Anna Frants (russian: А́нна Алекса́ндровна Фра́нц; born 1 October 1965) is an American
multimedia artist
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to traditio ...
,
curator, and art
collector. She is the founder of nonprofit cultural foundation "Cyland Foundation Inc."
and "CYLAND" MediaArtLab, and is director of "Frants Gallery" (
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, United States).
Biography
Frants was born on 1 October 1965 in
Leningrad,
Soviet Union. In 1989, Frants graduated from the
St. Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design (formerly the Vera Mukhina Leningrad Higher School of Art and Industry), where she had majored in
Industrial Design
Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advan ...
. In 1992, she was admitted to the New-York
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...
to the department of Art and Design where she majored in
Computer Graphics and
Animation
Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...
.
The mastering of
computer graphics and
animation
Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...
marked the beginning of her enthusiasm for
new media,
new media art and technologies in art
[The Time Keeper. Una mostra di gruppo itinerante Feed dei commenti](_blank)
// DIGICULT. Digital Art, Design and Culture. 2012.06.12. and the concentration of her interests on the transition from traditional classical methods to
cyberarts that was afforded unlimited possibilities by the rapidly developing
internet.
In 1997, she married Leonid Frants. Their son Daniil became the youngest artist at CYLAND MediaArtLab: when he was only twelve, he created, as part of Cyfest, an international educational game program for children, the workshop "Humanizing Robots", which he held in
Russia,
Germany,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, the
United States and
Ukraine.
In addition to continuous exhibition activities as an artist and a curator
[People: Interview with curator Anna Frants at Venice Biennial 2015](_blank)
// Chased. Magazin für Kunst, Ausstellungen, Vernissagen in Berlin. July 12. 2015. in the United States,
Saint Petersburg, Europe and Japan, in 2010, Anna traveled to the
Polar Region
The polar regions, also called the frigid geographical zone, zones or polar zones, of Earth are the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North Pole, North and South Poles), lying within the polar circles. These high l ...
as a member of the international group of artists within the program "The Arctic Circle" organized by the
Canadian government. The program's purpose was to afford the artists an opportunity to visit hard-to-reach places of the
Polar Region
The polar regions, also called the frigid geographical zone, zones or polar zones, of Earth are the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North Pole, North and South Poles), lying within the polar circles. These high l ...
that are mostly known through scientific reports, which would subsequently allow them to create art projects based on their impressions of the region. In addition to the video footage filmed by Anna, that trip resulted in her interactive project Trembling Creatures,
exhibited at the group show of participants of those annual expeditions that opened in May 2014 at the "1285 Avenue of the Americas Art Gallery" in New York.
Selected exhibitions
* Cyfest 15: Deering Estate,
Miami, USA 2023
* Nomada Digital Arts. Flying over birders.
Jerusalem,
Israel 2023
* XXII International Image Festival, XENOlandscapes,
Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
CO 2023
* Armenia Engineering Week 2023, Engineering City,
Yerevan,
Armenia, 2023.
* Digitec 2023, Meridian Expo Center, Yerevan, Armenia, 2023.
* CYFEST-14: Ferment, ASU MIX Center in Arizona, USA 2022
* Art & Environment=CROSSING Exhibition, Miro Center in Gwangju KR 2022
* Creative Machine 3 Exhibition, Goldsmiths College,
London UK 2022
* Cyfest-14 FERMENT Arts + Ecology Festival, Dartington Trust, Dartington UK 2021
* ID. ART:TECH Exhibition at the National Arts Club, New York, US 2020
* Weather Forecast: Digital Cloudiness - Reggia di Caserta,
Italy, 2018.
* Personal Spaces – Interactive Multimedia Works by Anna Frants, Carla Gannis, Alexandra Dementieva, Elena Gubanova and Ivan Govorkov.
National Arts Club
The National Arts Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and members club on Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1898 by Charles DeKay, an art and literary critic of the ''New York Times'' to "stimulate, foster, and promote public ...
, 15 Gramercy Park South, New York, 2018.
* HYBRIS, Monsters and Hybrids in Contemporary Art, University Ca’ Foscari, Venice, 2017.
* PERSONAL STRUCTURES - Open Borders. Venice, Italy, 2017
* Patterns of the Mind, Convergence, London, 2016.
* Nargifsus, Transfer Gallery, New York, 2016.
* Made in Ancient Greece, Sergey Kuryokhin Center for Contemporary Art,
St. Petersburg, 2016.
* The Other Home, Made in NY Media Center by IFP, New York, 2015.
* Urbi et Orbi, as part of the 6th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art,
RGGU,
Moscow, 2015.
* Personal Space #1, Youth Center at the
State Hermitage,
St. Petersburg, 2015.
* Re: Collection, Museum of Arts and Design, New York, 2014.
* Magnetic North, The UBS Art Gallery, New York, 2014.
* Finding Freedom in Russian Art, 1961-2014, Paul & Lulu Hilliard University Art Museum, Lafayette, USA, 2014.
* This Leads to Fire,
Neuberger Museum of Art
Neuberger Museum of Art is located in Purchase, New York, United States. It is affiliated with Purchase College, part of the State University of New York system. It is the nation's tenth-largest university museum. The museum is one of 14 sites on ...
, Purchase, New York, 2014.
* Capital of Nowhere, 2013.
* VISIONARY DREAMS # 3261-64", 2013.
* The Time Keeper, State Hermitage, 2013.
* Migrants, 5th Moscow Biennale of Contemporary Art, 2013.
* CYFEST Exhibition, 2012.
* The Time Keeper, Brussels, Belgium, 2012.
* Transmediale, ConcentArt e.V.,
Berlin, Germany, 2011.
* Trembling Creatures, SIGGRAPH ASIA, 2011, Hong Kong.
* Unforseen, Nailya Alexander Gallery, New York City, USA
Selective artworks
* "Obstinacy and persistence", Installation, 2023.
* “Vagaries of affection”, multimedia installation, 2023.
* "Unidentified objects", multimedia installation, 2021.
* “BAKLUSHAS or Frittering Away Brahms”, multimedia installation, 2021.
* "Shedding crocodile’s tears… or crying all the way to the bank", multimedia installation, 2021.
* "Simple pleasures", installation, 2021.
* "Amabie (japanese averter)", multimedia installation, 2020.
* "Artist union. Still live", multimedia installation, 2019.
* "Hooligans", media installation, 2019.
* "Peck of salt", media installation, 2019.
* "Point of no return", media installation, 2019.
* "Dissident", media installation, 2018.
* "Reflection in a space", media installation, 2018.
* "Optimist", media installation, 2018.
* "Narcissus", media installation, 2018.
* "Washerwomen", media installation, 2018.
* "Casts", media installation, 2018.
* "Living tapestry", media installation, 2017.
* "Blind spot", video installation, 2017.
* "Possessive shoemaker", media installation, 2017.
* "Stale news", media installation, 2017.
* "Under the weather", media installation, 2017.
* "Informer", media installation, 2017.
* "No. 0", multimedia installation in public space, 2016.
* "Bluest of the seas", media installation, 2016.
* Journey, media installation, 2015.
* Live cam renaissance, series of works, video Installations, 2015.
* Doll house, performance for children, 2015.
* Personal space, series of works, video Installations, 2015.
* Anxiety, installation, 2014.
* Weather forecast, multimedia installation, 2014.
* On the lookout, installation, 2014.
* Colouring soundscapes, sound installation, 2014.
* Reflection on life №125082, installation, 2013.
* Weather Forecast – winter/summer, installation, 2013.
* Cloud that smelled blue, installation, 2012.
* Socks snapper, installation, 2012.
* Vexation of spirit, video, 2012.
* Storm in a tea glass, media installation, 2012.
* Shadows, interactive multimedia installation, 2012.
* Hoist, installation, 2012.
* Cardboard drippings, installation, 2012.
* Acrobats, installation, 2012.
* Gravitation, installation, 2011.
* Breathing in the air, installation, 2010.
* We are here, installation, 2010.
* Window sash, kinetic Installation, 2010.
* Snowball fight, video installation, 2010.
* Toddler, video installation, 2010.
* Infinity, installation, 2009.
* Fish talk, cyber installation, 2007.
* Speedless, cyber performance, 2007.
* Made in Ancient Greece, Series of works (5 objects from this series are in the collection of the
Museum of Arts and Design in New York).
* In the Shade of Olive Tree — in the collection of Kyosei-no-Sato Museum (Japan).
* "Trembling Creatures", installation, 2010.
* "Polar Bear Fodder", multimedia installation, 2009.
The last two works were made as a result of the trip to the
Polar circle as a member of the Canadian art expedition "The Arctic Circle" in 2009.
Artworks by Anna Frants are presented by Borey Gallery (
Saint Petersburg, Russia), Dam Stuhltrager Gallery (New York, United States, and
Berlin, Germany) and Barbarian Gallery (
Zürich, Switzerland). Her works are in the collections of the New York
Museum of Arts and Design,
State Russian Museum, Kyosei-no-Sato Museum (Japan), Kolodzei Art Foundation,
Sergey Kuryokhin Center for Contemporary Art and in numerous private collections all over the world.
Curatorial activities
The most notable of Frants' curatorial works were the retrospective exhibitions "Sterligov's Group", 2006, New York, and "Art around the Barracks", 2003, New York.
In the documentary of
Andrey Zagdansky "Konstantin and Mouse", dedicated to
Konstantin Kuzminsky, one of the episodes was filmed at the opening night of "Art around the Barracks" at Frants Gallery in
Soho.
Among contemporary artists, who constantly collaborate with Anna Frants as a curator, are
Vitaly Pushnitsky, Elena Gubanova and Ivan Govorkov, Alexander Kozhin, Alexander Terebenin, Marina Koldobskaya, Alexandra Dementieva, Peter Belyi, Petr Shvetsov.
CYLAND MediaArtLab
In 2006, Anna Frants together with
Marina Koldobskaya founded the international media lab "СYLAND".
Since 2007, the MediaArtLab holds the annual festival of cyberart "Cyfest", the largest cyberart festival in Eastern Europe featuring artists from different countries who share an enthusiasm for new technologies.
[Anna Frants](_blank)
// Venice Conference 2017.
Nonprofit foundation "CYLAND Foundation"
In 1999, Anna and Leonid Frants created the nonprofit foundation "CYLAND Foundation"
that is still active. Its purpose was the representation in New York
of the artists from
Leningrad/St. Petersburg who have been working there from the postwar 1950s until the present time.
The primary focus was on the so-called Leningrad underground — the unique and underexplored cultural phenomenon of the 1970s and the artistic and social environment that brought if forth.
Gradually, the scope of activities of "Frants Gallery Space" expanded and started including not just the traditional genres, such as painting, sculpture and graphics, but also the art associated with the latest technologies:
cyberart, video art, computer animation, interactive installations as well as performance art.
Collection
The collection's creation was a natural extension of the development of "CYLAND Foundation". Since 1998, Anna and Leonid Frants have been collecting works of visual arts of Leningrad underground.
Their current collection also includes sculptures, assemblages, photographs, videos, objects of actual art and archival materials.
In January 2013, the Department of Contemporary Art at the
Hermitage Museum organized, as a part of the project "Actual Art of St. Petersburg, A Retrospective", the exhibition "Simple Rules".
"Simple Rules" exhibition in Hermitage
// Obtaz Atrs. It showcased works from Russian and foreign private collections.
References
Sources
Technology of the Cyber-beauty — Anna Frants and Lena Sokol. NY Arts Magazine
Anna Frants
// Venice Conference 2017.
Is it All Quiet on the Cyber Front? — Anna Frants and Elena Sokol. NY Arts Magazine
People: Interview with curator Anna Frants at Venice Biennial 2015
// Chased. Magazin für Kunst, Ausstellungen, Vernissagen in Berlin. July 12. 2015.
St. Petersburg holds the festival of contemporary art Cyfest for the third time — TV Channel 1, 2009
The Time Keeper. A traveling group exhibition — Digicult
// DIGICULT. Digital Art, Design and Culture. July 31, 2012.
The Time Keeper — Be-In
External links
* Франц, Анна Александровна // Википедия.
Anna Frants Site
CYLAND Foundation Inc
CYLAND MediaArtLab
Cyfest Festival
Frants Gallery Space
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frants, Anna
1965 births
Living people
Curators from Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design alumni
Pratt Institute alumni
American art collectors
Russian art collectors
American women art collectors
American art curators
American women curators
20th-century art collectors
21st-century art collectors
20th-century Russian painters
21st-century Russian painters
20th-century American painters
21st-century American painters
Russian women painters
American women animators
Russian women animators
American animators
Russian animators
Russian contemporary artists
American women video artists
American video artists
Russian video artists
American multimedia artists
20th-century American women artists
21st-century Russian women artists
21st-century American women
American contemporary painters
20th-century Russian women
20th-century women painters
21st-century women painters