Havi Schanz

Havi Schanz is an Argentine contemporary artist, born in 1966 in Santa Fe, Argentina, and based in Miami. Originally trained as an architect, he blends his architectural background with influences from Impressionism, the Renaissance, the Baroque and conceptual art. His iconography often leads people to take him for an artist influenced by Pop Art, but his sources lie in those earlier traditions, and his work invites viewers on a journey of past introspection and modern discovery.

Schanz is best known for painting with a spatula, his main tool, directly over architectural blueprints, often using fluorescent paints that make his creations glow in the dark. Spatula strokes build images in which each form or subject is imbued with layers of meaning, combining art history, symbolism and modern experimentation into layered pictures that invite reflection and discovery. The freedoms of recent conceptual art underpin his fearless embrace of experimentation, with which he continually pushes the boundaries of his craft and challenges preconceived notions.

His vision took shape after a successful career as an urban architect and the transition to full-time painting, uniting his love of architecture with his artistic expression. Before becoming a painter he earned a degree in Architecture and a Master's in Color, Audiovisual Media and Conceptual Art from the Universidad Nacional del Litoral in Argentina, and he has also studied photography, digital video and set design.

His work has been exhibited in solo and group shows internationally, and his collectors include Pamela Anderson, Daymond John, Cindy Crawford, Serena and Venus Williams, Carlos Santana, Diego Torres, Jon Secada, Muhammad Ali, Elaine Lancaster and Enrique Peña Nieto.