Antonietta Grassi

Antonietta Grassi is a contemporary Canadian artist based in Montreal, Quebec. She is known for her abstract paintings which reference the historical links between textiles and computer technology. Her work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in museums and galleries in Canada, the United States, and in Europe, including Harcourt House, EdmontonAntonietta Grassi, "Contemplation for Obsolete Objects: Postscript by Antonietta Grassi" (artist statement), Harcourt House website, consulted January 5, 2023. https://harcourthouse.ab.ca/antonietta-grassi/ in Edmonton, Artcite"Antonietta Grassi & Katherine Pickering: Unfolding" (artist statement), Artcite website, consulted January 5, 2023. https://www.artciteinc.ca/exhibitions/unfolding in Windsor, Ontario, the Katonah Museum of ArtCladogram: 2ND KMA International Juried Biennial, July 11 - September 19, 2021. https://katonahmuseum.org/exhibitions/exhibition/cladogram in New York City, and at the Canadian Pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai.
== Early life ==
Antonietta Grassi was born in Montreal, Canada in 1965 and is of Italian ancestry."Antonietta Grassi" (interview), Italianità: Contemporary Art Inspired by the Italian Immigrant Experience website, 2021, consulted December 12, 2023. https://italianita-art.com/antonietta-grassi Grassi's mother and aunts worked in the textile factories doing piece work when they immigrated to Montreal from Italy in the late fifties. 
After graduating with a diploma in design from Ryerson University in 1987, she began her career as a designer and color researcher in the textile and fashion industries in Montreal."Following in the footsteps of her own immigrant family who found employment in Montreal’s garment industry, Grassi worked as a textile designer before becoming a painter." Ara Osterweil, " Antonietta Grassi: Patrick Mikhail Gallery, "Critics' Picks," Artforum online, 2020. Consulted January 25, 2023. https://www.artforum.com/picks/antonietta-grassi-84309 She worked at Consoltex Inc., a large Canadian textile company, where she researched and forecasted color trends in textiles. During this period, she would be sent to the company’s factories in Ontario and Quebec towns such as Alexandria and Cowansville. From these visits she became familiar with the community of employees, the industrial processes and the weight of her color choices. Her job also had her consult with global color-trend forecasters at events put on by the likes of the Color Association of the United States in New York and Première vision, in Paris. She took advantage of these trips to visit museums, where she discovered the works by master abstract artists such as Mark Rothko. These experiences gave her a unique and heightened sense of color that would directly influence her art later in life.
== Art career ==
Grassi enrolled part time at Concordia University in the early nineties. She studied there under abstract painter Yves GaucherGrassi was included in the 2002 exhibition at Concordia University's Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery entitled Yves Gaucher, which included works by Gaucher and "...brings together the works of ten artists who have worked with Yves in one way or another and have acknowledged the significance of the encounter. Most were students of his at Concordia, and each one provides a different perspective. Antonietta Grassi (BFA 1993) and Brigitte Radecki (BFA 1978) cite Yves as an important mentor as they attempt to both embrace and critique the language of formalism." p. 2. 
David Elliott, Christian Knudsen, Marc Séguin, Antonietta Grassi, Daniel Blouin, Christopher Jackson, Marc Garneau, Vladimir Spicanovic, Irene F. Whittome. Yves Gaucher, Galerie d'art Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Montréal, Québec, 2002. https://e-artexte.ca/id/eprint/15627/ who was an important mentor."'He was very demanding and difficult. What I got from Yves was that if you're going to be an artist, it's a serious business... I think of him everyday when I'm in the studio.' Antonietta Grassi". Ibid. p. 4. She obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1994, after which she left the fashion industry to dedicate herself full time to her art career. She received a MFA from the Université du Québec à Montréal in 1997. Upon graduating, Grassi exhibited in numerous group and solo shows. 
Grassi was part of two large multi-gallery painting shows in Montreal put on by the Association des galeries d'art contemporain (AGAC)|Association de galeries d’art contemporain: Peinture Peinture (1998)"Il y a des nombreuses découvertes à faire : Antonietta Grassi et ses grandes toiles aux couleurs calmes et délavés..." Stéphanie Bérubé, “Grande fête de la peinture abstraite au Québec”, La Presse, Montréal, June 6, 1998, D17. and Pictura: Painting in Montréal’s ImageTrevor Kiernander and Benjamin, "Pictura: Painting in Montreal's Image", Archive: Archive Collective Magazine, n.d. (c.2020), consulted January 4, 2023) https://thearchivecollective.com/2020/10/pictura-painting-in-montreals-image/ (2020). She was included in the Musée National des Beaux Arts du Québec’s group exhibition of Quebec abstract artists L’Abstraction : Une manière de voirL’abstraction : une manière de voir, 10 avril 2001 - 13 octobre 2002,” exhibition reference, Musée du Québec Répertoire, consulted December 12, 2023.
https://www.mnbaq.org/ressources-documentaires/repertoire-des-expositions?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search=Une+mani%C3%A8re+de+voir&Rechercher=Rechercher (2001- 2002), which travelled to public galleries across the province. She was part of the 2021 Symposium de Baie-Saint-Paul,Chantal Heureux, “Le symposium international d’art contemporain de baie saint-paul (jusqu’au 29 août 2021), à travers l’expérience et la pratique de l’artiste visuelle Antonietta Grassi !”, Magazine In Situ , 25 août 2021, consulted December 12, 2023 (includes an audio interview with Grassi). https://magazineinsitu.wordpress.com/category/symposium/Artiste biographie, Symposium de Baie-Saint-Paul 2021, website, consulted December 12, 2021. https://symposiumbsp.com/fr/artistes/2021/antonietta-grassi-4 and one of a dozen artists in the Future in Mind exhibition in the Canadian Pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai.The Future in Mind exhibition, Canadian Pavilion, Expo 2020, Dubai UAE, 1 October 2021 – 31 March 2022, web page, consulted December 12, 2023. https://expo2020.canada.ca/en/ (artist’s painting is show in the Canadian Pavilion promo video)
She has had regular solo shows of her painting series in her commercial galleries and in public art spaces, including: Le projet cicatrice (partie 1) (Centre ClarkAntonietta Grassi: Le projet cicatrice (partie 1) Exhibition announcement, Centre Clark website. Consulted January 7, 2023. https://centreclark.com/fr/exposition/le-projet-cicatrice-partie-1/ and Galerie Lilian Rodriguez, Montreal, 1997); Scar Project (UNIT/PITT, formerly the Helen Pitt Gallery, Vancouver, 1997); Babble (and other coded lange)Maria Zimmermann Brendel, "Fugacious notations", ETC: Revue d'art actuel, 58, juin-juillet 2002, p. 48-50. https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/etc/2002-n58-etc1120243/35291ac/ (Galerie Lilian Rodriguez, Montréal, 2002), Mots perdusMichel Bois, “Antonietta Grassi : Entendre la Peinture”, Le Soleil, May 28, 2005. (Galerie Esthésio, Quebec, 2005), Contemplation for Obsolete ObjectsCharlotte L’Heureux, Antonietta Grassi – L’obsolescence en suspens, Vie des Arts, no 251, été 2018. 2018. https://viedesarts.com/en/reviews-en/antonietta-grassi-lobsolescence-en-suspens/ (Galerie Patrick Mikhail, 2018"Contemplation for Obsolete Objects" exhibition page, Galerie Patrick Mikhail website, consulted January 5, 2023. https://www.patrickmikhailgallery.com/exhibitions/contemplation-for-obsolete-objects), Lifelines (Patrick Mikhail Gallery, 2020 and Ottawa City Hall Art Gallery, 2021"Lifelines Extended" exhibition page, the City of Ottawa Art Gallery website, consulted January 5, 2023. https://ottawa.ca/en/arts-heritage-and-events/art-centres-galleries-and-exhibition-spaces/galleries-and-exhibition-spaces/city-hall-art-gallery/2010-2021-exhibitions/2021-exhibitions#section-2ea99037-7498-4b5a-a9e4-933baa7865d0) and Zip Stack FlowRichard Pasquarelli, "Interview with Antonietta Grassi", White Hot Magazine, December 2022, website consulted January 4, 2023. https://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/interview-with-antonietta-grassi/5633"Zip Stack Flow" exhibition page, Galerie Patrick Mikhail website, consulted January 5, 2023. https://www.patrickmikhailgallery.com/exhibitions/antonietta-grassi-zip-stack-flow (Patrick Mikhail Gallery, 2022).
She was part of the stable of artists at a number of commercial galleries including Galerie Lilian Rodriquez"Antonietta Grassi", Women Artists in Canada, website consulted January 26, 2023. https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/eppp-archive/100/205/301/ic/cdc/waic/angras/angras_e.htm in Montréal. Since 2017, she is exclusively represented by Patrick Mikhail Gallery,Antonietta Grass artist profile, Patrick Mikhail Gallery website, consulted December 12, 2023. https://www.patrickmikhailgallery.com/artists/antonietta-grassi Montréal. 
Grassi has been a professor in the Visual Arts department at Dawson CollegeVisual Arts Faculty List, Dawson College website, consulted January 10, 2023. https://www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/visual-arts/faculty-staff-list/ since 1998.
== Art practice ==
Grassi’s work draws from the history of 20th century abstraction. Her use of color has been compared to that of the early American Abstract expressionism painter Helen Frankenthaler, and her interest in hand-drawn grids compared to Canadian-born American Minimalism painter Agnes Martin."There is an audacious use of colour as per Helen Frankenthaler and Abstract Expressionism, and an interest in the grid and precision, as in the Minimalist approach of Agnes Martin." Amanda Beattie, Antonietta Grassi: Lifelines Extended (Lignes de vie... prolongement), Ottawa City Hall Art Gallery, 2021, p.4. https://documents.ottawa.ca/sites/documents/files/antonietta_grassi_catalogue_en.pdf "Like Agnes Martin’s grids, Grassi’s paintings both bear the traces of the hands that made them and exceed the sum of their painstakingly articulated parts." Ara Osterweil, op. cit. 
Grassi prefers to paint on raw linen or canvas using acrylic and oil paints. She builds up multi-layered surfaces of paint that are intersected by thread-like lines."I began my career in textiles, therefore I cannot ignore the fabric I am painting on, in this case the linen or canvas. I want to make it part of the work. I use different types of linen which are sourced from various countries, with Belgian linen perhaps being the most widely known for painting. Each type of linen or canvas has its own unique properties and color. I like how the paint or ink appears more like a stain when I apply the initial layer. Much of this gets covered up when I apply subsequent layers of paint over the stain, but it does affect the way that the final colors come through. The neutral color of the linen also helps to temper the bright colors I tend to use." Richard Pasquarelli, op. cit. 
Her paintings have been likened to geometric poems, woven with threads that connect early computer coding and textiles with personal and collective memory."A beige abyss. Hot pink solitude, suspended in time. A geometric poem, woven with threads that connect technology, memory, and abstraction. In Antonietta Grassi's work, all of these separate entities become neatly tied together in a mathematical, painterly, and thoughtful exploration of colour and light; shape and line. A geometric poem, woven with threads that connect technology, memory, and abstraction." Amanda Beattie, Antonietta Grassi Lifelines Extended (Lignes de vie... prolongement), op. cit. Starting in 2018, Antonietta Grassi became interested in the link between woven textiles and computers when she learned that the Jacquard machine (1804) had inspired the Analytical Engine, an 1837 mechanical-computing device invented by English mathematicians Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace. These ideas affected the imagery and painting techniques that dominated the subsequent body of her artwork."...while underscoring the contiguity of modernist composition and traditional craft, her exquisite abstractions also demonstrate the visual similarities between loom work and computer code." Ara Osterweil, op. cit. "The works in this exhibition pull together elements from different avenues of Grassi’s inspirations. Fielding her own story from within an array of women who came before her; linking the textile industry and the Jacquard loom to computer programming; and bridging art movements such as Abstract Expressionism and Post-Minimalism, Grassi’s work is rooted in history and research, while also open to chance and impromptu meanderings." Amanda Beattie, Antonietta Grassi: Lifelines Extended (Lignes de vie... prolongement), op. cit. "I have a background in textiles and a few years ago I became interested in the historical link between the Jacquard loom and computer programming. The Jacquard loom, a machine invented in the 1800s that weaves complex patterns using punch cards, was an important development in the history of computer hardware thanks to Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage. It became their inspiration for the “analytic engine” which provided the template for what we now consider to be the first computer. I found this link to be fascinating and it made a lot of sense intuitively to integrate these themes into my work since I had been interested in both textiles and analog technology for a while." Richard Pasquarelli, "Interview with Antonietta Grassi", Noah Becker's Whitehot Magazine of Contemporary Art, December 2022, website consulted January 25, 2023. https://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/interview-with-antonietta-grassi/5633 They also lead the artist to pay homage to the contributions of women computer scientists and mathematicians, such as Lovelace and Grace Hopper, by referring directly to their names or to their discoveries in her paintings’ titles (ex. ADA, 2019, Break Point, 2019, FLOW-MATIC, 2019, Compiler, 2020)."It also felt necessary to highlight the forgotten contribution of women scientists and mathematicians such as Lovelace and the many others who came after her as pioneers of early computer programming and how their contribution to the field of coding had largely been forgotten. Some of the titles of my paintings refer to the names of women scientists or the programs they developed, and this has been a helpful access point to start that conversation." Richard Pasquarelli, op. cit. https://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/interview-with-antonietta-grassi/5633
== Collections ==
Grassi's works are in the collections of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ),"Une œuvre d'art pour le nouveau bureau de Québec : les tableaux d'Antonietta Grassi sur les murs du Conseil", Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec website News page, consulted January 5, 2023. https://www.calq.gouv.qc.ca/actualites-et-publications/actualites/oeuvre-antonietta-grassi-bureau-calq-quebec and the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec (MNBAQ),"Oeuvres de l'artist Antonietta Grassi (4 oeuvres)", Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec "Collections" catalog website, consulted January 5, 2023. https://collections.mnbaq.org/fr/artiste/600009306.
Category:Canadian contemporary art
Category:1965 births
Category:People from Montreal