Publications and Reviews

Publications-Interviews

JOURNEYS OF THE SOUL
An essay by Nancy Kay Turner
All Journeys have the secret destination of which the traveler is unaware- Martin Buber
The poignant mixed – media ceramic sculptures by Annie Marini-Genzon entitled “Journeys of the Soul,” speak to the timely topic of voyages by water and land, as people seek opportunity or are forced to flee unfortunate economic or political situations. Journeys are the stuff of lore, legend and myth as heroes and heroines must overcome obstacles and challenges. Whether it is Ulysses or Magellan dangerous trips through uncharted territory, these heroic or romantic stories, mythic or historic are part of our history, literature and collective memory.
The boat itself is a potent symbol used by contemporary artists such as Betye Saar, Ai Weiwei, Enrique Martinez-Celaya, Laurie Anderson and Yoko Ono to name a few, who use the skiff or canoe to represent transition or movement from this world to the next or to reference diasporas.
Marini-Genzon’s ceramic vessels are a flotilla of hopefulness, resilience and resolve that signify a physical, metaphorical or spiritual journey. Each of the 7 hand -made ceramic boats is a simple flat -bottomed craft with distinctive “sails” made of vintage clothing paper patterns. The sails with their unusual shapes along with the text, lines and numbers printed on the surface are both enigmatic and strangely personal. These beguiling dinghies contain organic straw-like materials or twigs and mysterious bound bundles that perhaps signify possessions and memories. There are small houses crammed together in a few of the vessels. These unadorned basic skiffs though simple in form, structure and coloration are filled with longing and desire like ghost ships circling the world searching for land. In one boat there is a female figure who is holding a shell and keys in anticipation or hopes of finding an actual door or lock.
Marini-Genzon continues the series with two compelling large-scale unglazed female busts whose forward posture resembles the mastheads of many historical wooden ships. Constructed out of earth (clay) these two figures remind one of Gaia, the Greek mythic personification of mother earth. She is clothed in leaves with her hair sculped with appliqued leaves, or incised tree roots wrapped around her head like a scarf. Eyes closed she projects tranquility even as she commands the forces of nature, has the power to heal and propagate. A bird quietly sits on her shoulder perhaps a sign of peace. Rising from dried organic matter, with actual twigs emerging from her body, she is a commanding yet serene figure.
While the” Journeys of the Soul” series recollects the artist's own passage as she emigrated from Argentina to the United States and her European Ancestors who emigrated to Argentina, it also speaks to a universal truth that there is no place like home. Edward W. Said wrote, “Exile…is the unhealable rift forced between a human being and a native place, between the self and its true home…” Although there is a distinct sense of longing and restlessness in Marini-Genzon’s captivating works, her ceramic sculptures are essentially hopeful, looking towards a more harmonious, bountiful, and equitable earthly existence.
Nancy Kay Turner
Pasadena, CA. November 2024.

SHOUTOUTLA
https://shoutoutla.com/meet-annie-marini-genzon-painter-sculptor/
VOYAGE LA
http://voyagela.com/interview/conversations-with-annie-marini-genzon/
LA Art Party.
https://www.laartparty.com/february-25-2023-ave-50-studio-annie-marini-genzon

Latino Heritage Month Calendar and Cultural Guide City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs 2024
Latino Heritage Month Calendar and Cultural Guide City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs 2023
Latino Heritage Month Calendar and Cultural Guide City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs 2022
Latino Heritage Month Calendar and Cultural Guide City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs 2021
Latino Heritage Month Calendar and Cultural Guide City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs 2020
Home Town Pasadena, Pasadena, CA 2016
Home Town Pasadena, Pasadena, CA 2015
805 - SOCIETY EIGHT O FIVE- Lifestyle resources for Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. 6/2015
PHOENIX- HOME & GARDEN, 2015
Angeleno Magazine, 10/2014
Latino Art Headlines at the Smithsonian Easy Reader. South Bay Arts. 5/2013
Los Angeles Magazine. The Best of LA. 5/2013
El Suplemento, Los Angeles, CA. 5/ 2013
Stop Watch, Los Angeles, CA 2012
ArtsBeatLA, 2012
Price Latimer Agah, 2011
Casa Magazine , Santa Barbara, CA 2011
Coagula Art Journal, 2010
El Suplemento- Galeria de Arte July, 2009
Forth Mag’s Photostream- Santa Monica Fine Arts Studios. July, 16, 2009.
Malibu Art/Malibu Beach News, 2009
Los Angeles Times- Silent Witness and Silence- May 2008-
Show and Tell-Catalog for an international art exhibit –The Art of Vision- Zimmer Children’s Museum. Los Angeles CA. 2008
News Press Correspondent- Continuing The Latino Tradition – June 2007 Santa Barbara, CA
Show and Tell-Catalog for an international art exhibit –The Art of Sound- Zimmer Children’s Museum. Los Angeles CA
First Latino Art Biennale . November 2003- Art Nexus
Latino Artist of Los Angeles “Defining Self and Inspiration” LA County Fair-Millard Sheets Gallery- Smithsonian Institution Affiliations Program October 2005
Latino LA- December 2005
Boulevard Sentinel- August 2004
Abstracte Élegant II-Don O’ Melveny Gallery- West Hollywood, CA. March 2004. Catalog.
Albatros- La pintura italo-americana in esposizione a Napoli- Naples – Gennaio-2003
Arteamerica” Artistas Latinoamericanos en los Estados Unidos”September-2003
Diario Clarin- Panorama de la Plástica. Buenos Aires, Argentina. June, 1988

Awards
Premi Internacionazionali delle Arti “Memoria Lucia Martinez” 2004- 2008 Asociacion cultural Ruiz Aznar- Granada, España. 2004-2008
Diploma de Accésit – Premio Concurso Internacional de Artes Plásticas “ Compositor Antonio Guada” Granada, España. 2005