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Anthony Cudahy

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Anthony Cudahy
Born1989 (age 35–36)
Fort Myers, Florida
NationalityAmerican
Known forPainting
Websiteanthonycudahy.com

Anthony Cudahy (born 1989) is a contemporary American painter known for his figurative compositions that blend abstraction and realism, drawing from a diverse sources including personal photographs, queer archival imagery, art history, and cinematic stills.[1][2][3][4] Based in Brooklyn, New York, Cudahy explores themes of intimacy, vulnerability, queer identity, and the interplay between past and present through layered painting.[5] His paintings are known for their tender and complex depictions of human experience, often rendered in luminous, phosphorescent colors and fluid brushstrokes that give his scenes a dreamlike quality.[6][7]

Life and education

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Anthony Cudahy was born in 1989 in Fort Myers, Florida.[8] His upbringing in Florida influences his work, with natural elements such as flora and light often appearing as recurring motifs.[6] Seeking broader artistic opportunities, Cudahy relocated to New York City, where he pursued his formal education in the arts. In 2011, he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.[1][2][3] He returned to school to complete a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) at Hunter College in New York in 2020.[1][2][3][9] Cudahy lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, with his husband, photographer, Ian Lewandowski.[1][2][3]

Residencies

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Cudahy was an artist-in-residence at the ARTHA Project, Brooklyn Navy Yards, New York in 2013-14.[10]

Artistic style and themes

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Cudahy’s work occupies a space between figuration and abstraction.[11] The subjects of his paintings are often human figures — solitary or in pairs — set within ambiguous, atmospheric environments such as domestic interiors, natural landscapes, or social gatherings.[12][13] The scenes in his paintings often present an ambiguous narrative which invites viewers to interpret the emotional and historical content.[14] Cudahy's paintings are often a hybrid of visual histories blending various figures from art history and queer photography into contemporary scenes such as portraiture, domestic spaces, or social sites.[15]

Central to Cudahy’s oeuvre are themes of queer identity, tenderness, and the continuum of experience across time.[9][11] His works often depict intimate moments — lovers embracing, figures in quiet reflection — that speak to the nuances of human connection.[15] Trauma and hope coexist in his paintings, as he examines how personal and collective histories shape the present.[16][13] By reimagining forgotten or marginalized stories, particularly those tied to queer experience, Cudahy constructs allegories that resonate with both specificity and universality.[16] Cudahy draws inspiration from an eclectic archive that includes personal snapshots, film stills, computer screenshots, queer historical photographs, and art-historical references ranging from medieval tapestries to the works of Pieter Bruegel and William Blake.[9][4] Lewandowski, also contributes to this archive, notably through the inclusion of images from Cudahy’s great-uncle Kenny Gardner.[17] This interplay of personal and collective memory allows Cudahy to recontextualize the past, addressing contemporary issues through a historical lens.[17]

Cudahy’s painterly technique is as important as his thematic subjects.[17] He employs a range of methods — fluid brushstrokes, thick impasto, delicate mark-making, and vibrant patterning — to create compositions that feel both spontaneous and crafted.[5][17] His use of phosphorescent colors, often glowing as if lit from within, give his works an ethereal quality, while his handling of paint serves as a narrative tool in itself.[5][9]

Alongside his paintings, Cudahy produces colored pencil drawings, a medium that reflects his meticulous attention to detail and complements the emotive intensity of his canvases.[5][14]

Career and exhibitions

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Cudahy’s first solo exhibition, Heaven Inside, was at Uprise Art Outpost in Chelsea, New York, in 2014. His early works already demonstrated his signature style: washed-out figures rendered with emotional depth against vibrant, abstracted backgrounds.[1][2][3]

Solo exhibitions

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  • Spinneret, (2024): Cudahy’s first U.S. museum solo exhibition debuted at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art in Maine,[18] later traveling to the Green Family Art Foundation in Dallas, Texas.[19] Accompanied by a comprehensive monograph published by Phaidon, the exhibition explored five thematic threads—slippages, allegories, fragments, figures, and spaces—highlighting the conceptual and material richness of his practice over the past half-decade.
  • Fool's Errand, Grimm Gallery, London, UK, 2024[20]
  • Fool’s Gold, Hales Gallery, New York, NY, 2024[21]
  • Conversation, 2023: His first solo institutional show in Europe, held at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dole in France, marked a milestone in his international presence.[5]
  • Double Spar, 2023: A dual exhibition at Hales Gallery and GRIMM in London, this project featured iterative paintings that responded to one another across venues, showcasing his interest in narrative mutation.[22][23][24]
  • Anthony Cudahy, Flames, Semiose Gallery, Paris, FR, 2021[25]
  • Coral Room, 2021: Presented at Hales Gallery in New York, this show solidified his reputation for blending personal and poetic elements in masterful compositions.[26]
  • Anthony Cudahy, The Moon Sets A Knife, Semiose Gallery, Paris, FR, 2021[27]
  • Anthony Cudahy: Burn Across the Breeze, 1969 Gallery, New York, NY, 2021[28]
  • Night Paintings, 1969 Gallery, New York, NY, 2018[29]
  • The Gathering, The Java Project, Brooklyn, NY, 2018[30]
  • NARSOLIPS, Cooler Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2016[31]
  • EatF_3, Mumbo's Outfit, within Geary Contemporary, New York, NY, 2016[32]
  • The Fourth Part of the Day, Farewell Books, Austin, TX, 2015[additional citation(s) needed]
  • Recent Work, Artha Project Space, Long Island City, NY, 2015[10]
  • Heaven Inside, Uprise Art Outpost, Chelsea, NY, 2014[33]

Public collections

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Cudahy’s paintings are held in several major public collections worldwide, reflecting their cultural and artistic value.[1][2][3] Notable institutions include:

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Anthony Cudahy". grimmgallery.com. Grimm Gallery, New York, NY. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Anthony Cudahy". halesgallery.com. Hales Gallery, London, UK. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Anthony Cudahy". semiose.com. Semiose Gallery, Paris, FR. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  4. ^ a b Alvarez, Justin (January 7, 2014). "Anthony Cudahy". parisreview.org. The Paris Review. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d e Moroz, Sarah (August 30, 2023). "Anthony Cudahy". bombmagazine.org. Bomb Magazine. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  6. ^ a b Belknap, John (November 15, 2022). "The Artsy Vanguard 2022: Anthony Cudahy". artsy.net. Artsy Magazine. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  7. ^ Soldi, Rafael (April 8, 2021). "Q&A: Anthony Cudahy". strangefirecollective.com. Strange Fire Collective. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  8. ^ "Anthony Cudahy". x.com/tmagazine. T Magazine. August 30, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  9. ^ a b c d Ksenia, Soboleva (April 2, 2020). "The Moon Seemed Lost". brooklynrail.org. Brooklyn Rail Magazine. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  10. ^ a b "Anthony Cudahy: Recent Work". arthaproject.org. Artha Project Space, Long Island City, NY. 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  11. ^ a b Cholakova, Ivana (October 23, 2023). "Anthony Cudahy: 'My Work Feels Like a Living History'". frieze.com. Frieze Magazine. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  12. ^ Zinn, Sebastian (June 29, 2021). "The Ethereal Everyday of Anthony Cudahy". hyperallergic.com. Hyperallergic Magazine. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  13. ^ a b Coleman, Jack; Toups, Olivia (April 2021). "Anthony Cudahy". super-nyc.com. Super!. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  14. ^ a b Arias, Tsabella (December 20, 2024). "Nancy". interviewmagazine.com. Interview. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
  15. ^ a b Pricco, Evan (2024). "Juxtapoz Magazine - Anthony Cudahy: The Inflections of Somebody". juxtapoz.com. Juxtapoz Magazine. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  16. ^ a b Pricco, Evan (September 11, 2024). "Anthony Cudahy and a "Fool's errand"". juxtapoz.com. Juxtapoz Magazine. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  17. ^ a b c d "An Artist Who Aims to Be as Eclectic as a Tumblr Feed". The New York Times. March 12, 2024. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  18. ^ "Anthony Cudahy: Spinneret". ogunquitmuseum.org. Ogunquit Museum of American Art, Ogunquit, ME. April 12 – July 21, 2024. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  19. ^ "Anthony Cudahy: Spinneret". greenfamilyartfoundation.org. Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas, Texas. October 5, 2025. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  20. ^ "Fool's Errand". grimmgallery.com. Grimm Gallery, New York, NY. September 6, 2024. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  21. ^ "Fool's Gold". halesgallery.com. Hales Gallery, London, UK. September 6, 2024. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  22. ^ "Anthony Cudahy, Double Spar Room". grimmgallery.com. Grimm Gallery, New York, NY. October 9 – November 11, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  23. ^ "Anthony Cudahy, Double Spar Room". halesgallery.com. Hales Gallery, London, UK. October 9 – November 11, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  24. ^ Silver, Hannah (October 18, 2023). "The mundane meets the sacred in Anthony Cudahy's richly drawn figures". wallpaper.com. Wallpaper. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  25. ^ "Anthony Cudahy, Flames". semiose.com. Semiose Gallery, Paris, FR. May 26, 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  26. ^ "Anthony Cudahy, Coral Room". halesgallery.com. Hales Gallery, London, UK. September 10 – October 30, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  27. ^ "Anthony Cudahy, The Moon Sets A Knife". semiose.com. Semiose Gallery, Paris, FR. May 22, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  28. ^ "Anthony Cudahy: Burn Across the Breeze". 1969gallery.com. 1969 Gallery, New York, NY. January 10 – February 21, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  29. ^ "Anthony Cudahy: Night Paintings". 1969gallery.com. 1969 Gallery, New York, NY. September 13 – October 21, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  30. ^ "The Gathering". thejavaproj.com. The Java Project, Brooklyn, NY. 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  31. ^ "NARSOLIPS". cooler-gallery.com. Cooler Gallery, Brooklyn, NY. November 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  32. ^ "Anthony Cudahy: EatF_3" (PDF). artguide.artforum.com. Mumbo's Outfit, within Geary Contemporary, New York, NY. April 28 – May 28, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  33. ^ "Heaven Inside". upriseart.com. Uprise Art Outpost, Chelsea, NY. March 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2025.
  34. ^ "Anthony Cudahy". collection.artbma.org. Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, Maryland. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  35. ^ "Anthony Cudahy". cantorcollection.stanford.edu. Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, Stanford, CA. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  36. ^ "Anthony Cudahy". dma.org. Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  37. ^ "Anthony Cudahy". icamiami.org. Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, Florida. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  38. ^ "Anthony Cudahy". kunstmuseum.nl. Kunstmuseum Den Haag. 31 March 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  39. ^ "Anthony Cudahy". lesartsaumur.com (in French). Les Arts au Mur Artothèque de Pessac, Pessac, France. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  40. ^ "Anthony Cudahy". mam.paris.fr (in French). Musée d'art Moderne de Paris, Paris, France. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  41. ^ "Anthony Cudahy". nyhistory.org. New York Historical Society, New York, NY. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  42. ^ "Anthony Cudahy". speedmuseum.org. Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY. Retrieved March 2, 2025.
  43. ^ "Bad Thoughts". stedelijk.nl. Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Retrieved March 2, 2025.

Further reading

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Anthony Cudahy: Spinneret (Phaidon, 2024) – The artist’s first monograph, featuring essays by peers and scholars.[1]

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  1. ^ Zimmerman, Devon; Loh, Maria H.; Montez, Ricardo (May 8, 2024). Anthony Cudahy: Spinneret. Phaidon. p. 264. ISBN 9781580936675.
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