Klemens Gasser and Tanja Grunert proudly invite you to “Open” the first solo exhibition of Anna Navasardian with Gasser Grunert Gallery. Navasardian’s life‐size paintings use the language of portraiture to illuminate the facade between personal and constructed identity. The dynamic subjects carry a universal familiarity revealing relatable memories and experiences, opening themselves to the viewer.

Navasardian embraces traditional portraiture by citing paintings from the past to record her own history and Armenian culture. “Open” speaks to the intimate stillness Anna has with her models, using broad brush strokes and unnatural hues, narrating their character. Her subjects sit for lengthy sessions creating a neutral zone where their personas dissolve. The weight of the resulting figures offers a sense of permanency and the simplification of detail debunks the figure into its purist form.

The neutral zone paintings are juxtaposed with paintings of school children. She uses old group pictures to expose the rigid and unnatural scenarios that have been forced upon malleable youth. She captures the moment before the class photograph. Everyone must be uniform in unison, composed by their school and parents to look “adult”, while brimming with childhood. Even in this normative state of oppression, the children appear more visceral and honest as their faces suppress smiles and uniforms blend together.

Anna Navasardian, born in Armenia lives and works in New York City and is a recent graduate from Carnegie Mellon University.