Andrew Osta

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Andrew Osta is a Ukrainian-born painter, author and songwriter. He immigrated to Toronto, Canada at the age of 11. Graduated from the University of Toronto in 2004 in Computer Science and Philosophy. He began producing and displaying artwork six months prior to graduation as a method of self-therapy. He did not attend his graduation ceremony and instead travelled to New York, where he met established artists, sold paintings, and decided to pursue the career of a self-taught painter. From 2004 to 2011, Osta’s paintings were a blend of surrealism and automatism. He called the style “Subjective Surrealism”, stating that the interpretation of his drawings and paintings was completely subjective. His artworks contained dozens of symbols, each of which could mean different things to different people. In 2008, he helped establish the first ever “Healing and Counseling Through Art” program in Canada. He worked for one year as an assistant art therapist with Refugee youth. After leaving this job, he had always supported himself and his family from selling his paintings. In 2009, Osta joined Pablo Amaringo and other notable artists to exhibit in Iquitos, Peru at the 5th International Amazonian Shamanism Conference. In 2011, Osta moved to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and apprenticed under Canadian gold-medalist figure skater and artist, Toller Cranston. The two artists had a lot in common, both being prolifically creative in multiple disciplines. Osta’s work took on a more whimsical and colorful quality, a style others perceived as Magic Realism. Cranston and Osta had a number of joint exhibitions. In 2015, following Cranston’s death, Osta briefly worked and exhibited in Europe. In January of 2017, he had a one-man show at the Museum of the City of Durango, Mexico and later moved to the art capital of Mexico, Oaxaca. In 2023 he was selected to participate in the Biennale of Sacred Art in Menton, France. He now lives and works in Oaxaca with his wife and two children. He has written and published four autobiographical books.