Tuesday, December 19, 2017


CLOSE of the year 2017


As 2017 is coming to a close I wanted to wish everyone a happy, inspiring, love-filled, health-abundant and peace-enjoying 2018.

Though I had a great fortune of having my work included in several major shows and created many inspired paintings, 2017 was a challenging year for me. This year I lost my dad, Gvozdan Žanić, who was the most wonderful father, and a truly amazing, inspiring and authentic person. His love and trust in me will always be there to guide me through this journey called life. 
Though my dad's passions lay in science more than art, he nevertheless fueled and encouraged my love for art since my earliest childhood, gave me professional tools as early as I could handle them, and admired my talent and progress. 
His wild interests and curiosity in life were astounding, and he never ceased to be intrigued by the laws of nature. His interests ranged from attempts at solving the Fermat's last theorem, to cheese, beer, wine, strudel and bread making, mushroom growing, beekeeping, sewing, knitting, net making, radio building, chick hatching, clarinet playing, to just name a few of his many wonderful hobbies, on top of his math and computer science background.
As a small child, my dad lost both of his parents to tuberculosis. When I think about his childhood, and his experience of being an orphan, I cannot but admire his capacity to be continuously inspired. My dad died in February this year, at 72. 
I always thought he would live forever. He had a huge personality and an eternally youthful spirit. 
My artwork is always reflective and comes from an emotional, not a cerebral place. Naturally, many of my artwork series are connected with the stages in my life. When my son Albert was born I created Albert's series, when my second son, Karl, was born I started Karl's series (and am still creating it). After my dad's passing, I started the Elysium series. Gvozdan will always be an anchor in my life.
I am so proud he was my dad.





*All works above Ana Zanic, 2017, from the "Elysium" series, watercolor on handmade paper, 30"x22"



Monday, November 06, 2017

Showing at SOFA EXPO with Gallery 19
Navy Pier, Chicago November 2-5th, 2017

 

I visited the SOFA Expo on Friday; the size of the fair, number of exhibiting galleries and works shown were truly overwhelming. I am happy my Chicago gallery, Gallery 19, selected my work for the first year of participating at the EXPO. It is pretty unusual to have ones work under the same roof with pieces by Warhol, Picasso, Calder, Dubuffet, Leger, and even ancient Egyptian, Cycladic, Greek and Roman artifacts!

Here are some images from my visit, with Gallery 19's booth #222, as well as some other works I found interesting.




















Monday, October 30, 2017

SOFA EXPO OPENING THIS WEEK!
The SOFA EXPO 2017 at Navy Pier is opening in three days, and I am excited to have my pieces shown there with Gallery 19.
 


*Ana Zanic; Reverie I,II,III, 30"x30", watercolor on Ampersand Claybord, 2" deep panel
Here is their announcement;
Join Gallery19 for our debut at SOFA, the Sculptural Objects Functional Art and Design Fair held in Festival Hall on Chicago’s Navy Pier!
The fair, which has continuously run since 1994, features more than 80 national and international galleries. More than 35,000 people attend annually to view, buy and soak in the best new artwork these galleries have to offer. We are honored to be among these fine establishments and are looking forward to promoting the work of our Chicago-area artists.
Gallery19 will feature artists Max Sansing, Kathy Weaver, Ana Zanic and Su Yang as our primary focus for this fair. Max Sansing, who grew up on Chicago’s South Side, will premier his newest series of basketball backboard paintings. The artist, who uses his own past as inspiration, paints subjects that represent a strong and hopeful new generation. Kathy Weaver’s beautiful and shocking piece titled “Toxic Game” is a patchwork of airbrushed, torn and sewn paper depicting the cleanup efforts after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011. Ana Zanic’s ethereal watercolors are a slow build of dynamic lines and washes. The artist’s work is both controlled and accidental. Su Yang’s expressive ink drawings depict the “New Style” of Chinese art, which melds both Eastern and Western aesthetics.
Gallery19 will be in Booth #222. SOFA’s opening night is Thursday, November 2nd from 5-9pm. Regular fair hours are Friday, November 3rd – Saturday, November 4th from 10am-7pm, and Sunday, November 5th from Noon-6pm.

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

New Work @ Markel Fine Arts and 


I have lately been focused on the elongated scroll-like horizontal work.
I feel in them a stronger connection to the landscape, a sense of expansion, but there is also a certain feeling of comfort this wide format brings to me.
Below are a few new works from this series, that are arriving today at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, NY.



*from top to bottom "Origin" watercolor on paper 32"x55", 20"x55", 20"x55"

I am currently getting ready for the Chicago SOFA Expo, that will run November 2-5th, where I will be showing my watercolors on panel (images coming soon), through Gallery 19, booth #222.
I will be one of four artists whose work Gallery 19 will feature, along with works by Max Sansing, Kathy Weaver, and Su Yang.


And lastly, I wanted to mention about this summer's issue of Art in America magazine; as the issue was this year's directory of galleries and museums in the US, I was super-excited when I saw my New York and Denver galleries listings, along with my name on their lists! Thank you, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, and Walker Fine Art!


Monday, July 10, 2017

Once again, I AMerican
curated by Sergio Gomez

Argonne June 28, -September 15, 2017
opening reception July 12, 2017 4-6 pm


This Wednesday, July 12th, is the opening of the I AMerican at the Argonne National Laboratory. This exhibition was first displayed in 2014 at the Water Street Studios, in Batavia, where I used to have my studio, and the show has been traveling since then.
I am showing my ceramic installation “Gathering” as well as two of my “Origin” watercolors.
The exhibit aims to explore the intricate meaning of being an American from the eyes of a variety of artists of diverse cultural experiences.




My here exhibited vessels are a fraction of a larger body of work united under a single title "Gathering". 
These pieces are deeply rooted in my reminiscence of childhood, and the place of my hometown Vinkovci, in Croatia, where I used to spend weekends at my grandparent's house. To me these vessels are both a connection to my childhood and homeland, as well as in a way, a recreation of the time past. 

The city where I was born, Vinkovci, in Croatia, is rich with archeological findings. Many of these are intricately engraved ceramic vessels from the Vučedol culture, one that resided there from 3000-2200 BC.  Additionally, down the street from our house lived an old potter whose entire garden was covered with masterful and simple vessels. I remember often watching him work and procuring some clay to play with. My everyday exposure to these various ceramic objects – the ones I saw in the museum and the ones from down the street alike, created in me a sense of continuity, and connection with the soil.
Once I had moved to the United States, eleven years ago, these childhood memories started becoming more vivid and a sense of broken connection replaced the previous feelings of continuity and familiarity.

For me, the act of creation of these small vessels, very primal and intimate, as well as the process of their accumulation, evokes my childhood and is a reflection of an underlying search for reconstitution of what is familiar and comforting.

Here is what Sergio Gomez, the exhibit’s curator says about it:

"The “I AM American Exhibition” is not a single perspective on immigration or ethnicity. Instead, using a variety of styles, visual forms, symbols and metaphors, each work provides a wide angle view into the bi-cultural experience.
Some of the artists are first-, second- or third-generation immigrants. Others can trace their heritage back to the Native American Indians. In that sense, this non-literal exhibition on the American experience provides the viewer with ample room for conversation and personal interpretation.
Some works directly approach the theme of identity, while others delve into other subjects related to the American experience. Ultimately, this exhibit explores the meaning of being “American.”"

Friday, April 28, 2017

"METAPHORS"
Denver, CO

Opening Reception: Friday, April 28, 2017, 5-9pm

First Friday Reception: May 5 & June 2, 2017, 5-8 pm

Exhibit Runs Through: June 17, 2017

Image on the cover - Ana Zanic,"Return to Origin", watercolor on panel*

Tonight is the opening reception of "Metaphors", the new exhibition at Walker Fine Arts, in Denver. 
I am exhibiting my watercolors on panel, and here is a little preview of the installation of my work, along with the beautiful gallery space at Walker.