Artist Statement
Karen Santry is a Manhattan based contemporary fine arts painter, fashion illustrator and Associate Professor of Art at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Born in Frankfurt, Germany am Main of American parents. Having grown up partially in Holland and New Canaan, Connecticut, her love of the Dutch masters Rembrandt and Vermeer resulted in her lifetime passion: painting of the figure in costume with dramatic lighting. Having been represented by the Allan Stone gallery in Manhattan for over twenty- five years she also has exhibited in over 157 galleries and over 16 museums internationally.
Karen Santrys experience panting sets for theatre, and Opera had a great influence on her sense of large-scale paintings. She also designs sets and costumes for the Electric Current Dance Company in Manhattan and resides in the Westbeth Artist Housing in Manhattan for the past 20 years where she works in her two studios.
Her current work involves life size oil paintings of Japanese Kabuki actors on rosewood cutouts that function as larger than life-size installations. She recently received permission from the Japanese Government to paint the Kabuki in this highly realistic style as the Kabuki subject matter is considered one of the countrys national treasures.
Karen left teaching in the Art Department at Yale to glean greater visual access to the Haute-Couture extreme evening-ware seen on the runways of fashion week in Manhattan and to be closer to the painting scene. She with Artist Janis Salek are the only two artists who are given permission to draw annually the people and runway models during fashion week for Fern Mallis and are sponsored by Mercedes- Benz. In tandem with her KABUKI series she is known for her large cutout installations of avante guarde designers haute couture runway wear on models walking their favorite pets. The choice of black clothing often evokes the costumes in Rembrandts Night Watch. The pets are often eight foot Dalmatians - sets of which were recently installed in the entrance of the gallery of Westbeth Artists Housing.
One of Karen Santrys smaller fine art cutout paintings was chosen for Martin Dawbers cover art of The Big Book of Fashion Illustration currently in Barnes and Noble she also wrote the preface. She uses her fashion Illustration accounts which most recently have been for Yamamoto, Rea Kabuki: Comme de Garcons, Valentino, Patricia Fields and Andre Van Pier to meet the designers and work directly with the models and clothing. Her favorite exhibitions she has participated in including drawings and paintings have been at the Allan Stone Gallery, The New Museum, the Whitney Museum store, The Smithsonian Institute Renwick Gallery, The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Paris and London, the Aldrich Museum the DeCordova Museum, Audart Gallery, New Britain Museum of American Art and recently a huge 15 piece KABUKI installation at Spectacular Events at one Brooklyn Bridge Plaza.
She has her MFA in painting from the University of Pennsylvania BS in art from Skidmore College and taught painting and drawing at Yale University in the department of art prior to her move to Manhattan.