Nancy Ostrovsky

Nancy Ostrovsky is a pioneer of performance painting, an art form that has not yet been embraced by galleries and museums but has earned her a dedicated following nonetheless. Just as jazz musicians often go unrecognized, or at least, play on without the distractions of million-dollar-record deals and radio playlists, Ostrovsky has forged her own path in art without worrying about who's hot and who's not in the greater art world. Instead, she has spent her life processing her experiences and absorbing influences and putting it all back into her paintings which have only grown more expressive and wise over the course of the past three decades.

Born in Benghazi, Libya in 1955, the daughter of a career foreign service officer, she spent her childhood living throughout Asia, moving to Bangkok, to Taiwan, to the Philipines and later Bangladesh. Calligraphy and Chinese theater made definite impressions on her, but more importantly was the overall experience of the mutations of culture as she traveled from place to place. For Ostrovsky, art was never solely a western experience, defined by masters from the Renaissance through Andy Warhol. Art was the wide range of visual experiences that the world-the entire world-had to offer.

Ostrovsky had already hit on one of her key developments as an artist: squirting paint directly from the bottle onto paper in fluid, unbroken, calligraphic lines. It came from a moment of inspiration, or frustration, when brushes and charcoal sticks were no longer working. It was also very physical, almost like dancing or performing martial arts. Like this samurai practice, Ostrovsky wielded her paints with a heft and verve that brought instant excitement to her art works.Her most recent series demonstrate a sophisticated use of several materials at the same time, often combining ink and charcoal, or acrylic paint and calligraphy, in the same work of art. In The Artist and the Painting Series, she shows the artist in her studio, struggling, as her imagery breaks free from the canvas. In another series of drawings, she comments on the human condition by sticking horse heads on all of the figures. There are references ranging from Chinese masks and theater to themes of feminist art, but it all is resolutely Ostrovsky who brings her diverse imagery together with fluency.

Most impressive is Ostrovsky's development as a performer, which has taken as much strength and control behind the scenes as she embodies on stage. The creation on stage looks entirely spontaneous, but as Nancy always says, "Spur of the moment for me is a lot of work." . She has also become a first-rate performer herself, conscious of how she works the stage and uses the space on the backdrop to capture the audience's attention. Her output is astounding, creating paintings in her studio even as she continues to pursue her schedule of performances. But even more outstanding is the way that she has integrated her life with her art. Nancy Ostrovsky's journey-as a woman and an artist-is a testament to her inner strength and her dedication to art as a form of self-expression. Without a safety net, she has made her mark as an artist, demonstrating through her paintings that art itself can be life sustaining.

Barbara Pollack

Barbara Pollack is an artist and writer based in New York City who has exhibited widely throughout the United States. Her articles appear regularly in such publications as Vanity Fair, the New York Times, Artnews, Art in America and Time Out New York.

Ostrovsky has exhibited in Germany, New York, Boston and California. Her work is included in many private and public collections.

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