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Ann Craven

Ann Craven (b. 1967, Boston) makes self-reflexive paintings that comment on devotion, loss, and the immortalizing nature of her medium. Primarily using unabashedly high-key colors, she paints and repaints her key subjects—winsome animals and flowers modeled after those found in vintage books and postcards, among other sentimental twentieth-century sources, and the moon as observed by the artist herself. Craven’s emotional conceptualism inheres in these affectively charged repetitions, each of which is accompanied by an indexical canvas Palette used for the respective work’s color mixing and archived by the artist, like her Stripes, for her future reference. Like On Kawara, her oeuvre is a catalog of time passed; like Agnes Martin, evidence of her hand is the true content of her work. With each rearticulation, Craven reasserts her brushstroke as a bulwark against the degradation of memory. Craven lives in New York City.

Recent solo exhibitions include the SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia (2023); Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland (2019); and Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers, France (2014). Craven’s paintings are in the public collections of the Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine; Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Portland Museum of Art, Maine; SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, among others.

In May, three Craven solo exhibitions will open in Maine: Ann Craven: Painted Time (2020–2024), on view from May 3, 2025–January 4, 2026 at the Farnsworth Art Museum; Spotlight: Ann Craven, on view at the Portland Museum of Art from May 14–September 14, 2025; and Painted Time: Moons (Laboratory), on view at Bowdoin College Museum of Art from May 22–August 17, 2025.

Photo by Jason Schmidt

Photo by Jason Schmidt

Born 1967, Boston

Lives in New York and Cushing, Maine

EDUCATION

1993

MFA, Columbia University, New York

1986

BFA, Massachusetts College of Art, Boston

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2025

Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine, Ann Craven: Painted Time (2020–2024)

Portland Museum of Art, Maine, Spotlight: Ann Craven

Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine, Painted Time: Moons (Laboratory)

2024

The ’Quin House, Boston, Long Nights Moon

2023

Karma, New York, Night

SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, Georgia, Twelve Moons

2022

Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles, Flowers (Watercolors)

2021

Karma, New York, Animals Birds Flowers Moons

2020

Parapet / Real Humans, St. Louis, Missouri, Ann Craven: Pensée #59

2019

Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, Birds We Know

Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago, Promise (Birds for Chicago)

2018

Karma, New York, Sunset Moon

Nina Johnson, Miami, Snowbirds

2017

Southard Reid, London, Animals 1999–2017

Parapet / Real Humans, St. Louis, Missouri, A Robin Singing, 2011

2016

Maccarone, New York, Hello, Hello, Hello

2015

Gallery Diet, Miami, I Like Blue

Southard Reid, London, Untitled (Palettes: Naked, Tagged), 2013–14

2014

Hannah Hoffman, Los Angeles

Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers, France, TIME

2013

Maccarone, New York

Southard Reid, London, Hello, Hello, Hello

2011

Southard Reid, London, Summer

39 Great Jones, New York, Reims Moon #1

Conduits Gallery at ReMap3, Athens, Conceptual Romantic: Ann Craven

Galerie Forsblom, Helsinki, Ann Craven: New Works

Maccarone, New York, Watercolors 2005–2010

2010

Maccarone, New York, Flowers

Blancpain Art Contemporain, Geneva

2009

CIAP, Hasselt, Belgium, Shadows Moon

Conduits Gallery, Milan, Puff Puff

Galerie LHK, Paris, Golden Swamp Warbler

2008

SculptureCenter, New York, Against the Stream

FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France, Shadows Moon

Delaware Center for Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, Snoom

Knoedler & Co., New York, Moon Birds

Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago, Moon Birds

2007

Mandrake, Los Angeles, Deer and Beer LA

2006

Galerie Catherine Bastide, Brussels

Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert, Inc., New York

Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert, Inc., New York, Deer + Beer

2005

Angstrom Gallery, Dallas

The Horticultural Society of New York, A Poppy is a Poppy is a Poppy

2004

Marc Selwyn Fine Art at Domestic, Los Angeles, After Nature

Galleria Paolo Curti / Annamaria Gambuzzi & Co., Milan

Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert, Inc., New York

Mario Diacono, Boston, This way No This way (Aut Aut)

2002

Klemens Gasser & Tanja Grunert, Inc., New York

Allston Skirt Gallery, Boston

1998

Curt Marcus Gallery, New York

Gallery Ha Ha, Knoxville, Tennessee

1997

Lauren Wittels Gallery, New York

1995

Lauren Wittels Gallery, New York

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025

Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, Friends in Both Places

FLAG Art Foundation, New York, A Rose Is

2024

70 Main Street, Thomaston, Maine, A Particular Kind of Heaven

James Cohan, New York, Mother Lode: Material and Memory, curated by Abigail Ross Goodman, Molly Epstein, and Ellen Langan

James Fuentes, New York, A Study in Form (Chapter Two), curated by Arden Wohl

Phillida Reid, London, Love Will Come Back: Ann Craven with Robert Mapplethorpe and Mohammed Z. Rahman

125 Newbury, New York, Animal Watch

2023

The Ranch, Montauk, New York, Drunk vs. Stoned 3

Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine, Farnsworth at 75

2022

Berkshire Botanical Garden, Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Symbiosis, curated by Beth Rudin DeWoody

Acquavella Galleries, New York and Palm Beach, Unnatural Nature: Post-Pop Landscapes

deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum and Fruitlands Museum, Boston, New England Triennial

White Columns, New York, Looking Back

Miguel Abreu Gallery, New York, Singing in Unison: Artists Need to Create On the Same Scale That Society Has the Capacity to Destroy

Parker Gallery, Los Angeles, Nothing is to be Done for William T. Wiley

Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, The View from Here

Kranzberg Arts Foundation, St. Louis, Missouri, Songs of Fire, curated by JPW3 and Torie Zalben

The Perimeter, London, My Reflection of You, curated by Russell Tovey and Alexander Petalas

La Galerie, centre d’art contemporain de Noisy-le-Sec, France, Des Champs de Fraises pour L’éternité, curated by Marc Bembekoff and It’s Our Playground

Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine, Farnsworth Forward

2021

Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, Vermont, EXPEDITION

70 Main Street, Thomaston, Maine, Moons and Angels, with Reggie Burrows Hodges

FLAG Art Foundation, New York, and I will wear you in my heart of heart

2020

Adams and Ollman, Portland, Oregon, Eartha: Hayley Barker, Amy Bay, Mariel Capanna, Emma Cook, Ann Craven, Ka’ila Farrell-Smith, and Maureen St. Vincent

CHART, New York, Imperfect Clocks

Dallas Museum of Art, Contemporary Art + Design: New Acquisitions

François Ghebaly, Los Angeles, Materia Medica

Karma, New York, (Nothing but) Flowers

2019

Concord Center for the Visual Arts, Massachusetts, The Moon: Eternal Pearl, curated by Kate James and Kathleen O’Hara

2018

Centre Pompidou-Metz, France, Painting the Night, curated by Jean-Marie Gallais

Tops Gallery, Memphis, Tennessee, Screen Door, curated by Hunter Braithwaite

Jack Hanley, New York, A Rose is a Rose is a Rose, curated by Nikki Maloof and Louis Fratino

Tripoli Gallery, Southampton, New York, Night, curated by Katherine Bernhardt 

2017

Institute of Contemporary Art, Maine College of Art, Portland, American Genre: Contemporary Painting, curated by Michelle Grabner

Centre d’art contemporain La Halle des bouchers, Vienne, France, Coquet Mais Pas Trop, Ann Craven, Armand Jalut, Neil Raitt, curated by Marc Bembekoff

Galerie Frank Elbaz, Paris, A Birthday Present As A Watch, curated by Julia Trotta

Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, University of the Arts, Philadelphia, Quicktime

2016

University of Tennessee, School of Art, Knoxville, Art Box, with Wade Guyton, Meredyth Sparks, and Josh Smith

Karma, Amagansett, New York, Before Midnight

Hannah Hoffman Gallery, Los Angeles, A Change of Heart, curated by Chris Sharp

Eric Firestone Gallery, East Hampton, New York, Fresh Cuts, curated by Agathe Snow

Gesso Artspace, Vienna, The Good The Bad The Ugly Part 3, curated by Andreas Reiter Raabe

2015

Kimmerich, Berlin, Structural Emotion, organized by Shane Campbell

Kunstverein am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz, Berlin, Saturn Drive, organized by Renaud Regnery

68Projects, Berlin, You Don’t Bring Me Flowers (The Mistress Project)

2014

Florence Loewy, Paris, Faire des Fleurs, curated by Camille Azaïs

Retrospective Gallery, Hudson, New York, Ambulance Blues, curated by Erin Falls

Ancient & Modern, London, A Poem For Raoul And Agnes, curated by Sherman Sam

Galerie Bernard Ceysson, Paris, Stars, a Bridge and Birds, Ann Craven and Marianne Vitale, curated by Yann Chevalier

Southard Reid, London, Staging Interruptions (The Stream of Life), curated by Sarina Basta and Mary Reinbold

Essex Flowers, New York, Personal Space

2013

Fondazione Corriere Della Sera, La Triennale de Milano, Cento

Dairy Art Center, London, Island, curated by Sarina Basta

The Green Gallery, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Beer, curated by Drew Heitzler

Galerie Perrotin, Paris, Souvenir, curated by Lucie Fontaine

White Columns, New York, The Cat Show, curated by Rhonda Lieberman

Galleria In Arco, Turin, Italy, Femminile Plurale, curated by Sara Boggio

Salvatore Ferragamo Museum, Florence, The Amazing Shoemaker, Fairy Tales About Shoes and Shoemakers, curated by Demetrio Paparoni

Eva Presenhuber, Zurich, 39greatjones, curated by Ugo Rondinone

2012

Collezione Maramotti, Reggio Emilia, Italy, Painting as a Radical Form, curated by Mario Diacono

Marianne Boesky, New York, Estate, curated by Lucie Fontaine

Galerie des Multiples, Paris, Sous Le Signe Du Cancer, curated by Olivier Mosset

Dickinson Gallery, New York, Howling at the Moon

Gladstone Gallery, New York, The Spirit Level, curated by Ugo Rondinone

Cluj Museum, Cluj, Romania, Modern Talking, curated by Nicola Trezzi

2011

Espacio 1414, Santurce, Puerto Rico, Painting . . . E X P A N D E D, curated by Marysol Nieves

Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art, Warsaw, Four Rooms, curated by Ewa Gorządek, Helena Kontova, Giancarlo Politi, and Nicola Trezzi

Maruani & Noirhomme Gallery, Brussels, 8 Americans, organized by Keith Mayerson

Bergen Kunsthall, Norway, Chaos As Usual, curated by Hanne Mugaas

Rubicon Gallery, Dublin, Kilkenny Arts Festival, organized by Josephine Kelliher

Maccarone, New York, The Medicine Bag, organized by Ellen Langan and Jasmine Tsou

La Fondation d’entreprise Pernod Ricard, Paris, Rituels

Prague Biennale, Painting Overall, curated by Giancarlo Politi and Helena Kontova in collaboration with Nicola Trezzi

Vilma Gold, London, The Great White Way Goes Black

2010

Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art, New York, Neo Integrity: Comics Edition, curated by Keith Mayerson

Emily Harvey Foundation, New York, Exhibition #3, organized by João Simões

2009

Sullivan Galleries, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Picturing the Studio, curated by Michelle Grabner and Annika Marie

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, Constellations: Paintings from the MCA Collection

Emily Harvey Foundation, New York, Strip / Stripe, a project by Test

Apartment Show at Artists Space, New York, If the Dogs are Barking

2008

Emily Harvey Foundation, New York, Nov 5 – 26, 2008, by Joao Simoes

Maccarone, New York, Pretty Ugly, curated by Alison Gingeras

Karma International, Zurich, Tales of the Grotesque, curated by Gianni Jetzer

Rental, New York, Fair Market, curated by Haley Mellin

White Flag Projects, St. Louis, Missouri, Cinema Zero: Hangover/Bendover, curated by Amy Granat

Pacific Northwest College of Art, Portland, Oregon, The Searchers, curated by Amoreen Armetta and Molly Dilworth

Triple Candie, New York, Thank You For Coming: Triple Candie 2001–2008

2007

Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago, Catawampus (For H.D.), curated by Matt Keegan and Amy Granat (traveled to Midway Contemporary Art, Minneapolis, Minnesota)

Galerie LHK, Paris, All Mirrors Are Broken, curated by Anthony Huberman

Zach Feuer Gallery, New York, Joe Bradley, Ann Craven, Dana Frankfort, and Keith Mayerson

Heidelberger Kunstverein, Germany, Re-dis-play | Non-Art-Collections from Artists and Curators, curated by Anna-Catharina Gebbers

Blancpain Art Contemporain, Geneva, What We Do Is Secret, curated by Amy O’Neill

Collective Unconscious, New York, Cinema Zero Presents: Etceteras of the CarreRond (what comes is better than what came before)

2006

Centre culturel suisse (CCS), Paris, CarreRond in Paris

The Kitchen, New York, Cinema Zero Presents, with Amy Granat and Dusty Santos

Contemporary Art Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, Bunch Alliance and Dissolve, organized by Public-Holiday Projects

Talbot Rice Gallery, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom, Girl Power and Boyhood, curated by Lene Burkard (traveled to Kunsthallen Brandts, Odense, Denmark; and Sølvberget, Stavanger Kulturhus, Norway)

John Connelly Presents, New York, Kamp K48, curated by Scott Hug

SculptureCenter, New York, Cinema Zero Presents

Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles, Portraits

2005

Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Modest Sublime, curated by Leila Amalfitano

Islip Museum, New York, Sports Illustrate

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, Kamp K48 – The Zine Unbound, curated by Scott Hug

Galleri Christina Wilson, Copenhagen, New Figuration

Klemens Gasser & Tanja Gruner, Inc., New York, Flower Power

Biblos Center for the Arts, Verona, Italy, Neo-Baroque, curated by Micaela Giovannotti

Perugi Arte Contemporanea, Padova, Italy, Ciao! Manhattan: Recent Painting from New York, curated by Joseph R. Wolin

2004

Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, Emo Eco, curated by Simon Watson/Scenic

Artemis Greenberg Van Doren, New York, She’s Come Undone, curated by Augusto Arbizo

Elizabeth Dee Gallery, New York, AC

Esso Gallery, New York, Portraits

Galerie St. Etienne, New York, ANIMALS & US: The Animal in Contemporary Art

ArtSpace, New Haven, Connecticut, For the Birds, curated by Denise Markonish

Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, Birdspace: A Post-Audubon Artists Aviary, curated by David S. Rubin (traveled to Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, Florida; Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, New York; McDonough Museum of Art, Youngstown, Ohio, 2005; and Tuscon Museum of Art, Arizona, 2006)

2003

Salon 94, New York, Giverny, curated by Yvonne Force and Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn

Space 101, Brooklyn, New York, City Mouse, Country Mouse, curated by David Hunt

Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago, Mixer03: An Ornithological Group Show in All Media

Allston Skirt Gallery, Provincetown, Massachusetts, Gone Fishin’ in Provincetown

2002

Triple Candie, New York, Hotel/Motel, 11 Artists with Studios in Harlem

Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, Primal Screams and Songs, curated by Bonnie Clearwater

2001

Hammond Museum, North Salem, New York, Many Moons, curated by Barbara Bloemink

2000

Columbus Museum of Art, Ohio, Extraordinary Realities, curated by Annegreth Nill

1999

Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami, Heads Up, curated by Bonnie Clearwater

1998

Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Visiting Artist Biennial

1997

Wooster Gardens, New York, Group Show, curated by Michael Jenkins

New York Hospital, Gay Men’s Health Crisis, sponsored by David Geffen

Provincetown Art Museum, Massachusetts, Invitational Exhibition, curated by Milena Kanovska

1996

Swiss Institute, New York, Time Wise, curated by Carin Kuony

American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, Invitational Exhibition of Visual Arts, juried by Chuck Close, Charles

Gwathmey, Nathan Oliveira, and Robert Ryman

Lauren Wittels Gallery, New York, Three Painters

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville, Maine

Farnsworth Art Museum, Rockland, Maine

FRAC Champagne-Ardenne, Reims, France

Henry Art Gallery, Faye G. Allen Center for the Visual Arts, Seattle

Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami

Le Confort Moderne, Poitiers, France

Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Museum of Contemporary Art, Miami

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Museum of Modern Art, New York

Pérez Art Museum Miami

Portland Museum of Art, Maine

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

PUBLICATIONS

2024

Night

Karma, New York

2023

Twelve Moons

SCAD Museum of Art

2022

Ann Craven, Reggie Burrows Hodges

Moons and Angels

Karma, New York

 

(Nothing but) Flowers

Karma, New York

2021

Animals Birds Flowers Moons

Karma, New York

2019

Birds We Know

Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland

 

Gertrude Abercrombie, Ann Craven, Nicolas Party, Matthew Wong

Karma, New York

2018

Ann Craven

Karma, New York

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