallery, New York (NY), USA

    1964

    Betty Parsons Gallery, New York (NY), USA




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    SELECTED WORKS
    William Anastasi
  • Without Title II (Abandoned Paintings), 1994-95
    Oil and Graphite on Canvas, 227 x 188 cm
  • William Anastasi
  • Black and Blue (Painting of the Word ‘Jew’), 2009
    Acrylic and Oil Stick on Canvas, 226 x 188 cm
  • William Anastasi
  • Delay, 2000
    Acrylic on Cibachrome, 104 x 89 cm
  • William Anastasi
  • the jews, 2009
    Graphite on plaster on canvas, 21,6 x 28 cm
  • William Anastasi
  • A Critique of Painting, 2001
    Oil Stick on Canvas, 227 x 188 cm
  • William Anastasi
  • At Bludgeon’s Height, 2002-03
    Oil Stick on Canvas, 227 x 188 cm
  • William Anastasi
  • And Behaves Accordingly, 1999-2000
    Acrylic and Oil Stick on Canvas, 226 x 188 cm
  • William Anastasi
  • Full-Body Kowtow, 1999-2000
    Mixed Media on Canvas, 227 x 188 cm
  • William Anastasi
  • Duck #64763, 1993
    Ink and graphite on cardboard, 27,3 x 21,6 cm
  • William Anastasi
  • Disney Investigation #2 (vide Al Taliaferro), 1995
    Mixed media on Canvas, 227 x 188 cm
  • William Anastasi
  • Without Title (112 Bricks), October 2008
    Ink and graphite on canvas, 20,3 x 25,4 cm
  • William Anastasi
  • Without Title (Puzzle Piece), 2008
    Graphite on puzzle, 30,5 x 30,5 cm
  • William Anastasi
  • Blind Drawing (Melissa Kretschmer - St. Luke’s Concert), February 26, 2006
    Ink on paper, 19 x 28 cm
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