ARTIST BIO

 Antonella Manganelli moved to the U.S. in 1999 from Italy, where she was born and raised in a family of art collectors who exposed her to the beauty of art from an early age. 

Growing up in such a nurturing artistic environment, Antonella opened herself to the arts, embracing and experiencing it through different lenses -- as a student, collector, curator, art dealer, and artist. 

Antonella lives in Reston, Virginia, where she paints and works from her home. 

She is a surrealist painter; through her art she depicts a surreal vision of the world and its history. Her interest is to communicate her understanding and evolution as a human being in this life, sharing the vision through artwork and collaborating with other artists and people who come across her journey. 

Antonella draws her inspiration from her life that she lives fully, experiencing everything that is offered with gratitude and curiosity. She believes in the power of Nature as a great ancient healer; looking for symbols and messages to decode the indecipherable language that Nature whispers to us. Through meditation and connection, she finds her balance painting her journey through life. Her art reflects the surreal vision of her world that she explores traveling among Europe, North and Central America, Canada, and Asia. 

Antonella is also an active board member of the League of Reston Artists. She has exhibited her art throughout Italy in Naples, Rome, and Milan, and in the U.S. in Northern VA, Maryland, and North Carolina. 

Since 2002, she and her husband have owned and directed an antiquarian library, Marninart.  Marninart specializes in rare illustrated art books and modern and contemporary art, particularly illustrated Art Books of Picasso, Chagall, Matisse, and Impressionists, and is a member of two prestigious worldwide booksellers associations specializing in rare books: Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America, and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers. 

 

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SPECIAL PROJECT:

Peace & Identity - a project created and curated by Antonella Manganelli in collaboration with Mike Maggio, Northern Regional Vice President, Poetry Society. The exhibit was an open call for artists, poets, and musicians to interpret the duplicity of the theme: Identity as a stronghold for peace or as a conflict creating division and imbalance. A challenge to express visions, hopes, and emotions, in the wish to subvert the cycle of hatred and create peace through diversity. A reflection of the impermanence of peace and a quest for the artistic community on the fragility of peace, in the belief that through the cohesion of different art forms, this concept could be expressed at its best. Peace and Identity presented its first show in April 2018 at Jo-Anne Rose Gallery in Lake Anne, Reston, VA.

25 artists and 11 poets joined the exhibitions. The opening reception included poetry

reading and live music, a documentary was shot by the filmmaker Nina Iandolo from New York, and a book was published for the occasion.

The second show was presented at Waddell Art Gallery, Loudoun County, VA on October 2018 - 11 Artists and 11 poets were paired together to create an integrated experience and to present the gift of a unique combination of art and poetry, a call and response between visual art and poetry, in efforts to nurture peace. Two musicians joined the project for the second show: Brian Scarbrough and Tessa Elaina Performing live.

 

EXHIBITIONS IN USA:

Sanctuary - May - July 2020 Virtual Show League of Reston Artists

WayWeSee - February 2020 GalleryB - Bethesda MD

Artist's Choice - January 2020 Hunterwood Gallery Reston VA

Creepy Critters - October 2019 - Jo-Anne Rose Gallery Reston, VA

Paint & Beyond - July 2019 - United States Geological Society Reston VA

Tapestry of Peace & Justice - May 2019 - Hunterwood Gallery Reston VA

Fine Lines - April 2019 - Jo-Anne Rose Gallery Reston, VA

For the Love of Art - February 2019 - Hunterwood Gallery Reston VA

Changing Seasons - November 2018 - Ernst Gallery Annandale, VA

Peace & Identity 2 - October 2018 - Waddell Gallery Loudoun, VA

ENTER THE MANIAC - October 2018 - Jo-Anne Rose Gallery Reston, VA

Paint & Beyond - July 2018 - United States Geological Society Reston VA

Peace & Identity - April 2018 - Jo-Anne Rose Gallery Reston, VA

From the Heart - February 2018 - Hunterwood Gallery Reston VA

Dream, Create, Inspire - December 2017 - Ernst Gallery Annandale, VA

Stolen Moment -October 2017 - Jo-Anne Rose Gallery Reston, VA

Paint & Beyond - July 2017 - United States Geological Society Reston VA

A Respite from the Chaos - April 2017- Jo-Anne Rose Gallery Reston, VA

Fall Church Arts - February - February 2017 - FCA Gallery Falls Church VA

From the Heart - February 2017 - Hunterwood Gallery Reston VA

Visions SOLO SHOW - November 2016 PenFed Reston VA

Courage - October 2016 - Jo-Anne Rose Gallery Reston, VA

Eclectic Vision - September 2016 - Ernst Gallery Annandale, VA

"The Object of art is to give life a shape" - May 2016 - ArtsSpace Herndon, VA

The Way I See - April 2016 -Jo-Anne Rose Gallery Reston, VA

Miniatures SOLO SHOW - April 2016 - OldBook Store - Lake Anne Reston, VA

Inspired by Love - February 2016 - Hunterwood Gallery Reston VA

The Sound of Color - October 2015 - Jo-Anne Rose Gallery Reston, VA

Art in the Pink Box - July 2015 - Middleburg Art Council - Middleburg, Va

Art and Music Festival -May 2015 - Purcellville, VA

The heArt of Reston - April 2015 - Jo-Anne Rose Gallery Reston, VA

The Importance of Peace Our Souls are United SOLO SHOW - March 2015 Reston Center 1. Reston, Va

Two Artists Show - March 2015 - Pen Fed Reston, VA

Imagist - October 2014 - Jo-Anne Rose Gallery Reston, VA

Dream, Create, Inspire - October 2014 - Ernst Gallery Annandale, VA

Chalk Festival - June 2014 -Lake Anne Reston, Va

Art and Music Festival -May 2014 - Purcellville, VA

Enviro Show - April 2014 - FCA ArtSpace- Falls Church, VA

Celebrate Spring - April 2014 - Park Ridge Gallery Reston, VA

LRA Fall Show - October 2013 - ParkRige Gallery Reston, VA

Paint Purcerville Green - April 2013 - Purcellville, VA

Unfettered - April 2013 - VAE Gallery - Raleigh, NC

Artist Show - March 2013 - FCA ArtSpace- Falls Church, VA

 

EXHIBITION BOOKS DESIGNED AND PUBLISHED:

Fine Lines - April 2019

Peace & Identity - April 2018

A Respite from the Chaos - April 2017

Springtime in Winter October 2017

The Way I See - April 2016

The heArt of Reston - April 2015

Imagist - October 2014