Ana Tzarev

Early life

Ana Tzarev was born Marija Guina in Trogir, Croatia, and her mother was called Anka Carev. In 1956, she met a New Zealand man Robert Chandler, whom she married in Split. They then moved to New Zealand, where she studied fashion design, and the two started the Chandler House department store. Chandler House achieved national success, becoming a chain of ten stores, and was sold in 1986 for the sum of ten million dollars.

Work

Her paintings have been featured in galleries, museums, and public spaces across Europe and Asia, including the Saatchi Gallery in London, the Russian Museum in St Petersburg, the National Museum in Rome, and the Today Art Museum in Beijing. Her sculptures have been installed in cities across the world, including London, Singapore, New York, and Venice during the 55th Biennale.

Tzarev’s work, as well as the causes she supports, are inspired by the belief that art can be a powerful force for good in the world. Since 2011 she has supported youth arts and education through programmes such as Ana’s Children and From Ana Tzarev With Love. In 2012, she premiered an ongoing global sculptural campaign, entitled “Love & Peace,” to bring people together and share a message of love, peace, and understanding.

“She [Ana Tzarev] has developed a powerful gestural style with an energy not unlike that of the post-impressionist era: an open colour, a three-dimensional brush stroke — or rather, a fiery haze of strokes drifting optically in space; a triumph of the de-reflective approach, driven towards capturing and mastering nature’s signals.” — Dr Alexander Borovsky, curator of Contemporary Art at the Russian Museum.

List of select solo exhibitions

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

Select permanent collections