I'd like to thank Peter Trippi for including me in this months issue of Fine Art Connoisseur as one of three artist to watch. Attached is the section of the article that he wrote on me.
today ’ s ma s t e r s
Artists Making Their Mark
There is a lot of superb art being made these days; this column shines light on a trio of gifted individuals.
ANGELA CUNNINGHAM (b. 1977) personifies the hard-won
virtuosity and still-untapped potential of today’s younger classically
trained artists.
Her path thus far is typical of her peers in classical realism. Born and
raised in the Bay Area, Cunningham studied at various art colleges, ultimately
earning her B.F.A. in drawing and painting, with a minor in sculpture,
from Laguna College of Art and Design. After teaching in California
for a few years, she decided to master the classical approach to drawing
and painting under the mentorship of Jacob Collins at New York City’s
rigorous Grand Central Academy of Art. She shone brilliantly there and
graduated last year, though the academy does not actually issue an M.F.A.
Cunningham now teaches at her own atelier in Asheville, North Carolina,
and also at other studios around the country, especially in New York at
Grand Central and the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art’s Beaux-
Arts Atelier. A talented sculptor in her own right, she assisted Meredith
Bergmann earlier this year (see page 79).
First and foremost, Cunningham is an outstanding draftsman, a gift
equally crucial to the success of her oil paintings and sculptures of individuals
(both nudes and heads). Admiring her works, we know exactly
where to locate the model, the artist, and ourselves: every area has been
thought through and executed deftly. Moreover, Cunningham’s superb
color studies reveal that line is not her only concern.
The challenge now for Cunningham, and indeed for others of her
generation, is to infuse these extraordinary skills with her own spirit, to
rise above the serenity — some might say sterility — of the atelier and to
speak for herself. Although multi-figure compositions may offer a way
forward, even a well-chosen single figure can communicate something
profound about both model and artist. Cunningham, it seems, need not
alter her look so much as her emphasis. She is ideally equipped to take
flight, and it will be a pleasure to see where she takes us.
