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 Nancy Lunsford was born in 1950 in Greenville, South Carolina. One of 13 children, she is the daughter of a bluegrass fiddle player and a phenomenally resilient mother. The artist's early years were shaped by a rich Appalachian musical tradition and intense family drama.
Her artistic skills helped support her family financially with portraiture, courtroom sketching and mural painting. After a stint as a singer and songwriter, Lunsford moved to Brooklyn in 1976, eventually earning a degree in art history and English literature from New York University.
Lunsford spent 10 years in Indonesia and Turkey. In Ankara she wrote art reviews for a daily newspaper, introducing her to a vibrant artistic community. Her fascination with traditional shadow theater in both countries was pivotal in her development of a contemporary shadow theater production performed at the first art fair and symposium in Turkey, Sanart '92. She continues to exhibit her work in Istanbul.
Lunsford ran Wisteria Art Space in Brooklyn, curating exhibits and producing theater pieces. A weekly sketch group that met in her studio was the inspiration for a local group exhibition and eventually led to founding the 440 Gallery with Shanee Epstein.
Visit her web site at www.nancylunsford.com.
WORK
EXHIBITIONS
Solo Exhibitions 440 Gallery, Hex, 2009
440 Gallery, Pieces, 2007
440 Gallery, Reclaiming Red, 2005
Gallery 560, Mid Century Introspective, 2002
Wisteria Artspace, April is the Cruelest Month, 1994
New York Gallery, Nancy Lunsford , 1993
Urart Gallery, Lunsford: Paintings & Installations, Ankara Turkey 1990
Merkes Bankasi Gallery, The Village, Ankara Turkey 1989
80 Washington Square East Gallery, New Paintings, 1980
Group Exhibitions
440 Gallery, Small Works Show, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005
Gowanus Studio Tour, 2007
Galeri Apel, Istanbul, Pages, (During the Istanbul Biennial) 2007
440 Gallery, Process, 2007
Park Slope Studio Tour, 2006
440 Gallery, Mixed Metaphors, 2005
440 Gallery, Third Street Sketch Group, 2005
Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC), Solo Show, 2004
Manhattan City Hall Community Gallery, Figurative Vision, 2004
Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, Collaboration with Gerard Barbot, Brave Destiny , 2003
Kentler International Drawing Center Drawings for Peace, 2002
Galeri Apel, Postcards, Istanbul Turkey 2000
Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition (BWAC), Pier Show, 1997-2004
Urart Gallery, Maskeler , Ankara, Turkey, 1990-93
PERFORMANCES
Flying Bridge Community Arts, Shadow Play, Brer Rabbit Tales, 2000
Flying Bridge Community Arts, Shadow Play, Spider and the Dokanoos, 1995-98
British Council, Sanart '92, Golgeli Oyunu ( Shadow Play) Ankara Turkey 1992
EDUCATION
Sculpture with Paul Lucches, Lucca Italy 2003
The Educational Alliance 2002-03
New York Academy of Art, painting and anatomy studies, 2001-02
Long Island University Certificate in computer graphics, 1996
Comedy Studies with Rob Weinstein, 1992-93
Art Academy, Jakarta Indonesia, 1983-85
New York University BA (Art History and English, honors), 1982
The Art Students League of New York, 1976-77
Brooklyn Museum Art School printmaking, 1977
Vanderbilt University Nashville, Tennessee, 1969-70
STATEMENT
My concern in art is the documentation of human experience. By this, I mean the full spectrum of sensibility, from the outward figurative description of the human body to the inner emotions and perceptions of the mind. I find this an eternally fascinating and inexhaustible source of inspiration and subject matter. I use whatever media and skills I have to convey my expression, from simple pencil on paper to sculpture, shadow theater and computer graphics. I believe that humor, tragedy, beauty, the grotesque, historical context, knowledge and the unknowable can all coexist in various proportions in art, as they do in life.
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