Anna Erickson Presents Gena Milanesi at Untitled Miami 2023 with two new series of paintings that continue the artist’s dialectical exploration of abstract expressionism. Milanesi’s compositions straddle opposing forces—confident gestures and bold strokes are counterbalanced by delicate marks and organic shapes. The artist employs an intuitive approach to creating her work, vacillating between abject intentionality and an almost subconscious navigation of color and form.

For her first presentation in Miami, Milanesi took inspiration from the ocean, specifically its color palette and shifting states—from still and tranquil to turbulent and back again without warning. Cerulean blues, shades of turquoise and teal, deep navy and black anchor each painting, with staccato bursts of yellows, oranges and pinks animating the surface like reflections on water. Depictions of flora, based on the eucalyptus leaves she associates with her childhood and the southern California landscape, emerge from behind layers upon layers of painterly texture. Together, these elements produce a radial effect of movement and action, a centrifugal force that gives each large-scale work a visceral feeling of concentrated energy. 

As a meditation on constant states of change and transformation, Milanesi’s paintings display a kind of cyclical rhythm. The structured, controlled chaos of her compositions doubles as a metaphor for nature itself. Her materials include charcoal, graphite, house paint, oil and acrylic paint and oil stick. These mediums build tension across the surface of her paintings, creating a sense of presence, physicality and potency that emanates from the center of each abstract composition. 

In describing her work, Milanesi states that, “Rooted in the spontaneity and instinctive nature of the pieces are all the worlds and emotions explored within the artist’s imagination during the process of their creation.” She identifies with a markedly feminine aesthetic sensibility, while veering from aggressive to restrained, maximalist to reductive. Like her predecessors, Milanesi’s work embodies inherent contradictions, illustrating the spectrum of emotions and the internal, existential struggles beholden to the human condition.

Gena Milanesi was born in Los Angeles and attended the University of Southern California. Her work was featured in the Spring Break Art Show’s 2022 LA edition and she was a 2023 artist-in-residence at the Italian Banditto Residency in Montefollonico, Tuscany. The artist lives and works in Los Angeles, California.

GENA MILANESI
Born 1991 in Santa Monica, California
Lives and works in Los Angeles, California

EDUCATION 
BA University of Southern California

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2023 Untitled Miami with Anna Erickson Presents, Miami, Florida
2019 PAYNE’S GREY, Werkartz Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2019 NEIGHBORS, Werkartz, Los Angeles, California
2018 BRITISH INVENTIONS, AS Gallery at Bergamot Station, Santa Monica, California

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2023 NAKED LUNCH, Spring Break Art Fair, Los Angeles, California
2021 TRUTH IN THE FACE OF REALITY, Robert Berry Gallery, New York, New York
2014 A FATED BRILLIANCE, BANCS Gallery, Miami, Florida
2014 THE BEAUTIFUL GAME, Kicking & Screening Pop-Up Gallery, Tribeca Film Festival, New York, New York

RESIDENCIES

2022 Banditto Residency - Montefollonico, Tuscany, Italy