Irys Schenker

Lives and works in Berkeley, CA, USA

Artist statement

Artist Statment In 1996 I was religiously absorbed in a book called "Women of the Left Bank,” by Shari Benstock. I was excited to find the achievements of women who fueled Modernism with fiction, poetry, publishing and art: Sylvia Beach, Natalie Barney, Margaret Anderson, Jane Heap, H.D. and Bryher, Aicha Goblet, Djuna Barnes, Nancy Cunard and Janet Flanner to name a few. Soon, I pursued an MFA and began inhabiting the concerns of women artists, making 3D works with non-monumental materials such as thread and cardboard. Since 2003 I have worked mostly in 2D and in 2011 began to bring the premise of the Benstock book to a series of unconventional portraits of women whose historical importance, influence and mastery is often undervalued. My ongoing series, "Left Bank Women," are mostly large mixed media works on paper. My intent is to unearth these important figures of the avant-garde and create a visual compendium of women artists, writers, performers and patrons who enlivened the modern age and informed our present artworld. Each painting highlights a personal relationship/s in the life of the subject and each begins with a good amount of research into their lives, work and milieu. Biography Irys Schenker studied at the San Francisco Art Institute and received a Master of Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts in NYC. She was a guest at the famed artist residency, Yaddo (2002) and a resident artist laureate at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris (2018, 2024). She has...

Artwork