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
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