Background
Andra Ursuta was born in 1979, in Salonta, Romania. She immigrated to the United States in the 1990's.
Columbia University, New York City, New York, United States
During the period from 1997 till 2002, Andra studied at Columbia University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree.
2017
Largo Isarco, 2, 20139 Milano MI, Italy
Andra Ursuta (left) attends a "Private view of TV 70: Francesco Vezzoli Guarda La Rai" at Fondazione Prada on May 7, 2017, in Milan, Italy.
2019
Andra Ursuta in her studio, 2019. Photo by Taylor Dafoe.
Artist Andra Ursuta and her husband Mike Ursuta.
2017
Largo Isarco, 2, 20139 Milano MI, Italy
Andra Ursuta (left) attends a "Private view of TV 70: Francesco Vezzoli Guarda La Rai" at Fondazione Prada on May 7, 2017, in Milan, Italy.
2019
Andra Ursuta in her studio, 2019. Photo by Taylor Dafoe.
Artist Andra Ursuta and her husband Mike Ursuta.
Columbia University, New York City, New York, United States
During the period from 1997 till 2002, Andra studied at Columbia University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Andra Ursuta was born in 1979, in Salonta, Romania. She immigrated to the United States in the 1990's.
In 1997, Andra entered Columbia University to study contemporary art. In 2002, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History and Visual Arts from the university.
From the very beginning of her career, Ursuta has used fatalistic dark humor to expose power dynamics, to probe the vulnerability of the human body and to examine modes of desire. Her numerous works include "Predators 'R Us", "Crush", "Vandal Lust", "Zombie 1-6" and many others.
During her career, Andra has exhibited internationally at various venues, including Frieze Projects New York (2012); CAPC musée d'art contemporain de Bordeaux, France (2013); MoMA PS1, New York City (2013); the 55th Venice Biennale (2013); the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2014); and the 13th Biennial of Lyon, France (2015), among others.
Ursuta's solo exhibitions include "The Management of Barbarism" at Ramiken Crucible, New York City (2010); "Mothers, Let Your Daughters Out in the Streets" at François Ghebaly Gallery, Los Angeles (2012); "Solitary Fitness" at Venus Over Manhattan, New York City (2013); "As I Lay Drying" at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami (2014); "Scytheseeing" at Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne (2014); "Whites" at Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland (2015); "Enslavables" at Massimo De Carlo, London (2015); "Nobodies" at Ramiken, New York City, and others.
Currently, she lives and works in New York City.
Andra Ursuta makes work, fueled by her memories and fears. Her sculptures and installations are often wry, poignant, self-deprecating, melancholic, nostalgic and apocalyptic. She mixes media, such as cement, plaster, marble, found objects and wood to develop new ways of viewing the world and processing her memories and fears.
Ursuta's sculptures and installations thrive on paradox and engage a visual language, that weaves an art historical homage with a homespun, anarchic sensibility.
Finding much of her inspiration in news stories and photographs she sees on the Internet, Ursuta's haunting sculptural installations explore contemporary experience through the lens of past histories.
Quotations:
"I'm surprised by just how much sexuality plays a role in my work because I'm actually very shy, though I often force myself to deal with topics, that make me uncomfortable. I think that's why sex always seems prevalent in what I do."
"The throwaway, cheap props, that the culture uses to express its fear - I love to use those kinds of things."
"Usually, I don’t get inspiration so much from immediate events, but more from vague things like who I'm dating, or what I'm reading at any given moment on the BBC website."
"I'm from a very different place. I don't think I'll ever be able to ignore that. In the United States, everything is just so prosperous. It starkly contrasts the environment in Eastern Europe."
Andra is married to Mike Ursuta, a gallerist.
