Anthony Cudahy

Interviews by Brainard Carey

Artist Portrait by Alexander Bedder Anthony Cudahy (b.1989, Fort Myers, Florida, US) received a BFA from Pratt Institute, NY in 2011 and completed an MFA at Hunter College, NY in 2020. He lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. Cudahy is a figurative painter whose tender scenes reveal the nuanced complexities of life. In masterful compositions he creates a world for unspoken stories, intimate moments and romantic gestures. Personal and poetic, Cudahy's figures coalesce with the atmosphere of their environments in fluid brushstrokes. At once dark and luminous, Cudahy's paintings often have a phosphorescent quality to them, as though they are lit from within. For the artist, how the paint is handled has its own narrative potential - the thick textures, light airy space, patterning and delicate marks are all active in the story he is creating. Alongside painting, Cudahy makes incredibly detailed colored pencil drawings, in an all-consuming process of mark making. Unlike his paintings which transform throughout the making, the challenging medium calls for the compositions to be decided beforehand. Cudahy devotedly collects images. His collection draws upon film stills, snapshots of his partner, ancient sites, hagiographic icons and the photography of his great uncle, Kenny Gardner (which his husband, Ian Lewandowski has been compiling). Cudahy returns to his collected images time and time again, for they have a potent quality, which sparks ideas and concepts for the works. Anthony Cudahy, Dowsing (studio), 2024, Oil on linen, 243.8 x 182.9 cm | 96 x 72 in Anthony Cudahy, Death instinct (for Bergman, for Tarkovsky), 2024, Oil on linen, 121.9 x 304.8 cm | 48 x 120 in Anthony Cudahy, Ian and Alex, 2024, Oil on linen, 182.9 x 182.9 cm | 72 x 72 in