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Ann Tanksley’s work tells a story. At times it is an autobiography of her inner spirit melded with her experiences and travel; at other times it is about social injustices and the universal plight of rural workers as well as her ability to retell stories that have been told by others as she in her visual interpretations of the prose of Zora Neale Hurston. She sees herself as a “social commentator” who would like people to understand her through her work and to understand her point of view. This is perhaps why she has chosen to communicate through the figures of the paintings rather than through abstract expression even though her method is not unlike that of the Abstract Expressionist. Her work is ebullient and fascinating. An experienced technician and a deeply intuitive artist, she is able to manipulate the viewer’s emotion and convey the intended message by adopting the appropriate visual language for the idea and concepts she wishes to express. Characteristically she disregards the visual rules of perspective and proportion and deliberately distorts physical features for psychological reasons. She often incorporates certain childlike characteristics into her work, yet is equally capable of making a strong statement with a single line. Her figures sometimes have minimal detail, but in a strange way manifest total gestures with a mere twist and stroke of a line. Ann Tanksley is serious about her work and feels a great deal of responsibility as an artist. As a part of her life’s mission she embarked on the epic undertaking of following the African slave trade route in her own travels. Her travel took her to places such as the African continent, the Caribbean, Brazil, Qatar and throughout the United States. Her work reflects her travel and the emotional impact she absorbs. Working through what she experiences, her reflections, her awareness and contemplation, she gives us a body of work that transcends the ordinary. A Pittsburgh native and New York resident, Ann has enjoyed a long and illustrious professional career highlighted by numerous honors and artistic achievements. A graduate of Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University) in Pittsburgh, PA, she also studied at the Parsons School of Design, the Printmaking Workshop and the New School for Social Research, all located in New York. Tanksley has studied with many master artists including Norman Lewis, Balcom Green, Sam Rosenberg, Robert Blackburn and Kathy Carracio. A cornerstone accomplishment in Tanksley’s career includes the creation and publication of a masterful portfolio of monoprints based on the writings of author Zora Neale Hurston, entitled “Images of Zora”. A portfolio of prints was later orchestrated by Adolphus Ealey. Author Maya Angelou described the portfolio as “dazzling”. The successful portfolio was exhibited at two New York exhibitions and also enjoyed a national tour. In 2004 Tanksley visited the Middle East in Qatar where she was given a solo exhibition hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar. The exhibition included twenty woodcuts, monoprints, etchings and other prints. Ann also conducted classroom lectures and was warmly received by students. Anthologies and publications which Ann Tanksley’s work has been featured include: Gumbo Ya Ya: Anthology of Contemporary African American Women Artists; Time Capsule: A Concise Encyclopedia of Women Artist by Robin Kahn; The Art of Black American Women: Works of Twenty Four Artists of the Twentieth Century by Robert Henkes; Forever Free: Art by African-American Women 1862-1980, Edited by Anna Alexander Bontemps and Jewels: 50 Phenomenal Black Women Over Fifty by Michael Cunningham and Connie Briscoe. Tanksley has received numerous commissions, placement in public and private collections including Coors Brewing Company, Pepsi Cola Company, Absolut Vodka, Johnson Publishing Company, Studio Museum in Harlem, the Hewitt Collection, Oprah Winfrey to name a few.
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Carnegie Mellon University, BFA Pittsburgh, PA Art Students League, New York, NY Parsons School of Design, New York, NY Robert Blackburn Workshop, New York, NY New School of Social Research, New York, NY Kathy Caraccio Print Studio, New York, NY
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PERMANENT & PUBLIC COLLECTIONS Harvard University, Boston, MA Absolut Vodka, Sweden Acts of Art Gallery, New York, NY Atlanta Life Insurance Company, Atlanta, GA Bratten Gallery, New York, NY Brooke Alexander Gallery, New York, NY Colgate-Palmolive Company, New York, NY Dillard University, New Orleans, LA Duquesne Light Company, Pittsburgh, PA Isabel Neal Gallery, Chicago, IL James Lewis Gallery, Baltimore, MD Johnson Publishing Company, Chicago, IL Library of Congress, Robert Blackburn Print Collection, Washington, DC Maitland Art Center, Maitland, FL New York University, New York, NY The Apex Museum, Atlanta, GA The Hewitt Collection, Bank of America, Charlotte, NC The National Museum of Women’s Arts, Washington, DC The Sewickley Academy, Sewickley, PA The Studio Museum of Harlem, New York, NY The Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, NJ Time-Life Books, Inc., New York, NY
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ILLUSTRATED CHILDREN'S BOOKS Zora Neale Hurston, Adapted by Joyce Carol Thomas, harper Collins Publishers, 2006 My Heart Will Not Sit Down, by Mara Rockliff, Random House Children's Books, 2012
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SELECT SOLO EXHIBITIONS Avisca Fine Art Gallery, Images of Zora, Marietta, GA, 2009 Featherstone Gallery, Visual Voices, Martha’s Vineyard, 2009 August Wilson Center for the African American Arts, Six Fools, Pittsburgh, PA, 2009 Avisca Fine Art Gallery, Life Cycles, Marietta, GA, 2008 Virginia Commonwealth University, Conversations, Doha, Qatar, 2004 Dorsey Gallery, Ann Tanksley, Brooklyn, NY, 2003 Contemporary Center for Printmaking, Ann Tanksley, Norwalk, CT, 2002 Winston Salem Delta Fine Arts Gallery, Ann Tanksley, Winston Salem, NC, 1999 Kenkellaba Gallery, Paint to Print, New York, NY, 1997 Stella Jones Gallery, A Woman’s Voice, New Orleans, LA, 1997 Shelter Rock Gallery, Breadth and Depth, Shelter Rock, NY, 1995 Maitland Center, Images of Zora, Maitland, FL, 1994 Eatonville Museum, Images of Zora, Eatonville, FL, 1994 SOHO 20, Analogies, New York, NY, 1993 Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, Images of Zora, Pittsburgh, PA, 1992 Morgan State University, Images of Zora, Baltimore, MD, 1992 Dorsey Gallery, Brothers, Brooklyn, NY, 1991 Jamaica Art Center, Folktales, Festivals and Fantasies, Jamaica, NY, 1991 California College of Arts and Crafts, Images of Zora, Oakland, CA, 1991 Berkeley Repertory Theater, Images of Zora, Berkeley, CA, 1991 AC-BA Gallery for the Arts, Zora, Mount Vernon, NY, 1991 Spiral Gallery, Family Patterns, Brooklyn, NY, 1988 Jamaica Art Center, Borders, Jamaica, NY, 1987 Union Theological Seminary, Ann Tanksley, New York, NY, 1986 Dorsey Gallery, Ann Tanksley, Brooklyn, NY, 1986 Spectrum IV, Both Worlds, New Rochelle, NY, 1982 Acts of Art Gallery, Ann Tanksley, New York, NY, 1974 Acts of Art Gallery, Retribution, New York, NY, 1973 Black History Museum, Ann Tanksley, Hempstead, NY, 1972 SELECT GROUP SHOWS National Black Fine Arts Show, New York, NY, 2009 Sharon Simmons Gallery, Three Sisters, Brooklyn, NY The Ohio Historical Society and the National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center, Ann Tanksley, Soul, Columbus, OH, 2009 Dorsey Art Club Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2009 The Museum of African Diaspora & Bank of America, 2009 The Hewitt Collection of African American Art, San Francisco, CA, 2008 Stanford Center for the Arts & Rosenthal Gallery, Double Consciousness, Stanford, CT, 2008 Delta Arts Center, To Vivian and John With Love, Winston Salem, NC, 2008 National Black Fine Arts Show, New York, NY, 2008 Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, The Hewitt Collection, Hartford, CT, 2007 National Black Fine Arts Show, New York, NY, 2007 The Katonah Museum, Images in Print, Katonah, NY, 2006 National Black Fine Arts Show, New York, NY, 2006 The Smithsonian, When The Spirit Moves, Washington, DC, 2001 Du Sable Museum, The Hewitt Collection, Chicago, IL, 2001 Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Master Painters National Conference of Artists, New York, NY, 2001 Stella Jones Gallery, 5th Anniversary Exhibition, New Orleans, LA, 2001 Connecticut Graphic Art Center, International Miniature Print Exhibition, Norwalk, CT, 2001 UFA Gallery, Black Print Masters: Past and Present, New York, NY, 2001 Aldrich Museum, Varieties of Naked Experiences, Ridgefield, CT, 2001 National Afro American Museum and Cultural Center, In The Spirit Of The Dance, Wilberforce, OH, 1999 The Kansas City Jazz Museum, Jazz A Visual Transition, Kansas City, MO, 1999 Fire House Gallery, Invitational 1998, Hempstead, NY, 1998 Jamaica Center for Art and Learning, Reunion, Jamaica, NY, 1998 70th Street Gallery, Circa 70, New York, NY, 1998 Cinque Gallery, Printmaking, New York, NY, 1996 The Cathedral Church of Saint John, The Devine Black Beauty, New York, NY, 1995 Brooklyn Arts Council, Women of Color, New York, NY, 1995 The National Art Club, Contemporary African-American Artist 1980-1994, New York, NY, 1994 The Famli Gallery, In Celebration of Black History Month, Hempstead, NY, 1993 Soho 20, Soho 20 Strikes Gold, New York, NY, 1992 The Museum of African American Art, Auction, Los Angeles, CA, 1992 Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Colgate-Palmolive Exhibition of African American Art, New York, NY, 1992 Atlanta National Black Art Festival, For The Love of Art, Gallery at Rio, Atlanta, GA, 1992 Samuels Gallery, Point of View, Oakland, CA, 1992 Pittsburgh Foundation, Art on Thirty, Pittsburgh, PA, 1992 NYNEX Corporation, African American History Month, White Plains, NY, 1992 Savacou Gallery, Art Expo, New York, NY, 1992 Readers Digest, Council on the Arts in Westchester, Words and Images, Chappaqua, NY, 1992 Hastings-on-Hudson Gallery, Fingerprints, Hastings on Hudson, NY, 1992 Brooke Alexander Gallery, Benefit Art Auction for the Women’s Center for Education and Career Advancement, New York, NY, 1992 Bratton Gallery, New York, NY, 1991 Kenkelaba House, New York, NY, 1991 Christies, Contemporary Works of African American Artist & Traditional African Art, New York, NY, 1990 Isabel Neal Gallery, Chicago, IL, 1990 Visions Gallery, Juneteenth Celebration, Gallery Opening, Pittsburgh, PA, 1989 Medgar Evers College, Art Collection, New York, NY, 1989 Jamaica Art Center, Master and Pupils II: The Education of the Black Artist, New York, NY,1988 Church Women United, Women’s Art Exhibit: Cultural Diversity, New York, NY, 1987 Onyx Gallery, First Anniversary Exhibit, Brooklyn, NY, 1986 Women Artist at Mid-Career, New York, NY, 1985 The Port Authority Gallery, New York, NY, 1985 The First Women’s Bank & Cinque Gallery, A Celebration of Black Women Artist, New York, NY, 1984 The American Women in Art Album, Nairobi, Kenya, 1982 Illinois State University, Forever Free: Art by African American Women 1862-1980, Normal, IL, 1982 Indianapolis Museum of Art, Indianapolis, IN, 1982 University of College Park, College Park, MD, 1981 Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha, NE, 1981 Montgomery Museum of Fine Art, Montgomery, AL, 1981 Gibbs Art Gallery, Charleston, SC, 1981 Salmagundi Club African American Art Auction, New York, NY, 1981 Queens Museum, Queens, NY, 1979 Randall Galleries LTD , Freedom Ways Exhibit, New York, NY, 1978 Norfolk State College, The National Minority Women’s Exhibit, Norfolk, VA, 1977 New Museum of Brooklyn, The Black Family, Brooklyn, NY, 1976 Suffolk County Community College Gallery, Echoes of the Black Experience, Selden, NY, 1975 Black Enterprise Magazine, A Black Perspective, New York, NY, 1975 The Firehouse Gallery, Nassau Community College, Garden City, NY, 1974 Fordham University, Bruce McWright Collection, New York, NY, 1974 Mount Holyoke College, New Vitality in Art: Black Women, South Hadley, MA, 1972 Rebuttal to the Whitney Museum, Acts of Art, New York, NY, 1971 Seton Hall University, Freedom Ways Exhibit, South Orange, NY, 1971 Hudson River Museum, Freedom Ways Exhibit, Hudson, NY, 1971 Carnegie Mellon University, U.S.A., 1971-1972, Pittsburgh, PA, 1971 Taylor Gallery, North Carolina A&T University, Fifteen African American Women, Greensboro, NC, 1970 Lever House Gallery, Counterpoints 23, New York, NY, 1969
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