Chasing the Dream of Becoming an Artist

Oscar Award Winner Roger Ross Williams with artist Anthony Chase at the Hawk and Hive opening reception 

At Anthony Chase’s barn gallery in Delhi

ANDES — This story begins in Cape Town, South Africa, as Anthony Chase finished at university and he did what he describes as a right of passage by going abroad for a year traveling and working on an oil tanker ship. After exploring Europe for this period, Chase returned to S. Africa in 1975 just as the anti-Apartheid movement had been bubbling to a fever pitch. Settling back into adult life, Chase started a communal farm with six friends along the coast, but after a couple of years he realized he had a passion for the film industry. Yearning for the city life back in Cape Town, he returned to study theater because there were no film schools in the city at the time. During this time, Chase had been creating collage books that documented the uprising against the oppression of the time. The one book in his studio from that time is a miraculous document of color, imagery, and writing characterizing the turmoil of a nation demanding change. Chase shared the feeling of the rage of that era in the region. These times are historically known for dehumanizing the native black citizens and his books included very loving and culturally rich images of black families in a way that was frowned upon by the establishment in Cape Town. He participated in protests against the authoritarian government and law enforcement which had serious consequences. As he explains, he wasn’t an initiator but shared in the rage, “I actually got arrested, our house got raided at three in the morning. All my books about the revolution were confiscated by BOSS (The Bureau of State Security). It was like the fascist police.” Chase admires his friends who stayed to carry on the fight, but he needs to follow his passion for working in film. In 1984 he made his way to NYC. 

Upon landing in NYC, Chase found his way, “I just dove into the subterranean world of the clubs; the Pyramid Club, the Limelight, CBGB’s, the Palladium and I was making my films. I was showing my black and white films at clubs as installations… They were expressionistic in style and dream sequences, things that would carry the narrative forward and textural backgrounds.” Chase gained recognition and notoriety for his films by getting National Endowment of the Arts (NEA) and NYSCA grants for his Super Eight- and sixteen-millimeter films, as he preferred analog over video. Though he loved making films, Chase had to pay the bills by getting involved in painting as a contractor, “What I came to realize is what was coming into vogue was plastering. I went to the South of France with a colleague to learn plastering and pigment making in Roussillon, then I carved out a good living doing high end residential plastering.” Chase’s friends were fascinated by his plaster sample boards and encouraged him to create artwork based on his skills with plaster making. Chase talks about the new direction of his artwork around 2018, “I began making these very minimalistic simple paintings on board that were a dance between luminosity and the gritty textures of the Italian lime plaster.” His clients, who had once hired him for expensive wall treatments, were now purchasing artwork from Chase. Encouraged, Chase approached Jayne Parker, owner of the newly opened Hawk + Hive gallery in Andes, NY.  Upon seeing Chase's work, Parker determined Chase's first solo exhibition should also be the gallery's first solo exhibition. It turned out to be an enormous success for both.

The current exhibition, ‘Patena,’ is a dual location exhibit at Hawk and Hive gallery in Andes and this weekend there will be a reception at Chase’s elegantly renovated barn studio location in Delhi. This exhibition is a combination of fabulous works including Chase’s masterful skills of mixing elements of aloeids in with plaster to create a subtle glistening sheen from different angles, as well as a variety of textured abstract work. Chase admits he doesn’t have an education in the arts apart from film and theater but is very grateful to his wife Nini Ordoubadi (Owner of Tay Tea in Delhi) who has a master’s degree in art for her guidance. Since moving from the city to upstate NY Chase has connected with folks that he has relied on for encouragement such as artists Steve Burnett, Scott Ackerman, and the late art critic of the New Yorker, Peter Schjeldahl who sadly passed away in 2022. Chase says, “Peter encouraged me to be messy and be brave with my work”. 

The evolution of Chase’s work is an example of someone who has had a lifelong journey of dedication to storytelling in an elegant way, which is a rare treat. For more information on the details of Chase’s current work, see www.hawkandhive.com Jayne Parker always provides the greatest detail of her artist’s works. On Instagram @HawkandHive