Artist to Watch: Discover the Vibrant, Energetic Works of Emerging Artist Marcos Anziani

Collected by the likes of Jon Bon Jovi and Bobbi Brown, this Dominican Republic-born, self-taught talent is causing a stir for his dynamic paintings that explore personal memory
BY LUCY REES

Viajera (Traveler)
Traveler, by Marcos Anziani. PHOTO: COURTESY OF MARCOS ANZIANI STUDIO AND AVANT GALLERY

Amaster of vivid color and dynamic compositions, Marcos Anziani translates his personal memories into striking, abstract paintings that have the art world in a grip. Born in the Dominican Republic, raised in the Bronx, and now living and working in Connecticut, the artist combines lyrical abstraction with expressionism, filling his canvases with large, gestural strokes depicting hints of people and objects that slowly begin to emerge from the paint. This month, Anziani is the subject of an exhibition “Home for Dinner” at Avant Gallery in Miami, inaugurating the gallery’s new location at the Herzog & de Meuron-designed 1111 Lincoln Road.

The story of how Anziani came to artmaking is an inspiring one. He started in the creative field by writing and recording music, before shifting gears and finding turning to painting relatively late, at the age of 28. “The need for me to express myself and not being able to for lack of knowing another outlet other than music was weighing heavy and I felt a lack of purpose,” he says.

Trilingual, by Marcos Anziani. PHOTO: COURTESY OF MARCOS ANZIANI STUDIO AND AVANT GALLERY

It was a job as a bellman at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Miami that would be pivotal. “I was there working at the hotel during the week of Art Basel Miami Beach, an experience that introduced me to paintings and an atmosphere that otherwise I wouldn’t have known existed,” he shares. Anziani recalls seeing a specific work by a fellow Dominican artist, Fernando Ureña Rib, that made a huge impression. “This massive oil painting captivated me in a way that I’ve never felt before. At that moment I knew that I had to paint.”

Anziani’s large-scale canvases are filled with energy and dynamism with the strokes jumping from the confines of the canvas. “In my work I like to express universal stories in a personal way or vice versa,” says the artist, who is inspired by a long list of exaulted talents, including Joan Miró, Henri Matisse, Willem de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, Arshile Gorky, Philip Guston, Picasso, Karel Appel, Jean Dubuffet, and Jean Michel Basquiat. “I’m intrigued by the notion that I’m channeling feelings and emotions directly from the subconscious in a language or dialect that can be interpreted collectively and individually by the reader, almost if turning a non-fiction into a fiction and a fiction into an open concept of possibilities depending on the viewer.”

As the city gears up for Art Miami from December 3 to 8, Avant Gallery will be a key participant. The fair is a major highlight of Miami Art Week, attracting collectors, curators, and art enthusiasts from around the globe. Avant Gallery will present a diverse selection of works by its featured artists, offering a taste of its curated excellence to an international audience. One of the highlights of the fair will be a sculpture by Will Kurtz depicting Albert Einstein riding a bicycle. Known for his life-size newspaper sculptures, Kurtz’s work celebrates everyday people while blending humor and poignancy. Displayed alongside Paul Parsons’ Everyday Genius series, the sculpture reflects on Einstein’s legacy as both an extraordinary mind and a relatable human figure.

Color plays a huge role in his works and layering the palette is one of the artist’s favorite parts of the process. “I love to see colors speak with each other,” he says. “As the painting develops, one color requires another for a complete dialogue. Coincidentally, they end up in the location where it would make sense to me according to the story being told, as if they just need me to place them there because they can’t do it themselves.”

Home by Dinner

“I love to see colors speak with each other”

MARCOS ANZIANI

Milk and Honey
Milk and Honey, by Marcos Anziani. PHOTO: COURTESY OF MARCOS ANZIANI STUDIO AND AVANT GALLERY

Since joining Avant Gallery in 2022, Anziani’s work has appeared in multiple solo and group exhibitions around the world, including locations in Moscow, New York City, and Miami. In early 2023, Anziani participated in his first group museum exhibition at the Norton Museum of Art in Palm Beach. Last October, he had his first solo show with Avant Gallery and a presentation at the gallery’s booth at Art Miami. Since then, his momentum has continued to rise.

This year, is work appeared in a group show at the Norton Museum of Art as well as the Palm Beach Modern + Contemporary art fair. In the summer, his paintings were featured at the Hamptons Fine Art Fair as well as the exclusive charity event for Galerie Magazine at the home of Lisa and James Cohen in East Hampton.