Ellen AnticoAustralia

Ellen Antico (b. 1989, Sydney, AU) draws her inspiration from Renaissance painting and the works of Rubens, reimagining classical themes through a contemporary lens. Her motives primarily celebrate the female body in all shapes and sizes: large, fleshy figures, entwined with one another, confident with their bodies and their sexuality.

Painted with oil and charcoal on canvas, these intimate moments capture the climax of physical and emotional connection between the subjects.

Deconstructed, wrestling forms, reduced to charcoal strokes on canvas that seem like preliminary drawings, appear like studies of faces, hands and feet that slowly reveal perceptions of the nature of physical existence. Between competition, humor, and sensual seduction, a profound fascination for the inherent beauty of embodiment emanates, and is substantiated throughout her work.

Her visual language oscillates between figuration and abstraction, often evoking a dreamlike or liminal state. Exploring the psychological space between memory and fantasy, presence and absence, ambiguous figures blur into and out of view, channeling emotions ranging from joy and lust to anxiety and envy.  Her expressive, intuitive process allows texture, line, and rhythm to guide the development of each piece, often leaving parts of the canvas raw and unresolved.

Ellen Antico lives and works in New York City. She graduated from the University oft he Arts London in 2019.Her work has been featured at major international art fairs including NADA New York (2024), EXPO Chicago (2024), UNTITLED Miami (2023), and Art Brussels (2025). She is part of notable private collections across Asia, Europe and the Americas.