MARIANNE RADNITZKY
Marianne Radnitzky is a visual artist primarily focusing on illustrated portraiture featuring heavily patterned fashion and a range of dispositions. Inspired by art, fashion and aesthetics anywhere from the 1920s to 1980s, Marianne incorporates some of her favorite details and pieces in fashion, including big coats and turtle necks, puff sleeves and unique button placement. After studying painting and fashion design at MassArt, Marianne took roughly ten years away from creating new pieces only to return late 2019 with a month-long series of self-portraits, pieces that had served as a relief from personally stressful events during that time. The style explored in these self-portraits continued to expand into new portraits conveying a range of moods felt by the artist over the last three years, displayed by new imagined feminine subjects. Marianne’s work is primarily done with acrylic paint marker on wood panel.
Instagram: @marianneradnitzky
Pick up this print aT THE GROVE
ARTIST Q&A
Born: Monroe, NY
Currently lives: Jamaica Plain, MA
Title of artwork: Blue 002
What’s it about? This piece was the second (and my favorite) in a series of blue portraits I completed in Februrary 2022. Her admirable, big ceramic blue hair could either be very Victorian or a mullet, depending how you see her, and the three face pins on her coat are inspired directly by my own jewelry. As for her enveloping emotion, I think she embodies my state of mind at the time perfectly. In fact, with words being my least favorite form of self-expression, I can again relate with her mood as I try to describe her!
Where else can we find your work? Besides my website, I can be found at several of the boston-area art markets selling prints of my work!
Where is your favorite public art piece in the area?Sharif Muhammad’s mural “Rainbow Swag,” on McBride St in Jamaica Plain.
Who is your favorite Boston-area artist to follow? Jon Hen
What’s your favorite way to spend a day off? Breakfast is my favorite meal, so there’s always a lot of time dedicated to hanging out with myself eating and drinking my coffee. Then I go thrifting, sometimes a bike ride, and usually bop into the hardware store for whatever random project I decide I need to do that day. Then I like to put on a movie I’ve seen a dozen times for company, and focus in on my artwork or organizing my living space. I guess that translates into doing whatever I feel is right for me to relax that day.
What was your top song for 2021? Does it need to be new? Gosh that’s a hard one to narrow down. I made a huge playlist of pretty much all the music from the movie Downtown 81 last year (and then some others, several of which were close to that time period), and played that pretty much exclusively throughout the year. Some of my most notable songs would have to be “COPY” from the Plastics (or “I LOVE YOU OH NO!” is up there too), “Loving You Made a Fool Out of Me” by Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Gaffa’s “Attitude Dancing”. Etc!
Favorite food spot in in Allston, Brighton or the surrounding area? Grasshopper
What have you learned about your creative practice in recent years? Doing a series of work makes my work happen quicker or flow better. If I have a theme or a color limitation, and decide to do a certain number of pieces (or keep going until I naturally feel the series is finished and I want to move on), I can just lean into it easily.
What is a piece of advice you would give to your past self as a young artist? Don’t be afraid to express yourself, and don’t be afraid to share that with others.
What is your dream project to work on? Creating and sewing my own fashion line out of some of my patterns and illustrations.
