Annie Sandano

Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Annie Sandano has since lived in New Zealand and The USA, and completed a large portion of the study towards her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree abroad. The history and visual traditions of Brazil’s culture of display, in particular the orgiastic carnival processions of Rio de Janeiro, form the basis of her most recent body of work. Sandano is driven by an interest in the paradoxes, contradictions and ambivalence of carnival; she explores issues related to what is or is not considered pagan: a topic which leads to questioning legitimacy and authenticity within a social manifestation which incorporates both Christian and African forms of celebration and worship. She aims to merge internal and external cultural factors: assembling, collating and hybridizing to reconfigure traditional visual vocabulary and re-invent conventional iconography.

Sandando references a multitude of elements typical to Brazilian culture: Among others the traditional woodcut techniques from the crudely made woodcut “Folhetim” papers from the Northeast, Christian religion in the altar-like arrangement, “Ama-de-leite” (wet nurses) from colonial times, and African Vodun Art of the slaves brought to Brazil from the Ivory Coast. All of these elements fuse and operate in a strange harmony within the condensed and crazy time of carnival, marked by spectacle, the fervent veneration of icons, profanity and a commemoration of social groups which are usually marginalized.

Born

1983

Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Education

2005

Bachelor of Fine Arts (Honours), Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland, NZ.

2001

Summer School at Rhode Island School of Fine Arts, Providence, USA.

Semester Abroad Programme, SACI School of Fine Arts, Florence, Italy.

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2008

My Other Eden, Seed gallery, Auckland, NZ.

2007

Delirious Utopia, Seed gallery, Auckland, NZ.

2006

Installation assemblage on display at National Institute of Creative Arts & Industries, The University of Auckland, NZ.

Exhibition of limited edition rainbow roll-up woodcut print suite, The Print Shop Gallery, Remuera, Auckland, NZ.

2005

Farfalla, limited edition etching suite, The Print Shop Gallery, Remuera, Auckland, NZ.

2004

Vespa, limited edition etching suite, The Print Shop Gallery, Remuera, Auckland, NZ.

Selected Group Exhibitions

2008

Capsule, Seed gallery, Auckland, NZ.

Art Down Under, Prints of the Pacific, Michigan, USA.

Kiwianarama Panorama, LeSa Gallery, Wellington, NZ.

2007

Discography, Seed gallery, Auckland, NZ.

Let Roll, Seed gallery, Auckland, NZ.

Rock Paper Scissors, Seed gallery, Auckland, NZ.

one, Seed gallery, Auckland, NZ.

pod, Seed gallery, Auckland, NZ.

2006

Have a Ball, Seed gallery, Auckland, NZ.

Fizz, Seed gallery, Auckland, NZ.

Small is Beautiful, Upstairs Gallery of Fine Arts, Whitianga, NZ.

Vertices Numero IV, The Depot Art Space, Devonport, Auckland, NZ.

2005

Elam Art Goes Main Street Exhibition, Remuera, Auckland, NZ.

Converging Margins, George Fraser Gallery, The University of Auckland, NZ.

Elam School of Fine Arts end of year exhibition, The University of Auckland, NZ.

2004

Elam Art Goes Main Street Exhibition, Remuera, Auckland, NZ.

Side Parting, George Fraser Gallery, The University of Auckland, NZ.

Elam School of Fine Arts end of year exhibition, Elam School of Fine Arts, The University of Auckland, NZ.

2003

Elam School of Fine Arts end of year exhibition, Elam School of Fine Arts, The University of Auckland, NZ.

2002

Student Exhibition at Manukau School of Visual Arts, MIT, Auckland, NZ.

2001

Time Out, RISD student group show, Rhode Island School of Design Student Gallery, Providence, USA.

End of year student Exhibition, SACI Student Gallery, SACI School of Fine Arts, Florence, Italy.