View Arlene Shechet’s works featured on Ceramics Now Magazine
Arlene Shechet’s modeled surfaces demonstrate how clay mirrors the artist’s touch. Her objects bear the mark and memory of her hands. The sculpture’s bulges, hollows, spouts, and holes evoke bodily features, and as the artist notes, are “suggestive of the curving forms found in classical Indian sculpture.” By coating the clay with eccentric color combinations and metallic glazes—created with an experimental disregard for traditional firing temperatures—Shechet not only fractures the objects’ surfaces but also undermines any single association with nature. Seeming to expand and deflate like a breath, Shechet’s dynamic works continually transform, as they reappear anew moment by moment.
Born in New York City, Arlene Shechet received her BA from New York University and her MFA from Rhode Island School of Design. Her work has been exhibited at numerous venues, including the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver (2009), the Walker Art Center (2009), the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia (2008), the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (2008), the Rubin Museum of Art, New York (2007), Real Art Ways, Hartford (2005), and Henry Art Gallery, Seattle (2003). She has created on-site installations at the United States Embassy, Beijing (2008), Byrdcliffe Arts Colony, Woodstock (2007), the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York (2001), and elsewhere.
Arlene Shechet’s C.V. (resume) – View her works
EDUCATION
– M.F.A. Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
– B.A. New York University, New York, NY
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2010 – Jack Shainman Gallery, New York opens March ‘10
2009 – “Here and There,” Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, Denver, CO. July 16-Jan. 16, 2010
– “Blow by Blow,” curated by Ian Berry, F. Y. Tang Museum at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY. Sept. 26-Jan. 3, 2010
2008 – Now & Away, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
2007 – NEW WORK, Elizabeth Harris Gallery, New York, NY
2006 – THIN AIR, Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Sun Valley, ID
– Round and Round, Hemphill Fine Arts, Washington D.C.
2004 – Out of the Blue, Installation and works of paper, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
– Works of Paper, Hemphill, Washington, D.C.
2005 – Turning the Wheel, commissioned installation as part of the “The Invisible Thread: Buddhist
– Spirit in Contemporary Art”, Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, NY, (exhibition catalogue)
– Building, curated by Elizabeth Brown, Henry Art Gallery, Faye G. Allen Center for the Visual
Arts, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, (essay)
2002 – Flowers Found, Elizabeth Harris Gallery, New York, NY (exhibition catalogue, essay, Anne Ellegood)
2001 – Puja, A/D Gallery, New York, NY
2000 – Galerie Rene Blouin, Montreal
1999 – Mirror Mirror, Elizabeth Harris Gallery, New York, NY (exhibition catalogue, essay, Peter Nagy)
1998 – Once Removed, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1997 – Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston, MA
1996 – Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
1995 – Installation, Boulder Museum of Fine Arts, Boulder, CO
1984 – Bess Cutler Gallery, New York, NY
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2010 – XXIst International Ceramic Biennial (BICC), Vallauris, France July-Nov. 2010 (catalogue)
2009 – The Dark Fair-Aquarium Project, Cologne Art Fair, Cologne, Germany
– 3 person Exhibit, Arlene Shechet, Feelers, Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto, Canada
– “The Dark Fair—Aquarium Project,” curated by Scott Reeder, Cologne Art Fair, Cologne, Germany, April
– New Works/Old Story, Contemporary Jewish Museum, San Francisco, CA
– Seriously Funny, Scottsdale Museum of Art, Scottsdale, Arizona, curated by Cassandra Coblentz and Claire Carter (catalogue)
– Dirt On Delight, ICA, Philadelphia, PA, curated by Ingrid Schaffner and Jenelle Porter (catalogue)
– New Now, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS
2008 – Present Tense, Spainerman Modern Gallery, NYC, curated by Mary Heilman & D. Christenson
2008 – Neti Neti (not this, not this) Bose Pacia Gallery, NY, curated by Peter Nagy
2008 – Building/Beijing, Permanent installation, US Embassy, Beijing, China (exhibition catalogue)
2008 – Grey, Dinter Fine Art, NYC
2008 – True Grit, Frames, Fixations, Flirtations, curated by M. Leach, McColl Center for Visual Art N.C.
2007 – In the Way, Outdoor Installation, Byrdcliffe, Woodstock, NY
– Shattering Glass: New Perspectives, curated by Neil Watson and Ellen Kieter, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY (exhibition catalogue)
2006/7 – THE BONG SHOW or This Is Not a Pipe, Leslie Tonkonow, New York, NY
2006 – The Missing Peace, Fowler Museum, Los Angeles, CA, traveling, Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, ILRubin Museum of Art, New York, NY, Emory Visual Arts Gallery, Atlanta, GA, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, (exhibition catalogue)
2005/6 – Faith, curated by James Hyde, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT (exhibition catalogue)
2005 – Riverhouse Editions: Master Prints by 44 Artists, University of Denver, Denver, CO
2008 – Glass, Seriously, curated by Lilly Wei, Dorsky Curatorial Program, Long Island City, NY (essay)
2008 – SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE IT, curated by Janet Phelps, Shroeder Romero Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2008 – Monochrome Image, Elizabeth Harris Gallery, New York, NY
2008 – Seven Artists,American Embassy, Hanoi, Vietnam, curated by Virginia Shore, State Department, Washington, D.C.
2004 – Sidewalk Installation, Rubin Museum of Art, New York, NY
– Bottle: Contemporary Art and Vernacular Tradition, curated by Richard Klein, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT(exhibition catalogue)
– The Buddha Project, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH
– The Big Nothing, curated by Ingrid Schaffner and Bennett Simpson, Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA (exhibition catalogue)
2003 – According with Nadelman : Contemporary Affinities Group Show, curated by Cynthia Nadelman, June Kelly Gallery, NY
– Water Mark / Inside, curated by Patricia Phillips, E.H. Blum Gallery, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine
– Vessels, curated by Joe Fyfe, Greenwich House Pottery, New York, NY
– Water Water, Curated by Lily Wei, Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
– Mystic, curated by Jeffrey Keough, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, MA (exhibition catalogue)
2002 – Line and Landscape, Ethan Cohen Gallery, New York, NY
– Paper Remix: Dieu Donne Work Space Program, 1995-2000, curated by Edwin Ramoran, Dieu Donne Papermill, New York, NY
– Curious Terrain, Elizabeth Harris Gallery, New York, NY
2001 – Ganesh, Rene Blouin Gallery, Montreal, QC
– Rags to Riches, 25 Years of Paper Art from Dieu Donné Papermill, curated by Donna Stein, a traveling exhibition: Kresge Art Museum East Lansing, MI, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Manhattan, KS, Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, NY, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI, Ft. Wayne, IN, through 2003
– A Threshold of Spirit, curated by Peter Nagy, “Crossing Paths: an Installation in the Baptistry”, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York, NY
– Digital Printmaking Now, Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY
2000 – Mysticism and Desire, curated by Pat Hamilton, Los Angeles, CA
– The Living End, curated by Ingrid Schaffner, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder,CO, essay
– Religion: Contemporary Interpretations by Women, The Art Gallery, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH
– Rapture, Bakalar and Huntington Galleries, curated by Jeffrey Keoush and Lisa Tung, Mass Art, Boston, MA, catalogue
1999 – Loaf, curated by Steve Dibenedetto and Manfred Baumgartner, Baumgartner Galleries Inc., New York, NY
– Crafted Shows, Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York, NY
– Om, curated by Joe Fyfe, Dorsky Gallery, New York, NY, essay
– Women in Print, Jim Kempner Fine Art, New York, NY
1998 – In the Details, curated by Kiki Smith, Barbara Gross Gallery, Munich, Germany
– Art Exchange Show, Rose Burlingham, New York, NY
– Recent Aquisitions, John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1997 – On the Rim, TransAmerica Bank, San Francisco, CA
– Plastered, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
– Swimsuit Show, Elsa Mott Ives Gallery, New York, NY
– Group show, Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston, MA
1996 – Imaginary Beings, Exit Art, New York, NY
– Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston, MA
– Gramercy Hotel Art Show, New York, NY
– Joanne Rapp Gallery, Phoenix, AZ
1995 – Manhattan Art Project, 60 Broad St., New York, NY
– Mixed Media, Montgomery College, Rockville, MD
1994 – Full House, 5 person show, 54 White Street, New York, NY
1993 – The Return to the Cadavre Exquis, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
– A-Z 0-9, E.S. Vandam Gallery, New York, NY
– A Celebration of Life, Delegates Hall, United Nations, New York, NY
– Nancy Margolis Gallery, New York, NY
1992 – Gallery Women Artists, Rule Modern & Contemporary, Denver, CO
– Faculty Small Works, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY
– 10 Artists/10 Statements, Farrell Collection, Philadelphia, PA
– Artistic Generations, The Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1991 – Payton-Rule Gallery, Denver, CO
– Paint Land, curated by Terry R. Myers, Lemon Sky Project, Los Angeles, CA
– Live From New York, Haines Gallery, San Francisco, CA
– Painting Function: Making It Real, SPACES, Cleveland, OH
– soft corner hard edge, Blackwood Gallery, The University of Toronto, at Mississauga, traveling to – Galerie Christiane Chassay, Montreal, Quebec
1989 – Faculty Small Works, Parsons School of Design, New York, NY
1988 – Bess Cutler Gallery, New York, NY
– Cydney Payton Gallery, Denver, CO
– Colorado Invites, Sangre de Cristo Arts, Pueblo, CO
1987 – American Ceramics: Now, Everson Museum of Art, Syracuse, NY
– DeCordova Museum, Lexington, MA
– Selections, Le Moine College, Syracuse, NY
1986 – Beyond Clay, Queens College, CUNY, New York, NY
– Bess Cutler Gallery, New York, NY
– Natural Sources: Abstractions in Sculpture, P.S. 122, New York, NY
1985 – Organic Abstractions, Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, IL
– 44 Alumni, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, RI
– Organic Abstractions, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, MA
– Small Works by Big Thinkers, Bess Cutler Gallery, New York, NY
– Gallery Artists, Bess Cutler Gallery, New York, NY
GRANTS
2004 – John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Visual Artist Fellowship
1999 – New York Foundation for the Arts, Artist Fellowship Grant
1996/97 – Dieu Donné Papermill, New York, NY, Work Grant
1993 – New York Foundation for the Arts, Artist Fellowship Grant
1986/87 – N.E.A. Visual Artist, Artist Fellowship Grant
1986 – New York Foundation for the Arts, Fellowship Grant
RESIDENCIES
2009 – Solomon Residency, Skidmore College/ F.Y.W. Tang Museum
2006 – American Artists Abroad, Vietnam, U.S. State Department Visiting Artist
2002/8 – Acadia Summer Art Program, “Camp Kippy”, Mount Desert Island, Maine
2005 – Riverhouse Editions, Printmaking Residency, Steamboat Springs, CO
2003 – Pilchuck Glass School, Artist in Resident, Seattle, WA
1986/92 – Watershed Center for the Arts, Edgecomb, ME
LECTURES / DISTINCTIONS
2009 – School of Visual Arts, NYC, NY, “Artists on Art”
2008 – Panel Discussion – Glass, New Perspectives, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah N.Y.
2007 – Rubin Museum of Art, “Artists on Art”
– University of California, Visiting Artist, San Jose, CA
2005 – Dorsky Gallery, Glass, Seriously. A symposium moderated by Lilly Wei with Kristin Oppenheim, Brian Ripel, and Jean Shin
2004 – Panel Discussion, Rubin Museum of Art, “Art and Impermanence” with Julian
Laverdiere, Joan Jonas, and Dr. Caron Smith, New York, NY
2003 – Microsoft, Redmond, WA Artist Lecture
– Whitney Museum of American Art,NYC, Exhibition walkthrough/lecture with Kiki Smith on Elie Nadelman Exhibition
– Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA Residency/Visiting Artist
– University of Washington,Seattle, WA Residency/Visiting Artist
1998 – Rhode Island School of Design, Visiting Artist, Glass Department
1996 – Massachusetts College of Art, Visiting /Working Artist Grant
1993 – Rhode Island School of Design, Guest Lecturer, Providence, RI
1992 – SUNY, New Paltz, Visiting Artist, New Paltz, NY
1989 – University of Colorado, Boulder, Visiting Artist, Boulder, CO
1987 – Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY N.Y.F.A. Guest Artist
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2010 – Berry, Ian. Arlene Shechet: Blow by Blow. Exhibition catalogue. Saratoga Springs, New York: The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College.
2009 – Smith, Roberta, “Crucible of Creativity, Stoking Earth Into Art”, The New York Times, March 20th, p.C25,C28
2009 – Gopnik, Blake, “Clay’s Big Day”, The Washington Post, March 1st, p. M6-7
2009 – MacMillan, Kyle, “MCA exhibits showcase big names, big ambitions from Big Apple,”
2009 – Denver Post, November 22nd, 2009.
2009 – Regan, Kate, “‘Feelers’ at Susan Hobbs, Toronto,” ARTnews, November, pg. 125.
2009 – “feelers: Touching a Nerve, or Three,” Canadian Art, Fall 2009.
2009 – Moser, Gabrielle, “Sarah Massecar, Sandra Meigs, Arlene Shechet, feelers,” Esse, Fall 2009, NO. 67.
2009 – Smith, Roberta, “Why Craft Never Was a Four-Letter Word,” The New York Times, April 18th, p. C5.
2009 – Smith, Roberta, “Crucible of Creativity, Stoking Earth Into Art,” The New York Times, March 20th, pp. C25, C28.
2009 – Gopnik, Blake, “Clay’s Big Day”, The Washington Post, March 1st, p. M6-7
2009 – Schaffner, Ingrid, and Jenelle Porter. Dirt On Delight: Impulses That Form Clay. Exhibition catalogue. Philadelphia: Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, 2009
2009 – Ruth, Tara. “Double or Nothing: Mimicry in Contemporary Art using Handmade Paper.” Hand Papermaking 24 no. 2 (Winter 2009): 28-32.
2008 – Pollack, Barbara, “Neti-Neti”, Time Out New York, July 31-August 6, p.53
2008 – Saltz, Jerry, “Gray”, Critics’ Pick, New York Magazine Online, July 23
2008 – De Vegh, Suzanne, “Arlene Shechet, New York”, Art Papers, July/August, p. 66
2008 – Goodman, Jonathan, “New York Reviews”, Sculpture Magazine, July/August, pp 77-8.
2008 – Hirsch, Faye, “Arlene Shechet at Elizabeth Harris”, Art in America, Feb
2007 – Smith, Roberta, “Art in Review”, New York Times, Sept. 14, pE41
– Robinson, Walter, “Weekend Update”, Reviews, Artnet, Sept. 19
– NYPR/WNYC, radio on Soundcheck w/John Schaefer
2006 – Mahoney, J. W., “Arlene Shechet at Hemphill”, Art in America, Oct., pp 201-2
– Robinson, Walter, “Weekend Update”, Reviews, Artnet, Sept. 19
– Hyde, James, “Faith”, exhibition catalogue, Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT p 22, 41
– Ash, Elizabeth, “ART in Embassies in Hanoi,” State MAGAZINE, March, p 14
– Dung, Dinh, “An American artist talks about her work and Buddhism,” The Saigon Times Daily, March 29, p 7
– “US artist Arlene Shechet to exhibit works in Ha Noi,” Vietnam News, March 17, p 20
– Larson, Kay, “Keeping the Faith,” ARTnews, Feb.
– Dawson, Jessica, “Shechet, Sherwood and Bocchino at Hemphill”, The Washington Post, Jan. 7 Section C
– O’Sullivan, Michael, “Our Picks”, The Washington Post, Jan. 6, p 3
2005 – Morgan, Robert C., “Who takes Glass Seriously”, The Urban Glass Art Quarterly, Fall 2005, pp. 27-33
– Phillips, Autumn, “A Buddhist Concept on Paper”, The Steamboat Pilot, Steamboat Springs, CO, Arts Section Front Page, Aug. 12
– Cover Photograph, Tricycle Magazine, Summer, p 39
– Meuller, Stephen, “Personal Statements in Just One Color”, Gay City, June 23-9, p45
– Glueck, Grace, “An Object of Practicality, from the Inside and Out,‘Bottle: Contemporary Art and Vernacular Tradition’”, New York Times, April 1, p E34
– Wei, Lily, exhibition essay for “Glass, Seriously”, Dorsky Gallery, Long Island City, NY
2004 – Morgan, Anne Barclay, “The Manifestation of Awareness”, Sculpture Magazine, Sept., pp 47-51
– McElroy, Joseph, “A Poetry of Transience”, Sambala Sun, March, pp 58-62
– Schaffner, Ingrid, catalogue essay for “The Big Nothing”, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
– Klein, Richard, catalogue essay for “Bottle Show” Aldrich Museum
2003 – Smith, Kiki, “artists choice – Arlene Shechet”, Art on Paper, cover article and illustration, Nov/Dec, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp 42-5 Pierpont, Margaret, “Natural Mastery”, Natural Health, Oct, p 160
– Cover photograph, Buddhadharma Magazine, Summer
2002 – Johnson, Ken, “Arlene Shechet”, The New York Times, Art Guide. May 3, p E40
– Koplos, Janet, “Arlene Shechet at A/D”, Art in America, January, pp 109 – 110
2001 – Stein, Donna, catalogue essay for “Rags to Riches, 25 Years of Paper Art from Dieu Donne Papermill”, pp 57-8
– “The Artist’s Way”, O Magazine, Nov, p 227
– “Cathedral Removes an Artwork”, The New York Times, June 26
– “Minister Wants Artwork Revised or Removed”, The New York Times, June 23, p B7
– Douglas, Sarah, “’Unsuitable’ art removed from cathedral in New York”, THE ART NEWSPAPER.COM
2000 – Schaffner, Ingrid, catalogue essay for “The Living End”, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO
– Glackstern, J., “Many mysteries suggested at BMOCA’s ‘Living End’”, The Daily Camera, Boulder, CO, Oct. 15
– Betts, Kristie, “Artflash, the end is here”, Boulder Weekly, Boulder, CO, Sept. 28-Oct. 4
– Larson, Kay, “Keeping the Faith,” ARTnews, Feb.
1999 – Cotter, Holland, “Arlene Shechet”, The New York Times, Art Guide, May 21, p. E32
– Levin, Kim, “Voice Choices”, The Village Voice, May 18, p. 78
– Nagy, Peter, catalogue essay for “Mirror Mirror” exhibition at Elizabeth Harris Gallery
– Tagore, Sundaram, “Facing East: American Artists’ Encounters with India”, Art India, The Arts News Magazine of India, April, pp 55-7
– Fyfe, Joe, catalogue essay for “Om” exhibition at David Dorsky Gallery
1998 – Gockel, Cornelia, “Korper und Ofnungen”, Suddeutche Zeitung, July 30
– Goldman, Robert, “Artist Diary”, Artnet, January 24, p. 2
– Hirsch, Faye, “Working Proof”, On Paper, Vol. 2, January-February
1997 – Shulman, Ken, ARTnews, December
– Olinsky, Frank, Buddha Book, Chronicle Books, San Francisco, pp 68 & 90-1
– Melrod, George, “Openings”, Art & Antiques, Sept
– McQuaid, Cate, “Arlene Shechet: Celebrating the Process of Creating”, The Boston Globe, Sept 18, pp E 1-2
– Buzz Weekly, May 2-8
– Larson, Kay, catalogue essay for exhibition at John Berggruen Gallery
– Bonetti, David, The San Francisco Examiner, April 4, p C10
1996 – M/E/A/N/I/N/G: Contemporary Art Issues, Issue #19/20 May, p. 101
1996 – Chandler, Mary V., “Pure Painting’ Exhibit is More Medium Than Technique”, Rocky Mountain News, September 17, p. 70
– Paglia, Michael, “Pigment of the Imagination”, Westword, September 6, p. 55
– Gross, Amy, “Meditations Can Make You Happy”, (photograph), ELLE, April, p. 158
1992 – “Forum: On motherhood, art and apple pie”, M/E/A/N/I/N/G: Contemporary Art Issues, Fall, p 33
1986 – Doubet, Ward, New Art Examiner, February, p. 53
1985 – Goldman, Judith, Art New England, November
– Carlock, Marty, The Concord Journal, September, p. 11A
– Dubin, Wendy, American Ceramics, Vol. 4, pp 72-3
TEACHING
1984-1995 – Parsons School of Design, Foundation Faculty
1978-1983 – Rhode Island School of Design, Faculty, 3-D Design
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
– L.A. County Museum, Los Angeles, CA
– Edward Albee Foundation, New York, NY
– Banff School of Fine Arts, Canada
– Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, NY
– Candace K. Weir Foundation
– Deloitte & Touche, San Francisco, CA
– Dieu Donné Papermill, New York, NY
– Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA
– Goldman Sachs, NYC, Singapore
– Johnsons and Johnson, New Brunswick, NJ
– Martin Margulies Collection, Coconut Grove, FL
– Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, Kansas, KS
– North Shore Hospital, Long Island, NY
– New York City Public Library, Drawing & Prints Collection, New York, NY
– Progressive Insurance, Cleveland, OH
– Al Shands Collection, Louisville, KY
– US Embassy, Beijing, China
– US Embassy Nepal
– The Whitney Museum of American Art, NYC
– The J.V. Zimmerli Art Museum, New Brunswick, NJ
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