Artist Statement
Tania Karpowitz
My work is about character study. My method develops through the continual pursuit of ways to make color, light, space, and gesture generate dramatic tension, tell stories, and pose provocative questions about the person I’m painting, even when that person is myself. Like Shakespeare’s plays, the best portraits by Rembrandt and Velazquez show us how a painting can simultaneously capture individual character and resonate with significance that transcends the person depicted. For several years now I have been working with the nude to try and achieve this paradoxical effect in my own way. I never allow my models to be anonymous. I expect them to engage with me emotionally during our sessions together. I try to establish a sense of confidence in the studio, of trust and mutual intimacy, and the paintings I produce of a particular model are imbued with the chemistry peculiar to our interaction. (This chemistry lingers, I find, even when I am working on a particular painting alone in the studio.) I strive to create studies of individuals that are also vivid meditations on themes such as reflection, transformation, and creativity.
EDUCATION & HONORS
Master of Fine Arts - 1992
Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
Bachelor of Fine Arts - 1987
Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
Fulbright Scholarship, Spain -1992-1993
Selected Exhibitions
2015
Holecamp Gallery, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia
Solo Exhibition: Holding History2015
2014
The Gallery, Washington Studio School, Washington, D.C.
Solo Exhibition—Recent Works
2011
The Gallery, Washington Studio School, Washington, D.C.
Solo Exhibition
Washington Post “Gallery Opening of the Week,” 1/21/11
2009
Holecamp Gallery, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, Virginia
Solo Exhibition: From Life
2008
Eos Gallery, Alexandria, Virginia
Solo Exhibition: Bodies in Motion2008
2005
Century Gallery, Alexandria, Virginia
Solo Exhibition
2002
Rockville Arts Place
Episodes of Self (3 person show)
2000
Courtyard Gallery, Washington, DC
Solo Exhibition
1999
Texas National
Juried by James McGarrell
1999
Arthur Ross Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Confronting Cancer Through Art (group show)
1999
Tryst, Washington, District of Columbia
Bare Art (group show)
1998
LaGrange National Biennial
Juried by Siri J. Engberg
1997
Bowery Gallery, New York, New York
National Competition Juried by William Bailey
1997
The Jewish Community Center of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Hidden, Concealed, Revealed (Juried by Philip Pearlstein)
1997
Lancaster Museum of Art, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Creating Women (group show)
1996
Red Door Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Solo Exhibition
1996
Kougeas Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts
Human: Figure and Portrait (group show)
1996
Akron Society of Artists, Akron, Ohio
Grand Exhibition
1995
Erector Square Gallery, New Haven, Connecticut
Painting Today (Juried by William Bailey)
1995
Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, Pennsylvania
25th Annual Juried Show (Juried by Susan Krane)
1995
Rosenfeld Gallery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
A New Generation
1993
Washington Irving Cultural Center, Madrid, Spain
Solo Exhibition
TEACHING
2009 to Present
Washington Studio School, Washington, D.C.
Courses: Color Theory: Foundations in Painting; Figure Painting
1996 to Present
Art League School, Alexandria, VA
Courses: Basic Drawing; Advanced Drawing; Color Theory: Foundations in Painting; Figure Painting; Self-Portrait Workshop; Developing an Idea Workshop
1996 to 2001
Washington Studio School, Washington, D.C. (Associate Faculty—full time)
Courses: Basic Drawing; Advanced Drawing; Color Theory: Foundations in Painting; Figure Painting
1994 -1995
Moore College of Art and Design, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Adjunct)
Course: Painting
1994-1995
Montgomery County Community College, Blue Bell, Pennsylvania (Adjunct)
Courses: Drawing and Painting
1991-1992
School of Fine Arts, Indiana University, Bloomington (Graduate Teaching Assistant with own class)
Course: Basic Drawing