LAUREL FARRIN
I wrestle to balance digital noise with my gravitational presence in the world, to absorb information and glean meaning. – Laurel Farrin, 2022
Laurel Farrin’s work wavers on the threshold between abstraction and recognition–embodied in the slowness of paint and other substances that impose resistances, obstructions, turns and flows. Familiar may become unfamiliar; pathetic may become humorous. Farrin feels that she stumbles into images of her own invention. Abstractions may end up looking like architecture or figures or simple machines- cranks, balances, skids, reactors, extractors.
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inABOUT LAUREL FARRIN
(b. 1955) Laurel Farrin received an MFA from the University of Maryland in 1993. Solo exhibitions include those at the Devening Projects, Chicago, IL; Roswell Museum and Art Center, NM; Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY; The Figge, Museum, Davenport, IA; Lesley Heller Gallery, NYC; Joyce Goldstein Gallery, Chatham, NY; The Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, IA; Spaces, Cleveland, OH; Anton Gallery, Washington DC and Green Chalk Contemporary, Monterey, CA. Group exhibitions include John Molloy Gallery, NYC; Macy Gallery, Columbia University, NYC; the Des Moines Art Center; Bemis Contemporary Art Center; The Bronx River Art Center; The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC and The Florida Center for Contemporary Art, Tampa FL. She has had residencies at the Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program, NM, Yaddo; The MacDowell Colony; The Dora Maar Fellowship in France; Pratt Fine Arts Summer Residency; The Millay Colony for the Arts; VCCA; and the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Her work has been published in New American Painting, Mid Atlantic Edition, and featured in Fat Boy Review, Manchester, UK, Art Viewer, The Washington Post. Farrin has received an individual artist grant from the Washington DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and her work is in the collection of the Des Moines Art Center, the Tang Teaching Museum, Skidmore College, The Figge Museum, The Roswell Museum, Washington DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Wilson Buildg. among others. Laurel Farrin is a Professor in the painting and drawing program at the University of Iowa, Iowa City.
LAUREL FARRIN
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020
Vaudeville, Devening Projects, Chicago IL.
2018
No Particular Order, Figge Museum, Davenport, IA.
2015
Back Alley, Green Chalk Contemporary, Monterey, CA.
2014
RYG, Unity Gallery, MUM, Fairfield, IA.
2012
Extractors, Iowa Hall, Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA.
2009
As Is, Saugatuck Center for the Arts, Saugatuck, MI.
2008
Laurel Farrin, Lesley Heller Gallery, NY, NY.
2007
X-Ray, Joyce Goldstein Gallery, Chatham, NY.
Miss Mash, Unity Gallery, Fairfield, IA.
2006
Admit One, Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY, catalog.
2003
Presence In Absence, Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, IA.
2002
Laurel Farrin, Anton Gallery, Washington DC.
2000
Laurel Farrin, Anton Gallery, Washington DC.
1998
Laurel Farrin, Anton Gallery, Washington DC.
Linked/Longing, School 33, Baltimore, MD, sculpture installation.
1997
Laurel Farrin, Anton Gallery, Washington, DC.
Laurel Farrin, Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell, NM.
Listen, George Washington University, Washington DC, outdoors site-specific sculpture installation
1996
Seek, Spaces, Cleveland, OH, installation.
Small Works, Unity Gallery, Fairfield, IA.
1995
Fall Solos, Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA.
Laurel Farrin, Anton Gallery, Washington, DC.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022
The Most Beautiful Mistake You Can Make, Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, curated by Robert Reese.
2021
Auction 21 (invitational) Bemis Center For Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE.
2020
Mirage, curated by Tommy Taylor, Sabine Street Studios, Sawyer Yards, Houston, TX.
2019 Languages of the Heart, John Molloy Gallery, NY, NY; curated by Lindsay
Walt& Colin Thomson.
Moving Pictures, An Evening Of Videos By Painters, Platform, Brooklyn, NY.
2018
Auction 18 (invitational) Bemis Center For Contemporary Art, Omaha, NE.
Hecho en Tránsito / Made in Transit: A U.S.-Cuban Art Exchange, Macy Gallery,
Columbia University, Selena Gallery, LIU, Brooklyn, NY, curated by Katarina Wong.
LaurelFarrin/Douglas Degges, Yellow Door Galley, Des Moines, IA.
The Crow Flies Backward, Carl Cherry Center For the Arts, Carmel, CA.
2017
Laid, Placed and Arranged, University of Maryland Art Gallery.
2016
Exchange Rates, Bushwick Expo, NY, NY.
2016
Auction, Bemis Contemporary Art Center, Omaha NE, invitational.
2015
Art and Environment, Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell, NM.
2014
Subject Matters, Ildiko Butler Gallery, Fordham U. NY, NY, curated by David Store
Higher Learning, CUNY Lehman College Office 009, traveled to Hamilton College,
curated by Dannielle Tegeder .
FIZZ, Laurel Farrin, Jim Shrosbree, Cattich Gallery, St Ambrose, Davenport, IA.
Laurel Farrin, FATBOY Review, Issue #12 online journal, Manchester, UK.
2013
GCC1, Green Chalk Contemporary, Monterey, CA.
The Artist’s Way, Carl Cherry Center in collaboration with Celadon Arts, Joseph Campbell Foundation, Carmel, CA; curated by Gail Enns, catalog.
2012
Six Pack: Working Abs, Illeges Gallery, CSU, Columbia , GA.
Tell Me a Story, Current, at Edelman, NY, NY.
Transcendental Vision, Sand City Art Center, Sand City, CA.
App*Rope*Ri*8, Anderson Gallery, Drake University, Des Moines, IA.
2010
Iowa Artists, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA, catalog.
2009
Analogism, Anton Gallery, Pacific Grove, CA, installation.
2008
Large Paintings, Icon Contemporary Art, Fairfield, IA.
2007
Groupings, Carrol Square Gallery, Washington DC.
Sly, Bronx River Arts Center, NY, NY.
No Representation, Warehouse Gallery, Washington, DC.
40th RAIR Anniversary Exhibition, Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell, NMWPA/Corcoran Benefit Auction 07, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC, invitational.
2006
Heart of DC, Wilson Building Project, DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities,
Washington DC.
Benefit 06, Lower East Side Printshop, NY, NY, invitational.
Small Works, NYU, 80 East Washington Square Gallery, NY, NY, juried by Jack
Shainman.
Der Blau Maur, Anton Gallery at The Hawthorne Mansion, Monterey, CA.
WPA Corcoran Auction, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC, invitational
2004
30 Years in the Studio, Millay Colony, Albany International Airport Gallery, juried by
Linda Shearer.
2003
Holiday, Steven Vail Gallery, Des Moines, IA.
New American Painting, Mid Atlantic Edition, Exhibition in Print.
2002
Surfacing, 57 N Street, Washington DC, curated by J.W. Mahoney.
Summer Triennial, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Cedar Rapids, IA.
Small Works on Paper, Kentler International Drawing Center, Brooklyn, NY.
2001
Love, Anton Gallery, Washington DC.
9/11/01, Barbara Crawford Art Gallery, Chestnut Hill Academy, Philadelphia, PA.
2000
Traces, Roper Gallery, Frostburg State, Frostburg, MD.
Group Show, Anton Gallery, Washington, DC.
1999
Reclamation, Boyden Gallery, St. Mary’s College, St. Mary’s City, MD
Iowa Artists 1999, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, IA, juried by Janet Kardon.
Jolt, Baumgartner Galleries, Washington DC.
Textures, Anton Gallery, Washington DC.Awards Exhibition, District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Washington DC.
1998
Art Sites’98, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC, curated by Terry Sultan
Painted Objects, Anton Gallery, Washington DC.
21st Anniversary Art Auction, Washington Project for the Arts at the Corcoran
Gallery of Art, Washington DC.
1997
Sculpture Project, College of Santa Fe Art Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, curated by Stuart
Ashman, Director, Museum of Fine Arts.
Verticals, Anton Gallery, Washington DC.
Images of Eden, Georgetown Park, Washington DC, catalog.
1996
Maximum Drawings, College of Santa Fe Arts Gallery, Santa Fe, NM.
Cross Currents 96: Reclamation, The Art Gallery, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, curated by James Mahoney.
Land, Sky, Body, Spirit, Anton Gallery, Washington DC.
Critics in Residence, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD.
1995
Three Visions, W.P.A Auction, Washington DC.
Teen AIDS Art Auction, Sphinx Club, Washington DC.
Aspects of Washington Painting, Salve Regina Hall, Catholic University, Washington DC, curated by John Figura.
Beckman, Farrin, Girder-Engler, Florida Center for Contemporary Art, Tampa, FL.
1994
Migration: Dana, Farrin, Murry, School 33, Baltimore, MD.
7 Collaborations, Mill River Gallery, Ellicott City, MD.
Catholic Girls, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD.
1993
Legend, Emerson Gallery, Mclean Project for the Arts, Mclean, VA.
RESIDENCIES
2022-2021
Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY.
2020
Willapa Bay Artist-in-Residence, Oysterville, WA (Postponed to 2021, DECLINED, Covid19).
2019
Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY.
2018
Pratt Institute Fine Arts Summer Studio Residency, Brooklyn, NY.
MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH.
Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY.
2017
Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY.
Dora Maar Fellowship, Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Menerbes, France.
2016
Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY.
2004
Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY.
2003
Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY.
Millay Colony, Austerlitz, NY.
Alternate, Marie Sharpe Walsh Foundation, Studio Space Program, NY, NY.
2000
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Sweet Briar, VA.
Celadon Arts and Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA (5 day in-residence print workshop).
1996
Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell, NM.
Resident Critics Program, 1 year, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD
1995
Coca Cola Foundation Scholarship, Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach,
FL, juried by David Salle.
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2011
Head Case, Leslie Heller Workspace, NY, NY.
PUBISHED REVIEWS, WRITING
Artists Quarantine With Their Collection, edited by Stephen Maine, Hyperallergic, June 20, 2020
Art Viewer, Online site, March 22, 2020,
Tumblin, Cody, Comedy Of Errors, Two Coats of Paint (NYC blog), Feb 19, 2020 https://www.twocoatsofpaint.com/2020/02/laurel-farrins-comedy-of-errors.html
Jenkins, Mark, In the Galleries, The Washington Post, November 30, 2017.
Carlin, Tova, Medium Cool, Time Out NY, June 19–25, 2008 issue 664.
Haber, John, Laurel Farrin, Artillery, September/October 2008, Vol. 3, issue 1.
Dawson, Jessica, The Right Ingredients for a Sweet Experience, The Washington Post, 1/04/08, pg. CO2.
Huntington, Richard, Just an Illusion, Buffalo News, 5/19/06.
Chapman, Cindy Cullen, State of the Art, Cedar Rapids Gazette, July 21, 2002.
Colazzi, Vincenzo, Printmaking Jam, The Washington Review, February/March, 2001.
Mahoney, J.W., Speakeasy, New Art Examiner, March 1999, pg. 16–17.
Protzman, Ferdinand, Jolt at Baumgartner, The Washington Post, January 7, 1999.
Wall, Donna Dorian, The Glory of Gold, Southeast Folio, Southern Accents, 1999.
New Art Exhibit at SMC, The Enterprise, Lexington Park, MD.
Howell, George, Reviews, Art Papers, January 1998.
Protzman, Ferdinand, Paint Necessarily So, The Washington Post, September 11, 1997.
Riley, Michael, Laurel Farrin, Roswell Museum and Art Center, Quarterly Bulletin Vol. 45, No. 2 and 3, 1997.
Schulkind, Rima, Critics Roundtable, KOAN, vol. VI, No. 1, September 1997.
Summers, Suzanne, Reviews, Articulate; January/February 1996.
Banks, Anne, Art Reviews, Washington Review, December–January 1995.
Johnson, Linda, Reviews, Articulate, Vol. 1, issue 3, Oct. 1995.
Dorsey, John, Migrations, Baltimore Sun, September 1, 1994
Giuliano, Mike, Temperatures Rising, Baltimore City Paper, Vol. 18 No. 34, August 24–31, 1994
Meisner, Cecilia, Saints&Swimmers, Baltimore Alternative, November 1994.
Mahoney, J.W., Studio View, The New Art Examiner, October 1993, pg. 42–43.
GRANTS
2018
Mellon Digital Bridges Collaborative Grant.
2010
Faculty Support Fund, University of Iowa.
2012
Arts and Humanities Grant, University of Iowa.
2004
Arts and Humanities Initiative Book Subvention.
2002
Arts and Humanities Grant, University of Iowa
1999
Old Gold Summer Fellowship, University of Iowa.
1998
Washington DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Individual Artist Grant,
1994
Washington DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Technical Assistance Program Grant.
INVITED LECTURES, PANELS
2021
Figge Museum, Virtual conversation with artist Franklin Evans.
2018
Figge Museum, Davenport, IA,
2015
Roswell Museum and Art Center, Roswell, Museum.
2014
Hofstra University, Long Island, NY.
2012
Ohio University, Athens Ohio.
Columbus State University, Columbus GA.
2011
Goldsmiths, University of London, UK, tutor, MFA Program.
2010
American University, Washington, DC, Visiting Artist,
2007–2009
Jacob Javits Fellowship Program, US Department of Education, panelist.
2007
National Science Foundation, Washington DC, Panelist.
Antarctica Artist and Writers Program, Panelist.
University of Vermont, Visiting Artist.
2006
Panelist, Antarctica Artist and Writers, National Science Foundation, Washington DC,
Lecturer, Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY.
2004
Rice University, Houston TX, Visiting artist and critic.
2003
Sioux City Art Center, Sioux City, IA, lecture.
1999
St. Mary’s College, St. Mary’s City, MD, visiting artist and critic.
1997
George Washington University, Washington DC, visiting artist and critic.
1995
University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, visiting artist.
1996–2002
Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, IA, Visiting Artist, and Critic,
SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art, Roswell, NM.
Corporation of Yaddo.
The Des Moines Art Center.
Museum of Art, Grinnell College, Grinnell, IA.
Figge Museum, Davenport, IA.
Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, IA.
The MacDowell Colony.
Roswell Museum and Art Center.
The Tang Teaching Museum, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY.
TIAA-CREF, St. Louis, MO.
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.
University of Maryland Art Gallery.
Western Development Corporation, Washington, DC.
Washington DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Wilson Building.
EDUCATION
University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 1990–1993, painting, MFA, 1993.
Ohio University, Athens, OH, printmaking, BFA.
PROFESSIONAL AND ACADEMIC POSITIONS
Professor, 1998–present, University of Iowa.
Visiting Assistant Professor, 1997–1998, University of Iowa.
Lecturer, 1996, University of Maryland.
