SANDRA SPANNAN

SANDRA SPANNAN, a native of Germany, is a painter, performer, and founder of the decorative painting company see-painting, inc.

Spannan has worked and lived in New York for over 13 years and has been involved in numerous art projects and exhibitions.

Past performances include participation as a model in Vanessa Beecroft's first NYC performance at SoHo's Deitch Gallery; a daylong painting performance in the subway sponsored by Artist's Space as part of the "Love-a-Commuter" project; the interactive window performances "powerportraits42" at chashama Theater on West 42nd Street and "pieceportraits" which was part of The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's 'Looking In' series; and "searching for sense" a three-day painting performance of a mural/installation in Lower Manhattan. "searching for sense," which was the artist's response to the attacks on the World Trade Center, is the subject of a short documentary film directed by Oscar Nominee Katja Esson and has been shown in festivals throughout the U.S., broadcast on Swiss television, New York's public television station Channel 13 and Metro Channel. It was also part of a one-month show at New York's The Kitchen Gallery.

INSIDE/OUT, a recent performance collaboration with Laura Barnett, took place in a storefront gallery on West 44th Street in June 2005 and in Berlin's Galerie Tristesse in August 2005.

Sandra's artwork has been included in designer showcases and art exhibitions in Berlin, Nuernberg, Kassel, Wuerzburg and New York. In 1996, she designed and painted the large outdoor mural for the German House, opposite the United Nations. Her work has been featured in American publications including Esquire, Vogue, Architectural Digest, Interior Design, Design Times, Paper, and Time Out; German publications include Berliner Morgenpost, Die Welt, and ALEGRA Magazine; her work has also been featured in Gulliver (Italy) and Hanatsubaki (Japan).

Sandra's earlier paintings stand between the abstract and the figurative, using homemade oil-based paints and mixed materials, such as plaster and pastels on canvas and wood panels. Through her work as a decorative painter and art restorer, Sandra has developed a broad range of painting and gilding techniques that she applies to her recent work in fine art. These techniques include the use of precious metals. Her last solo show was a series of paintings titled 'precious' at "20th Century Modern" in D.U.M.B.O. In these paintings, she worked with precious metals, such as 23-karat gold leaf and palladium leaf, applying them to steel and wood. Through painting with gold leaf on modern surfaces, Sandra reinterprets an ancient decorative medium in a contemporary context. This process also represents the artists own journey of connecting her commercial, decorative work with her "own" artwork.

Sandra has traveled frequently to countries in India, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and South America. She currently lives in New York City with her husband, musician Tony Jarvis, and their year-old daughter Fiona Noelle.

For more information or to get on the mailing list please go to

Sandra@sandraspannan.com
www.sandraspannan.com