Book Arts

About the Book

Luftmensch contains new photographic works by Olivia Antsis and original text by Olivia and Rebecca Antsis. An edition of 100 was printed in November 2004 on a Heidelberg KORS Offset press under the guidance of Lori Spencer at the Borowsky Center for Publication Arts, The University of the Arts, in Philadelphia, PA. Additional text is printed letterpress on a Vandercook proofing press.

Contact Information

Philadelphia, PA
e-mail:
Please contact artist for purchases, commissions, etc.

Artist Bio

Olivia Antsis earned her MFA in Book Arts/Printmaking from The University of the Arts in 2005. During the course of her study, she developed a penchant for experimental visual narrative. Since graduation, Antsis has taught and led workshops at the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, NY, Moore College of Art and Design, University of Pennsylvania, Abington Arts Center, Philadelphia Art Alliance and Temple University. Antsis has exhibited her artwork in galleries and other venues, from Philadelphia to Romania to New York City. In addition to artist books and prints, Antsis currently works with alternative photographic processes, color and b&w photography, and digital video.

Space Times Square, a 24-minute experimental documentary she co-produced, shot, and edited has recently received the 2010 John Culkin Award for Outstanding Praxis in the Field of Media Ecology from the Media Ecology Association. The film has also been screened in the Videotheque, at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, as part of the 2008 Cinema de Reel Festival, the 21st Dallas Video Festival, the 2008 Radar Hamburg International Independent Film Festival, the Monkey Town Art and Video Performance Space in Brooklyn, and at the First Person Arts Salon at The Arts Bank in Philadelphia.

Her most recent video piece A Coney Island of the Mind, screened at the Open Lens Gallery at the Gershman Y in late 2009.

Antsis has been directing the Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival Programs since January 2008.

Education

2003 – 2005
The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
MFA, Book Arts/Printmaking
Graduate Assistantship Award
Lenore Adelman Award for Book Arts

1997 – 2000
Temple University, Philadelphia, PA
BA, Broadcast, Tele-communications, Mass Media
Magna cum Laude
Dean’s List, All-American Scholar Recipient,
Golden Key National Honor Society

1996 – 1997
Towson University, Towson, MD
Mass Communications
Dean’s List

Professional Experience

Video Work
A Coney Island of the Mind, Director and Co-Editor, 2009

Space Times Square, Co-producer, Camera and Editor, 2007

Sea Change, Director and Editor, 2005

Selected Exhibitions

2009
Coney Island Always: Photographs by Olivia Antsis, Ana Bernstein, and Rivka Shifman Katvan,
Open Lens Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

iDEAs 07: Beyond Boundaries, International Digital Media Arts Annual Conference, FUEL Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2007
Olivia Antsis: Luftmensch and Other Stories / John Shenk: III X’s Surreal, aSFe Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

2006
Strange Cities: The Unique and the Unusual in the Urban Landscape,
Reflect-Arts at Gallery 27+, New York, NY

Back to School, Schuylkill River School of Art at Factory 1241,
Philadelphia, PA

Arte Pagina, Kelly Writers’ House, University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, PA

Small Works Show, Brooklyn Artist Gym, Brooklyn, NY

2005
University City Science Center Group Show,
Esther Klein Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
Honorable Mention

Book Arts from UArts: Selections from The University of the Arts
MFA Book Arts/Printmaking Program, Kamin Gallery, Van Pelt Library,
The University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Young Art Alliance Juried Exhibition,
Galleries at Moore College of Art & Design, Philadelphia, PA
Guest Juror & Curator: Brian Wallace

Artists’ Books from Philadelphia and Timisoara,
The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Library Humanitas Joc Secund, Timisoara, Romania

MFA Book Arts/Printmaking Thesis Exhibition, Gallery Siano, Philadelphia, PA

Art Full Text, Art in City Hall, Philadelphia, PA

Turning Pages: New Student Work from The University of the Arts, Whittier College, Wardman Library, Whittier, CA

New Works by Pratt Institute MFA Printmaking Candidates,
The University of the Arts, Anderson Hall, Philadelphia, PA

2004
A Mutable Surface: MFA Book Arts Exhibition, Arronson Gallery,
The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

A-Political Show, High Wire Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

University City Science Center Group Show, Esther Klein Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Direction: MFA Book Arts/Printmaking Exhibition, Sculpture Gallery,
The University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA

2003
Photoimage 03: CPI Annual Photography Competition, Nexus/foundation for today’s art, Philadelphia, PA
Juror: Edith Newhall, art critic for New York and ARTnews magazines

University City Science Center Group Show, Esther Klein Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Exhibtions Curated

2005
New Works by Pratt Institute MFA Printmaking Candidates,
The University of the Arts, Anderson Hall, Philadelphia, PA
Co-Curator

Selected Screenings

Coney Island of the Mind
2009
Open Lens Gallery, The Gershman Y, Philadelphia, PA

Space Times Square
2010
11th Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association, The University of Maine
Received the 2010 John Culkin Award for Outstanding Praxis in the Field of Media Ecology

International Conference of the Institute of General Semantics, Fordham University, NYC

First Person Arts Salon, University of the Arts, Arts Bank, Philadelphia, PA

Monkeytown, Brooklyn, NY

Living Arts of Tulsa, New Genre Festival XVI, Tulsa, OK

2008
Radar Hamburg International Film Festival, Hamburg, Germany

21st Dallas Video Festival, Angelika Theater, Dallas, TX

Student Film Festival, Communications University of China, Beijing

Videotheque, Cinema Du Reel Festival, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France

Global Temple Conference, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

2007
iDEAs 07: Beyond Boundaries, International Digital Media Arts Annual Conference, FUEL Gallery, Philadelphia, PA