Anthony Cudahy weaves imagery culled from photo archives, art history, film stills, hagiographic icons and personal photographs to explore themes of queer identity and tenderness. His evocative figurative paintings and drawings are informed by extensive historical research. They negotiate feelings of loneliness, isolation, desire, and safety through the lens of the artist’s own autobiographical narratives and crafted mythologies.
In 1961 Henri Lefebvre wrote in his Critique of the Everyday Life, “Everyday life does not exist as a generality.” Cudahy’s paintings are exemplary in illustrating this argument. His figures read magazines or scroll through their phones in domestic interiors, brush shoulders or clasp hands in passing, converse in crowds, crouch in unmarked spaces, and lay idly among floral fields or wrinkled sheets. They face away from the viewer, their eyes casting longing glances in directions outside of the composition. Lit by glowing cyan, rose, violet, or teal hues they have the pulsing energy of a ritual moment both in action and already retired to history.
Erotic, somber, celebratory, and private, these are not moments of anonymous mundanity but scenes of the specific extraordinary-ness produced within the everyday. Cudahy often begins with collages and sketches from his photo-references, finding inspiration in a variety of vernacular queer photo archives or his own great uncle Kenny Gardener’s extensive photo collection archived by his partner Ian Lewandowski. Moving through a variety of iterations from these vignettes, he generates compositions through acute attention to color and mark-making, sustaining a commitment to the mediums he uses as they guide the final works.
Anthony Cudahy (b. 1989 Ft. Myers, FL, US) completed an MFA at Hunter College, New York, NY (US) in 2020. His solo exhibition titled Spinneret at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art, ME (US) has travelled to the Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas, TX (US), on view until 26 January 2025. Spinneret is accompanied by a publication available to order. In 2023 the artist had his first solo museum exhibition, Conversation, at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dole (FR). He has had solo exhibitions with GRIMM London (UK) and Amsterdam (NL), Hales Gallery, New York, NY (US), Semiose, Paris (FR), and 1969 Gallery, New York, NY (US), among others. He has been shown in various international group exhibitions and was included in GRIMM’s Equal Affections exhibition in Amsterdam (NL) in 2021. Cudahy's work has been featured in T Magazine, Artforum, Brooklyn Rail, The London Magazine, Cultured Mag and the Paris Review among others.
His work can be found in collections of the AkzoNobel Art Foundation, Amsterdam (NL); Baltimore Museum of Art, MD (US); Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, CA (US); Dallas Museum of Art, TX (US); The Hort Family Collection, New York, NY (US); Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, FL (US); Kunstmuseum, The Hague (NL); Les Arts au Mur Artothèque de Pessac, Pessac (FR); Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY (US); and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (NL).
GRIMM represents the artist in collaboration with Hales and Semiose.
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Anthony Cudahy
Spinneret 5 Oct 2024 - 26 Jan 2025 Green Family Art Foundation, Dallas, TX (US) -
Anthony Cudahy
Fool's errand 6 Sep - 19 Oct 2024 GRIMM 54 White St, New York, NY (US) -
Self-Portraits
5 Apr - 4 May 2024 GRIMM 54 White St, New York, NY (US) -
Anthony Cudahy
Double Spar 9 Oct - 11 Nov 2023 GRIMM 2 Bourdon Street, London (UK) -
The Moon and I
13 Jul - 18 Aug 2023 GRIMM 54 White St, New York, NY (US) -
Anthony Cudahy
a pearl caught between my teeth 29 Oct - 22 Dec 2022 GRIMM Keizersgracht 241, Amsterdam (NL) -
Equal Affections
23 Jul - 5 Sep 2021 GRIMM Keizersgracht 241, Amsterdam (NL), GRIMM Van Baerlestraat 80, Amsterdam (NL)
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Anthony Cudahy: Fool’s gold and Fool’s errand
Joseph Akel, Brooklyn Rail, October 3, 2024 -
Review: Anthony Cudahy’s solo show encourages both dissection and delight
Jorge S. Arango, Portland Press Herald, May 14, 2024 -
Why Do Artists Keep Painting Self-Portraits?
Emily Steers, Artsy, April 23, 2024 -
An Artist Who Aims to Be as Eclectic as a Tumblr Feed
Coco Romack, T Magazine, March 12, 2024 -
Nylon's 10 Painters to Watch
Layla Halabian and Sophia June, Nylon, December 7, 2023 -
Referential refraction in the world of Anthony Cudahy
Mélanie Steen, Elephant, November 8, 2023 -
Anthony Cudahy’s lessons in perseverance and saintly patience
Matthew Holman, Plaster, October 27, 2023 -
Anthony Cudahy: ‘My Work Feels Like a Living History’
Ivana Cholakova, Frieze, October 23, 2023 -
The mundane meets the sacred in Anthony Cudahy's richly drawn figures
Hannah Silver, Wallpaper*, October 18, 2023 -
Frieze London Critics Guide: What to See in London during Frieze Week
Juliet Jaques, Frieze, October 11, 2023 -
10 Must-See London Shows during Frieze Week 2023
Edmée Lepercq, Artsy, October 9, 2023 -
The Best Queer Art & LGBTQ Exhibitions To Check Out Now
Tessa Dunthorne, Country & Townhouse, September 19, 2023 -
Art Exhibitions In London To Check Out In 2023
Olivia Emily, Country & Townhouse, September 12, 2023 -
Anthony Cudahy: Conversation
e-flux, April 7, 2023 -
For Anthony Cudahy, Color is a Character
Sara Roffino, Cultured Magazine, December 1, 2022 -
The Artsy Vanguard 2022: Anthony Cudahy
John Belknap, Artsy, November 15, 2022 -
Review: The Armory Show: Five Artists To Watch
Advisory Perspective, Ocula, September 14, 2022 -
The Ethereal Everyday of Anthony Cudahy
Sebastian Zinn, Hyperallergic , June 29, 2021 -
Q&A: IAN LEWANDOWSKI & ANTHONY CUDAHY
Rafael Soldi, Strange Fire Collective , April 8, 2021 -
The New Canon: 7 Queer Painters Who Are Tapping into the History Books
Harrison Tenzer, Cultured, June 20, 2019
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a pearl caught between my teeth
Anthony Cudahy Published by GRIMM on the occasion of "a pearl caught between my teeth", a solo exhibition with new works by Anthony Cudahy at GRIMM, Amsterdam (NL)., 2022Hard cover with linen, 104 pagesRead more
Publisher: GRIMM Amsterdam (NL)
ISBN: ISBN 978-90-831888-7-4
Dimensions: 22 x 15 cm | 8 5/8 x 5 7/8 in -
Conversation
Anthony Cudahy Semiose éditions, 2023Hardcover, 208 pagesRead more
Publisher: Semiose éditions
Dimensions: 29.7 x 21 cm (11.42 x 8.27 in) -
Double Spar
Anthony Cudahy 2023 Read more -
Equal Affections
with essay by David Leavitt Published by GRIMM on the occasion of "Equal Affections", 2021Hard cover with linen, 100 pagesRead more
Publisher: GRIMM Amsterdam (NL)
ISBN: 978-90-831888-0-5
Dimensions: 22 x 15 cm | 8 5/8 x 5 7/8 in -
Spinneret
Anthony Cudahy Anthony Cudahy, with texts by Devon Zimmerman, Maria H. Loh, and Ricardo Montez, 2024Hardback, 264 pagesRead more
Publisher: Monacelli
ISBN: 9781580936675
Dimensions: 28.8 × 24.8 cm
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"Tightrope: Concave Triangle #6" (2020) by Elias Sime acquired by Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf
November 14, 2024GRIMM is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of Elias Sime's Tightrope: Concave Triangle #6 (2020) by the Kunstpalast, Düsseldorf (DE). Elias Sime started...Read more -
"Arthur Russell on the shore" (2023) by Anthony Cudahy acquired by The David and Indrė Roberts Collection in London
May 4, 2024GRIMM is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of Anthony Cudahy's Arthur Russell on the shore (2023) by The David and Indrė Roberts Collection in...Read more -
"Sebastian, before or after" (2023) by Anthony Cudahy acquired by the Speed Art Museum in Kentucky
March 8, 2024GRIMM is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of Anthony Cudahy's Sebastian, before or after (2023) by the Speed Art Museum, Louisville, KY (US). ...Read more -
First monograph on Anthony Cudahy to be published by Phaidon this summer
February 22, 2024The first comprehensive monograph on contemporary figurative painter Anthony Cudahy will be published by Phaidon as a companion to the artist’s first solo exhibition in...Read more -
Anthony Cudahy to make his US institutional debut with 'Spinneret' at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art in Maine
November 16, 2023Opening on April 12, 2024, the Ogunquit Museum of American Art in Maine will present Anthony Cudahy: Spinneret, the first solo exhibition in the United...Read more -
"smoke sun, ocular migraine, torture wheel" (2023) by Anthony Cudahy acquired by the Dallas Museum of Art, Texas
Dallas Museum of Art, TWO x TWO for AIDS and Art Fund September 28, 2023GRIMM is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of Anthony Cudahy's smoke sun, ocular migraine, torture wheel (2023) by the Dallas Museum of Art, TX...Read more -
Anthony Cudahy: "Conversation" at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dole
April 30, 2023The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Dole presents Conversation, Anthony Cudahy’s first exhibition in a French institution from 28 April - 10 September 2023. For the...Read more -
"Eveningdawn (Reverse Pareidoliac Figure)" (2022) by Anthony Cudahy acquired by the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam
The acquisition was generously made possible by private donors. February 28, 2023GRIMM is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of Anthony Cudahy's Eveningdawn (Reverse Pareidoliac Figure) (2022) by the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam (NL). Anthony Cudahy...Read more -
"Fear painting" (2022) by Anthony Cudahy acquired by the Kunstmuseum, The Hague
The acquisition was generously made possible by a private collection. December 22, 2022GRIMM is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of Anthony Cudahy's Fear painting (2022) by the Kunstmuseum, The Hague (NL). Anthony Cudahy weaves imagery...Read more -
Anthony Cudahy joins GRIMM
July 14, 2022GRIMM is pleased to announce the representation of Brooklyn-based painter Anthony Cudahy (b. 1989, Fort Myers, FL, US) . GRIMM’s representation and work on behalf...Read more