melissa stern
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selected solo exhibitions
2021 HOUSEBROKEN – the gallery LTD, Brooklyn, NY
STRANGE GIRLS – SHANGHAI – Longmen Art Projects, Shanghai, China
STRONGER THAN DIRT- Lockwood Gallery, Kingston, NY
2020 DOES SHE OR DOESN’T SHE? – Firecat Projects, Chicago, IL
2018 STRANGE GIRLS – Garvey Simon Gallery, NY, NY
THE TALKING CURE – Kranzberg Center for Contemporary Art.
2017 YOU’RE SOAKING IN IT – Station Independent Projects, NY, NY
2016 THE TALKING CURE – The Weisman Art Museum. Minn. MN
LOOSE LIPS – The Univ. of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL.
THE TALKING CURE – Redux Contemporary Art Center, Charleston, SC
2015 THE TALKING CURE – Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT
2014 A YEAR IN PICTURES- SOPA Fina Arts, Kelowna, Canada
2014 THE TALKING CURE- AKRON MUSEUM OF ART, Akron, Ohio
2012 THE TALKING CURE- Smart Clothes Gallery, NY, NY (Catalogue)
THE TALKING CURE- Fetherston Gallery, Seattle, WA (Catalogue)
2011 NEW MATH- DRAWINGS-Fetherston Gallery, Seattle, WA
LIFE DURING WARTIME- HEADS- Barbara Archer Gallery, Atlanta, GA
NEW SCULPTURE- SOPA Fine Arts, Kelowna, Canada
2009 STEP RIGHT UP - Bahdeebahdu Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
COMING UP FOR AIR- Fetherston Gallery, Seattle WA
LOOSE LIPS- Drawing exhibition, Milsaps College, Jackson, MS.
2008 A COMMON SPACE, Barbara Archer Gallery, Atlanta, GA
2007 ABOVE THE BELT, Studio Swan, Atlanta, GA
FAMILY VALUES, Gallery 31 North, Glen Gardner, NJ
2006 LOOSE LIPS -Drawing Exhibition, Zihika Gallery, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
BIRDLAND, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN
2005 FAMILY VALUES, WeissPollack Gallery, NY, NY
2003 VACATION, Spike Gallery, NY, NY
MY FRIENDS, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN
2002 BACK TO SCHOOL, The Children's Museum of the Arts, NY, NY (Publication and tee shirt design)
2001 Ballard Featherston Gallery, Seattle, WA
THIRD GRADE, John Elder Gallery, NY, NY
2000 Bacheller-Cardonsky, Kent, CT
1999 WAX WORKS, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN
1997 DRAWINGS- Mia Gallery, Seattle, WA
1996 Bacheller-Cardonsky, Kent, CT
1995 Mia Gallery, Seattle, WA
1994 Diana Burke Gallery, NY, NY
1993 Mia Gallery, Seattle, WA
1990 Art Rages, Amsterdam, Netherlands
1988 Primitivo Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1986 HOMESITES, Arts Council of San Mateo County, Belmont, CA
CHAIRS, Clodagh, Ross, Williams Gallery, NY, NY
selected group exhibitions
2014 PSYCHED- Central Booking Gallery, NY, NY
2014 COMPULSIVE NARRATIVES- Rutgers Univ. Camden, NJ
2013 GALLERY ARTISTS- Archangel Gallery, Palm Springs, CA
2011 NAMING THE ANIMALS- Curious Matter, Jersey City, NJ
RETROFUTUREOLOGY- Observatory, Brooklyn, NY
2010 PARADISO CONTRAPASTO- Observatory, Brooklyn, NY
PILLOW CULTURE- Dumbo Arts Festival, Brooklyn, NY
2009 THE SKETCHBOOK PROJECT- Arthouse, Atlanta, GA - National traveling exhibition
2008 CONFRONTATIONAL CERAMICS, curated by Judith Schwartz, Westchester Arts Council, Westchester, NY
2007 FORMS OF OPULENCE, Allen Gallery, NY, NY
HAVE A SEAT!, The Beylerian Collection of Small Chairs June 28- Oct. 28, The Museum of Art & Design, NY, NY
RED, Curated by Richard Notkin, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD
THE INNER CHILD, The Hunterdon Museum of Art, Hunterdon, NJ
2006 FIGURATIONS. Sopa Gallery, Kelona, BC, Canada
MOTHERHOOD: THE MYTH, THE MAGIC, THE MADNESS- Curated by Leslie Matthews, Design for Living Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2005 NEW TALENT 2005, Co-curated by the Museum of Ceramic Art New York (MOCA/NY) and WEISSPOLLACK Gallery, NY, NY
3RD WORLD CERAMICS BIENNALE 2005, Ceramics: The Vehicle of Culture, invitational exhibition, Icheon, Korea(Catalogue)
2004 PULP FICTION, bahduP bahdee, Philadelphia, PA
2003 ENCAUSTIC 2003, juried exhibition, Poughkeepsie, NY (Catalogue)
2002 PUSHING CLAY, University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME
2001 R&F ENCAUSTICS JURIED BIENNIAL, Kingston, NY (Catalogue)
1999 LOOKING IN THE MIRROR, Riley Hawk Galleries, Cleveland, OH
1998 NEW TALENT, John Elder Gallery, NY, NY
1996 INTIMATE CONVERSATIONS, The Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA
1995 NEW YORK CLAY, Traveling Exhibition, Stavanger, Norway
1994 VIEWPOINTS, Bachelier-Cardonsky Gallery, Kent, CT
NEW GENERATION, Elaine Benson Gallery, Bridgehampton, NY
1993 HEADS OR TAILS, Mia Gallery, Seattle, WA
1992 THE NEW YORK FOUR, Bachelier-Cardonsky Gallery, Kent, CT
1992 CHAIRS, Gallery of Functional Art, Santa Monica, CA
FIGURATIVE CERAMICS, Mia Gallery, Seattle, WA
1991 AND ALL THROUGH THE HOUSE, Gallery of Functional Art
1990 SIGNS OF SUPPORT- FURNITURE FORMS IN CONTEMPORARY ART, John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI
1988 ARTIST'S FURNITURE INVITATIONAL, Wita Gardiner Gallery, San Diego, CA
THE AESTHETIC EDGE, Corvallis Art Center, Corvallis, OR
IMAGINARY LANDSCAPES, Primitivo Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1987 VIEWING THE FIGURE, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID
1986 INAUGURAL EXHIBITION, Clodagh, Ross, Williams Gallery, NY, NY
1985 SAN FRANCISCO FINE ARTS COMMISSION JURIED EXHIBITION, San Francisco, CA
1984 INTROSPECTIVES- AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL WORK BY WOMEN, Pyramid Art Center, Rochester, NY
1983 THE AMERICAN CLAY NATIONAL, Downey Museum of Art, Downey, CA
publications
"MELISSA STERN- OFF BALANCE ART"- Feature Article. Wesleyan University Alumni Magazine. Fall 2013
Smart Clothes - Art News Magazine, January 2013
NEW YORK ARTS- Interview with Leah Oates, The Talking Cure, Feb 2013
THE TALKING CURE- catalogue of the exhibition 2012
ART FOR THE EYES AND EARS: MELISSA STERN'S "THE TALKING CURE" IN NEW YORK, Dujour.com, December 2012
NEW YORK ARTS- Nostalgic Confessions- Drawing by Melissa Stern, February 2009
American Illustration 26 – The Best American Illustrations of 2007, November 2007
Review of BIRDLAND- The Memphis Commercial Appeal, Friday, April 21, 2006
BIRDLAND- Catalogue published in conjunction with the exhibition, David Lusk Gallery, Memphis, TN 2006
TRANS-CERAMIC ART- Catalogue of The 3rd World Ceramic Biennale 2005
Published by Icheon World Ceramic Center, Icheon, Korea 2005
500 FIGURES IN CLAY- catalogue essay by Paul Karlstrom. Published by The Children's Museum of the Arts, NY, NY, Winter 2003
CERAMIC FIGURES- by Michael Flynn, Rutgers University Press- New Jersey 2002
FORM & TRANS-FORMATIONS- by Judith Schwartz, exhibition catalogue, Rogaland Kunstnersenter, Rogaland, Norway 1996
NEW YORK CLAY- essay by Judith Schwartz, exhibition catalogue, Rogaland Kunstnersenter, Rogaland, Norway 1996
THE NEW YORK TIMES- Review- Sunday, Dec. 15, 1996
CHAIRMANIA- FANTASTIC MINIATURES by George Beylarian, Harry Abrams pub., New York, NY, 1994
DAN'S PAPER- Review- Bridgehampton, NY- May 20, 1994
EAST HAMPTON INDEPENDENT- Review- May 22, 1994
THE NEW YORK TIMES- Review- Sunday, August 2, 1992
CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN ART CRAFT- A COLLECTOR'S GUIDE- by Barbara Mayer, Peregrine Smith Books- Salt Lake City, UT 1988
PRONTO- Cover photograph and article. Vol. 4 #5- Tokyo, Japan 1988
ARS AUREA- Magazine article Berlin, Germany- winter 1988
grants and awards
AWARDED ARTIST RESIDENCY- Benyamini Center for Contemporary Art, Tel Aviv, Isreal 2014
AWARDED ARTIST RESIDENCY, The Washington School of Glass, Washington, DC 2011
AWARDED ARTIST RESIDENCY, The Serenbe Institute, Serenbe, GA 2007
SPONSORS AWARD R&F HANDMADE PAINT JURIED EXHIBITION 2001
KOHLER FOUNDATION GRANT- Artist-in-Residence Kohler Company, Sheboygan, WI 1988 and 1990
selected public collections
International Center for Collage, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA
Library of Congress- Rare Books and Special Collections
Museum of Art and Design, New York, NY
The Arario Gallery, Seoul, Korea
Bear Stearns & Co., NY, NY
Dow Jones & Co. Inc., NY, NY
Davison Collection, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
The Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR
Stavenger Museum, Stavenger Norway
The Metropolitan Home Magazine Design Collection, NY, NY
The Kohler Company Collection, Sheboygan, WI
Designtex, NY, NY
education
1976-1980 BA Anthropology and Studio Art Cum Laude with Honors in Anthropology Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT
1982-1984 MFA Ceramics State University of New York at New Paltz