Edee Anesi’s passion for Middle Eastern art prompted her to open a new gallery in the RiNo Art District.
Anesi, 30, says she looked at a number of commercial spaces before determining she did not want to be downtown and that there wasn’t a space available in The Art District on Santa Fe that suited her needs for
Anesi Fine Art.
Instead, she opened her gallery in a 1,500-square-foot space at Zeppelin Development’s Taxi complex. The gallery, at 3455 Ringsby Court, emphasizes contemporary Iranian and Arab art.
“After 911, I started exploring the Middle East in general,” she says. “I came across an Iranian artist named Shirin Neshat and fell in love with her work. I have plans to visit more countries, depending on the political climate. I was supposed to go to Syria a few years ago, but then all the riots broke out. I would love to go to Iran, but that’s difficult right now.”
Anesi, a graduate of the University of Colorado art school in Boulder, studied Middle Eastern art in London. From there, she traveled to the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon and Jordan.
The mission with her gallery is twofold.
“I’m satisfying the art side of me, but the loftier goal is to expose America to another side of the Middle East,” Anesi says. “Education is lacking on the Middle East as a whole.”
To that end, only part of her collection is for sale. She’s keeping pieces that will travel to galleries and museums across the country to expose more people to Iranian and Arab artists.
Anesi also provides art-consulting services, including appraisals, artist management, transactional advice and curatorial management.
The gallery is open by appointment only.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.