Inquiry:
Five Painting Practices |
Rachael Wren |
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Rachael Wren |
STATEMENT
 My
work explores the tension between structure and space,
geometry and randomness, to create a sense of place
where form and air mingle with each other. The dense
atmosphere of the paintings is arrived at through
an accumulation of small marks and subtle changes
in color and value. These discrete, individual marks,
each with a defined edge, work through optical color
mixture to create a haze that does not seem hard-edged
at all.
The
starting point for color choices in my work is often
an observed natural phenomenon – fog playing
between tree branches, the darkening sky before a
thunderstorm. I am drawn to moments when air feels
thick, when space has a presence as real as that
of solid objects. The spaces I create in my paintings
appear to bend and warp, moving towards and away
from the viewer. They resist the tendency of the
grid to flatten a surface, instead becoming volumetric
illusions. At times, this roundness seems to actually
change the shape of the canvas itself, causing a
semblance of bulging out along the rectangle’s
edges.
EDUCATION
2002 M.F.A. in Painting, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA
1998 B.A. in Fine Arts, Magna Cum Laude, University
of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2006 Vicinity, University Gallery, University of
Massachusetts, Lowell, MA
2004 New Work, Hunt-Cavanagh Gallery, Providence
College, Providence, RI
Paintings,
Knight Campus Gallery, Community College of Rhode
Island, Warwick, RI
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2008 Emerge 9, Aljira: A Center for Contemporary
Art, Newark, NJ
Inquiry:
Five Painting Practices, Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia,
PA
Fletcher
Boote, Alisha Kerlin, Austin Shull, Rachael Wren,
Repetti Gallery, Long Island City, NY
2007 Out of Me, Out of You, Subdivision, Long Island
City, NY
Open
Painting Exhibition, Brian Marki Gallery, Portland,
OR
2006 The 181st Annual Exhibition, National Academy
Museum, New York, NY
Making
Your Mark, Brooklyn Arts Council, Brooklyn, NY
2005 Small Works, Attleboro Arts Museum, Attleboro,
MA
Seeded,
RKL Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2004 Winter Invitational, Atlantic Gallery, New York,
NY
Four
Women, Great Neck Arts Center, Great Neck, NY
2003 Specimen, Soil Art Gallery, Seattle, WA
Three
Artists, Gaddis Geeslin Gallery, Sam Houston State
University, Huntsville, TX
Young
Talent Show, Washington Art Association, Washington
Depot, CT
2002 MFA Thesis Exhibition, Henry Art Galley, University
of Washington, Seattle, WA
2001 Art in Motion, Meany Auditorium, University
of Washington, Seattle, WA
Works
In Progress, Jacob Lawrence Gallery, University of
Washington, Seattle, WA
1999 National Juried Exhibition, Bowery Gallery,
New York, NY
New
Art 1999, MPG, Boston, MA
AWARDS
2007 Aljira Emerge Fellowship, Aljira: A Center for
Contemporary Art
2006 Julius Hallgarten Prize, National Academy Museum
2005 Juror’s Award of Merit, Attleboro Arts
Museum
2003 Artist’s Grant, Vermont Studio Center
2001 Marsh Scholarship, University of Washington
2000 Recruitment Scholarship, University of Washington
1998 Fine Arts Senior Major Award, University of
Pennsylvania
1997 Lawrence Shprintz Travel Grant, University of
Pennsylvania
RESIDENCIES
2008 The Artist House, St. Mary’s College,
St. Mary’s City, MD
2007 Wilson College, Chambersburg, PA
2006 Byrdcliffe Colony, Woodstock, NY
2004 Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies,
Red Wing, MN
2003 Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2008 Semester-long Visiting Artist in Residence,
University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC
2005-07 Lecturer, Southern Connecticut State University,
New Haven, CT
2005-06 Lecturer, Housatonic Community College, Bridgeport,
CT
2004 Special Lecturer in Art (sabbatical replacement),
Providence College, Providence, RI
2003-04 Visiting Lecturer (full-time), Community
College of Rhode Island, Warwick, RI
VISITING ARTIST LECTURES
2007 Hartford Art School, West Hartford, CT
Weatherspoon
Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Greensboro,
NC
2006 University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA
Pratt
Institute, Utica, NY
2004 Rhode Island College, Providence, RI
RELATED EXPERIENCE
2008 Guest Artist, High School to Art School, Queens
Council on the Arts, Queens, NY
2006-07 Artist in Residence, Bronx Charter School
for the Arts, Bronx, NY
2005-07 Volunteer, Free Arts NYC, New York, NY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2008 Glancy, Marie. “L.I.C.’s Repetti
Celebrates Free-Form Expression,” Queens Chronicle.
February 14.
2005 Van Siclen, Bill. “Art Scene,” The
Providence Journal. March 17.
2004 Rauseo, Cate. “Hunt-Cavanagh Gallery
Displays New Work,” The Cowl. September 16.
The
Seattle Review. Featured artist, series of drawings.
Spring 2004.
Van
Siclen, Bill. “Art Scene,” The Providence
Journal. April 1.
2003 Hackett, Regina. “Nature Becomes Artificial
in the Hands of Artists at Soil,” The Seattle
Post-Intelligencer. November 14.
Pham,
Michelle. “Artwork Showcased in Gaddis Geeslin
Gallery,” The Houstonian. October 2.
Turnrow.
Featured artist, 10-page color spread of paintings.
Fall 2003. |
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