Ann Provan
ARTIST STATEMENT
Painting for me is a search for an image with an emotional feeling and a complex meditative composition. Although I often begin with a sketch, the idea changes significantly as the painting evolves and takes on a life of its own. I don’t know what the painting will be until it’s done. I like to make ambiguous geometric forms that may include optical illusions, and psychological or architectural structures with a feeling or mood conveyed through the use of color and light. The final piece is a discovery. My paintings are in three categories of materials: works on paper in watercolor and/or gouache; acrylic paintings on stretched canvas or linen; and acrylic paintings on cut out shapes of Masonite or MDF panel. Over the years I have made works in all types of painting media, as well as painted wood and wire sculpture and artist’s books.
BIOGRAPHY
Ann Knutson Provan grew up in Berkeley, California. She spent four years in France studying at the Université de Montpellier and the École Nationale Supériure des Beaux Arts, Paris, and traveled around Europe to see art. After returning to the U.S., she attended the San Francisco Art Institute and received an M.F.A. in Painting. She moved to New York City in 1976, living in SoHo and Brooklyn, and moved to the Hudson Valley in 2006. Ann Provan’s work has been shown at the New Museum, NYC; A.I.R. Gallery, NYC; Franklin Furnace, NYC; University of California, Davis; Wake Forest University; Rutgers University; Das Verborgene Museum, Berlin; the Buster Levi allery, Cold Spring, NY; Lockwood Gallery, Kingston, NY; Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY; Ethan Cohen Gallery’s Kube Art Center, Beacon, NY; and at Kaatsbaan Visual Art Exhibition,
Tivoli, NY. She received a CAPS fellowship and a NYFA fellowship. Her work is in the collections of the New York Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of the Art Institute of Chicago, Franklin Furnace, and other collections.
Ann Provan, Sanctuary, 2020, acrylic on linen, 36" x 36"
Ann Provan, Breakthrough, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 18" x 18"
Ann Provan, Warm Up, acrylic on canvas, 20" x 20
Ann Provan, Dark Travels I, 2023, acrylic on linen, 12” X 12"
Ann Provan, Dark Travels II, 2023, acrylic on linen, 12" x 12"