The Artists
Vezna Gottwald
 Ocean Surf #1 |
 Ocean Surf #2 |
 Ocean Surf #3 |
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 Ocean Surf #4 |
 That last red-pink streak after sunset |
 Untitled #6 |
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 Untitled, 2005 |
 Untitled, 2004 |
I grew up in New York City in the 70’s and 80’s. When I was four we moved into what was a sewing factory, the top floor of an industrial building in midtown. My parents and grandparents were commercial artists, each having met at art school, Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and Pratt Institute. My brother and I didn’t have TV, but we had access to all the music and art that went through New York City. I remember my mother taking me to the MOMA when I was seven and after we had seen everything asking me what painting was my favorite. I brought her to a Kandinsky.
I began to seriously work as an artist when I was in seventh grade. I remember my art teacher, Mrs. Hillenbrand, would let me have the adjacent room to myself. I was painting figures in the streets of the city, some in flames, some murdered and ascending to another plane. In high school I was lucky to study with Aaron Kurzen. He taught life drawing from the school of Matisse in Europe, the way he had learned at The Art Students League under Cameron Booth and Hans Hoffman. With his help I developed a portfolio and earned a scholarship to attend RISD a year early.
After art school I couldn’t paint for many years. That all changed after I went to the Rothko retrospective at the Whitney and had a spiritual experience. When I approached the canvas again it was the beginning of many years of nonfigurative explorations and a move to California.
After returning from a trip to Africa in the spring of 2008 I was inspired to paint the South African bush. It wasn’t long before I found myself hiking down the cliffs of Rancho Palos Verdes with an easel strapped to my back, to paint my beloved California coast.
I am grateful to wake up each day to surf with the dolphins, practice Aikido and paint in my studio in Manhattan Beach, California.