Anthony Ragucci

Anthony Ragucci is an abstract painter and collagist whose work circles the aesthetic and emotional bonds that underscore the human condition. Originally from the North Shore area of Massachusetts, Anthony has travelled extensively and takes inspiration from his time absorbing foreign cultures.

Anthony Ragucci’s Early Career and Influences

Anthony received a BFA in Painting from The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 2004 and an MFA in Painting from Indiana University in 2006. Spurred by his time living and studying in Florence, Italy (2001), Anthony decided to move abroad to Seoul, South Korea (2007), where he remained for six years. In 2014, the artist moved to Beijing, China, and lived there until 2019. Drawing from his many homes, Anthony forms a colourful dialogue between painting, sculpture, and video, using his work to express how the actions and the decisions we make impact our environment, the way we view our surroundings, ourselves, and others.

Artistic Practice and Style

His paintings layer brushwork suggestive of Chinese characters and the expressive, gestural work of the fifties and sixties American East and West coast painters. The artist often blends a network of marks, pours, drips, and splashes overlaid with graphic ink lines referencing Asian landscape painting and sometimes combined with previously discarded artworks or traditional Korean and Chinese papers. In this way, Anthony connects Eastern and Western traditions, uncovering structure within chaos.

Exhibitions and Commissions

Anthony has exhibited his work across the US, Korea, Germany, Italy, and Australia. Selected solo exhibitions include iChill Manila Film Festival, Manilla, Philippines, 2018; Xiyuan Arts Festival, Beijing, China; Flatlanders Studio, Winnipeg (2017); Skipton Gallery, Victoria, Australia (2013); Seoul Art Space, Korea (2012). Further group exhibitions include Bipolar, We+ Co-Working Space, Beijing (2016); International Paper Exhibition, ICAF, 798, Beijing, (2015); Cross Currents, Antelope Valley College Gallery, Lancaster, California (2012). His animation The Cabinet of Johnny Paintstroke was featured at the Qaryat International Film Festival, Jaipur, India, the South African Horrorfest Film Festival, Cape Town, South Africa, and the iChill Manila Film Festival.