Dawn Clements was born in Woburn, Massachusetts. Her powerful use of Sumi ink and ballpoint pen on small to large-scale paper panels is her primary medium and scale. She often cuts and pastes paper together to edit and compose a completed drawing, adding paper as necessary to create the desired scale. Through her active process, which is almost performative, the paper becomes distressed with folds, wrinkles, and seams.
She describes her work as “a kind of visual diary of what [she] see[s], touch[es], and desire[s]. As I move between the mundane empirical spaces of my apartment and studio, and the glamorous fictions of movies, apparently seamless environments are disturbed through ever-shifting points of view.”
Clements’ work was exhibited in the Whitney Biennial 2010 and is included in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art (NYC), Whitney Museum of American Art (NYC), The Tang Museum (Saratoga Springs, NY), The Deutsche Bank Collection, The Saatchi Collection (London), The Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington (Seattle, WA), and Colecção Madeira Corporate Services (Portugal).
CV
BORN
Woburn, MA. 1958
EDUCATION
1989
Master of Fine Arts, State University of New York at Albany, NY
1986
Bachelor of Arts, Brown University, Providence, RI
2021
Dawn Clements, Living Large: A Survey, Mana Contemporary, Jersey City, NJ (May 1 – September 4)
2019
Dawn Clements: In Memorium and Celebration of, Pierogi, New York, NY (February)
2017
Tables and pills and things, Pierogi, New York, NY (April 1 – May 7)
Tables and pills and things, James Barron Art, Kent, CT (July – August)
Women’s rooms, Barbara Walters Gallery, Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY (March 28 – April 30)
2015
Drawings/Watercolors, John Davis Gallery, Hudson, NY (May 30 – June 21)
Mother’s Day, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY (27 February – 29 March)
2012
Dawn Clements, New Work, with Sculptures by Marc Leuthold, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY (6 January – 12 February)
2011
Dawn Clements: Sint-Trudoabdij, Maele Castle, Bruges Belgium (September 9–October 15)
2010
Still Life, Hales Gallery, London, England (October)
Home Sick, Acme Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (May–June)
Boiler, The Boiler, Brooklyn, NY (2 April–7 May)
2009
Portrait Rooms, Mark W. Potter Gallery at the Taft School, Watertown, CT (January 9–February 5)
2008
Conditions of Desire, Pierogi, Leipzig, Germany (March 8–April 26)
2007
Conditions of Desire, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY (October 12–November 12)
Movie, John and June Allcott Gallery, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, (August 21–September 20)
2006
Art Now; Dawn Clements, Middlebury College Museum of Art, Middlebury, VT
(September 5–December 10)
Dawn Clements; Recent Drawings, Herter Art Gallery, University of Massachusetts Amherst, (March 7–April 7)
2004
Drawing, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY (19 November–20 December)
Feigen Contemporary, New York, NY (October–December)
2003
Drawing, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY (February 7–March 10)
2002
Drawings, Greene Gallery, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
1995
Albany Center Galleries, Albany, NY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021
Pulp, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY
2020
Affinities and Outliers: Highlights from the University at Albany Art Collections at the University Art Museum, University at Albany, State University of New York (February 4– April 4, 2020)
First, Second and Third Person, Pierogi, New York, NY (January 19 – February 16)
2019
Martin Wilner | The Case Histories: Pierogi / Responsa, Pierogi, New York, NY (May 11 – June 16)
Drawn Together Again, The FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY (February 23 – May 18)
2016
PLACE: Monumental Drawings by Dawn Clements, Cynthia Lin, Gelah Penn, Fran Siegel, New York Artists Equity Association, New York, NY (May 4 – June 18) Curated by Gelah Penn
It was Never Linear… Recent Painting, Sheldon Museum of Art, Lincoln, NB
Rage for Art (Once Again), Pierogi, New York, NY (February 19 – March 27)
2015
Space, Light, and Disorder, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York, NY (Jan 10 – Feb 12) Curated by Marilla Palmer
Dialogues: Drawings and Works on Paper, Satellite Contemporary, Las Vegas, NV (Jan 10 – Feb 12) Curated by Trevor Richardson
Fractured: Works on Paper, Helen Day Art Center (September 2015)
August Flowers, James Barron Art, Kent, CT (August 2015)
Community of Influence, curated by Chuck Webster, Spencer Brownstone, New York, NY (February 2015)
Back and Forth: collaborative works of Dawn Clements and Marc Leuthold, Bates College Museum of Art, Lewiston, ME (January 2015)
2014
PIEROGI XX: Twentieth Anniversary Exhibition, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY
Brown University 250th Anniversary Alumni Exhibition, Part 1, David Winton Bell Gallery, Brown University, Providence, RI
Criminal’s Cinema, Honey Ramka, Brooklyn, NY. Curated by John O’Connor
Come Like Shadows, curated by David Cohen, Zurcher Studio, New York, NY
2013
Paper, Saatchi Gallery, London, England
Ghost of Architecture: Recent Gifts, Promised Gifts, and Acquisitions, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Ballpoint Pen Drawing Since 1950, curated by Richard Klein, Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT
Susan Rethorst: Inquiring Mind / Choreographic Mind, Goodhard Hall, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA
2012
Echo of Echo, curated by Shirley Tse and Marichris Ty, Shoshana Wayne Gallery, Santa Monica, CA
Making Room: The Space Between Two & Three Dimensions, Mass MoCA, North Adams, MA (Feb 25, 2012–Jan 2, 2013)
11th National Drawing Invitational: New York, Singular Drawings, Curated by Charlotta Kotik, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR
seven @ SEVEN, The Boiler, Brooklyn, NY
Inside Outside / Outside In, Lesley Heller Gallery, New York, NY
Cinema, curated by Rik de Boe, Voorkamer, Lier, Belgium
2011
Susan Rethorst: RETRO-(intro)SPECTIVE, curated by Melinda Ring, Danspace Project, New York, NY
Works on Paper, Acme Gallery, LA, CA
Paper Variables, Dieu Donné, New York, NY
Subjective Objective, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY
After School Special, University Art Museum, Albany, NY
2010
The Logic of Paper, He Xiangning Art Museum, Shenzhen, China (December 25, 2010–February 20, 2011)
Stranger than Fiction, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA (December 18 – January 2nd 2011)
Art on Paper 2010, Weatherspoon Art Museum, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Greensboro, NC (November 7, 2010–February 6, 2011)
Whitney Biennial 2010, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (Feb 25–May 30)
2009
Same Sweet Dream, curated by Martina Batan, Dieu Donne, New York, NY (Jan. 9–Feb. 14)
Contemporary Large-Scale Drawings from the West Collection, Pollock Gallery, Southern
Methodist University, Dallas, TX
Modernizing Melodrama, Carleton College, Northfield, MN (January 9–March 11)
2008
Edward Hopper and Contemporary Art, curated by Gerald Matt and Ilse Lafer, Kunsthalle Wien, Vienna, Austria (October 10, 2008–February 15, 2009)
Light, Seeking Light, Western Bridge, Seattle, WA (December)
Pierogi et al, Daniel Weinberg Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (July 12–August 23)
Uncanny Drawings, Porta 33; Colecção Madeira Corporate Services (February 22–May 3)
2007
Nieuwe Collectie, curated by Rik de Boe, Wuyts Van Campen Museum, Lier, Belgium (December 1, 2007–March 2, 2008)
Per Square Foot, Benefit Auction and Inaugural Exhibition, Dieu Donné, New York, NY (September 6–October 8 )
Cosmologies, James Cohan Gallery, New York, NY (January 11–February 10)
Continuum, The Temporary Museum of Painting, Brooklyn, NY (February 10–April 15)
Come One, Come All, 3rd Ward, Brooklyn, NY
2006
Storylines, 4-person showSnug Harbor, Staten Island, NY (November 29, 2006–March 25, 2007)
The Ink Painting Biennial, Taipei, Taiwan (November 2006–September 2007)
Twice Drawn, Wachenheim Gallery, Tang Museum, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
(October 7–December 30)
The Means Justified, Central Connecticut State University, New Britain, CT (October 1–18)
Our Town: Artists on Architecture, curated by David Scher, HUT (Hudson Untitled Foundation), Hudson, NY, (June 17–October 8 )
Double Monde, CIAC Gallery, Pont-Aven, France
Group Exhibition, PIEROGI Leipzig, Germany (April 29–July 1)
Available (A Still Life Show), curated by Angela Dufresne and Monya Rowe, Monya Rowe Gallery, New York, NY (March 23–April 29)
Drawing Conclusions on the Wall, Guggenheim Gallery, Chapman University (February 6–March 18)
The Space Between Us, University Art Museum, University at Albany, New York (January 24–April 9)
DRAWN 2: Contemporary Drawings, Schick Art Gallery, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY (November 11–December 18)
Galerie Rolf Hengesbach, Koln, Germany (March 5–April 5)
True North, Miami Int’l Airport, Miami, FL (April 3–May 8 )
SAFN Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland (February–March)
In Door Out, ACME Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (July–August) (organized in collaboration with Chip Tom)
Vacation Nation, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY
The Drawn Page, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum and Hersam-Acorn Newspapers, Ridgefield, CT
Score! Action Drawing, curated by Marisa Olson, White Columns, New York, NY
Story/Line, curated by Robert Harshorn Shimshak, New Langton Art Center, San Francisco, CA.
Open House; Working in Brooklyn, The Brooklyn Museum of Art, Brooklyn, NY (April–July)
Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, The American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY
AMP, The Pierogi Flat File Project, The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA2003
Explaining Magic, Rotunda Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Silver, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
(November 27, 2003–February 8, 2003
Some Panoramas, curated by Paul Hedge, Pump House Gallery, London. (August 13–October 5)
In Heat, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY
Pierogi Presents, curated by Joe Amrhein, Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston, MA (April 2–May 10)
The Incredible Lightness of Being, curated by Phong Bui, Black & White Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Next Next Wave, curated by Dan Cameron, Brooklyn Academy of Music
Home Sweet Home, curated by Lisa Young, Firehouse Gallery, Garden City NY
25th Anniversary Selections, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
Boiled or Fried, Pierogi, Brooklyn, NY
Ratio 3, Brooklyn, NY
Self-Portraits, from the Collection of Bill and Ruth True, The Wright Exhibition Space, Seattle, WA
Drawings, Greene Art Gallery, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY
Harlem Flophouse, curated by Rene Calvo, New York, NY
Harlem Flophouse, curated by Rene Calvo, New York, NY
Superduper New York, Pierogi 2000, Brooklyn, NY
1998
Second Skin, curated by Corinna Ripps, The University Art Museum, Albany, NY
1997
Let Me Be Frank, (set design and production), Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, NY, NY
Mohawk-Hudson Regional, curated by Dan Cameron, The University Art Museum, Albany, NY
New York State Biennial, curated by Ken Johnson, The New York State Museum, Albany, NY
Skidmore College Faculty Exhibition, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
Berkshire Art Association Exhibition, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY
Four Lives to Live, curated by Sharon Bates, Mercer Gallery, Rochester, NY
Sub Rosa, Joyce Goldstein Gallery, New York, NY
Mohawk-Hudson Regional Exhibition, curated by Jock Reynolds, The Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY
Downtown Troy Window Project, Four Lives to Live, Site 2, Troy, NY
Side Show, curated by Karen Kimmel, New York, NY
Protective Covering, curated by Michael Oatman, Colburn Gallery, Burlington, VT
Gallery Rebolloso, Minneapolis, MN
Body Count, curated by Corinna Ripps, Russell Sage College Gallery, Troy, NY
Gradus ad Parnassum, curated by Michael Neff, Kunsthaus Welker, Heidelberg, Germany
Codex, curated by Corinna Ripps, The University Museum, Albany, NY
Drawing’94, Explorations, Sharadin Art Gallery, Kutztown University, Kutztown, PA
The Venice Bienniale: Aperto ’93, Venice, Italy
Anxious Art, Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston, MA
The Return of the Cadavre Exquis, (traveling exhibition), Drawing Center, New York, NY, The Corcoran Gallery, Washington, DC, American Center, Paris, France, and other locations
Gallery Rebolloso, Minneapolis, MN
Volume 1, curated by Andrew Boardman, Boulevard Project Space, Albany, NY1992
Selections/ Winter ’92, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
Resuscaitating Still Life, a collaborative installation with students of Berkshire Community
College, Koussevitsky Gallery, Pittsfield, MA
AWARDS
2018
Fellowship, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH
2017
Fellowship, Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY
2016
National Academy Fellowship at the American Academy, Rome, Italy
2015
Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant
Fellowship, MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH
2013
Civitella Ranieri Fellowship
2012
Guggenheim Fellow, Fine Art
2005
Fellow in Printmaking/Drawing/Artists’ Books from the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA)
2003
Farpath, Residency, Dijon, France
2000
Artist in residence, Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT
1996
Panelist, New York Foundation for the Arts, (NYFA), Artists’ Fellowships (Painting)
1995
Special Opportunities Stipend (NYFA)
1993
Arts International Grant, (Rockefeller Foundation)
Art Matters, Inc. Grant, (Rockefeller Foundation)
Special Opportunities Stipend (NYFA)
1989
Distinguished MFA Thesis Award, The University at Albany
1988
Benevolent Research Grant, The University at Albany
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2019
“First Proof | Portfolio: Dawn Clements,” BOMB Magazine, No.147 Spring 2019
2018
Townsend, Eileen. “Inside Dawn Clements’s Studio,” The Paris Review, April 6, 2018
2017
Brody, David. “Five Shows to see this week in New York,” art ltd Magazine, May 5, 2017
Schuster, Robert. “On Display: Your Guide to NYC’s Spring Art Exhibits: Dawn Clements: Tables pills and bthings,” The Village Voice, March 29, 2017
Wolkoff, Julia. “Dawn Clements at Pierogi,” Art in America, April 13, 2017
Yau, John. “Dawn Clements’ Love of Things,” Hyperallergic, April 9, 2017
2015
“Artists on Diaries: Drawing, Writing, Thinking,” Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art Blog, February 27, 2015
Freeman, Nate. “12 Things to do in New York’s Art World Before March 2,” NY Observer, February 23, 2015
Griffin, Amy. “Hurry to see diverse exhibits at Hudson’s John Davis Gallery,” Times Union, June 17
Jones, Rachel Elizabeth, “The Intricacies of Seeing, Experience, and Memory: How Can Paper Transmit Art’s Purpose?” Artslant, October 13, 2015
Vartanian, Hrag. “Dawn Clements and the Distinctness of Vision,” Hyperallergic, March 28, 2015
Wei, Lilly. “Dawn Clements,” ARTNews, September Issue
2013
Morse, Trent, “Ballpoint is on a Roll,” Art News, December 2013, p. 68.
2012
Parks, John A., “Breaking Out of the Frame,” Drawing Magazine,
Summer 2012, pp. 66-70.
Baker, R.C. “James Brooks and Dan Flavin at Greenberg Van Doren Plus, Ray Parker at Washburn; Cinthia Marcelle at Galerie Lelong; and Dawn Clements at Pierogi,” The Village Voice, Wednesday, January 11.
Sutton, Benjamin. “Inside the Artist’s Studio: Dawn Clements in Greenpoint,” The L Magazine, January . Pp. 42-3. Illus.
2010
Maine, Stephen. “Dawn Clements at The Boiler (Pierogi),” artcritical, June 4.
Bale, Miriam. “Melodramatic Interiors: Talking About the Movies with Dawn Clements,” The L Magazine, May 21.
“Monumental New Drawing by Dawn Clements at The Boiler,” artdaily.org, April 30.
Sutton, Benjamin. “ Dawn Clements Brings Drawing to a Boil,” The L Magazine, April 15.
Schwartz, Sanford. “Innocuous Items Gone Creepily Wrong: Taking the Pulse of Art in New York,” The New York Review of Books, March 31.
Viveros-Fauné, Christian. “Welcome to the Mixed-Up, Dialed-Down 2010 Whitney Biennial: Bye-bye bling! The new realists win out this year,” The Village Voice, March 2.
2009
The Judith Rothschild Foundation Contemporary Drawings Collection: Catalogue Raisonné; Ed. Christian Rattemeyer; Essays by: Isabelle Graw, Scott Gerson, Manfred Hermes,Brian Sholis, and Jan Tumlir.
Saltz, Jerry. “Saltz on Art’s Triumph: Women Win Slim Majority in Next Whitney Biennial,” New York Magazine, December 1.
2007
“I Put Marc’s Sculpture on the Kitchen Table,” (Artist Project) Esopus Magazine, Issue No. 8.
Steinhauer, Jillian. “Artist Dawn Clements Draws Big at Williamsburg’s Pierogi Gallery,” The Village Voice, October 30.
Aschheim, Eve. “Dawn Clements with Eve Aschheim, The Brooklyn Rail, October.
“Goings on About Town: Dawn Clements,” The New Yorker, November 12.
Cohen, David. “The Master of Minutiae,” The New York Sun, November 1.
Smith, Roberta. “Cosmologies,” The New York Times, Friday, February 2.
Saltz, Jerry. “The Biggest Picture,” The Village Voice, February 1.
Schmerler, Sarah. “STORY/lines,” Time Out New York, February 1–7, P.69.
2005
Maine, Stephen. “Dawn Clements at Pierogi and Feigen,” Art In America, May. pp. 169-170.
O’Neill Butler, Lauren. “Domestic Disturbances (Eight female artists reinvent the domestic sphere),” Bitch, Issue No. 27, Winter. pp. 51-60.
2004
“Project.” PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, No. 76, January. pp. 90-93.
Harris, Jane. “Dawn Clements,” Time Out NY, December 16–29. p. 100.
“Dawn Clements,” The New Yorker, November 29.
Kotik, Charlotta and Tumelo Mosaka. “Open House: Working in Brooklyn, Brooklyn Museum” (Exhib. Catalogue). pp. 50, 217.
Ollman, Leah. “Fine art, to be seen every day,” Los Angeles Times, August 13. p.E20.
Ollman, Leah. “An open-armed welcome,” Los Angeles Times, June 4. p.EE17.
Cohen, David. Arts & Letters, The New York Sun, March 11.
Welch, Wendy. “Movie Mediations,” Monday Magazine, January 29–February 4.
Philbrick, Jane. “Speaking of Viewing: The Cinematic Drawing of Dawn Clements.” PAJ: A Journal of Performance and Art, No. 76, January. pp. 82-89.
2003
“Travel Drawing” (Detail), Pierogi Press, No. 10, pp.38-39.
“Kitchen and Bathroom.” The Paris Review, No. 166, Summer. pp. 146-152.
Schmerler, Sarah. “Gift Guide,” Time Out NY, Nov. 20–29. p.89. Illus.
Ogilvie, Jen. “Some Panoramas: Pump House South,” Time Out London, September 17-24.
Kroma, Ed. “Panoramas,” Galleries, September. Illus.
Campbell-Johnston, Rachel. “Rachel Campbell-Johnston’s best London exhibitions,” Times Play, August 16–22. P.1F. Illus.
Swenson, Susan J. “Dawn Clements: Kitchen and Bathroom.” The Paris Review, No. 166, Summer. p. 145.
Hedge, Paul. “The BIG Draw,” Art Review, International Edition, Vol 1, No 7, May.pp. 50-3. Illus.
La Rocco, Ben. “Dawn Clements, Drawings,” The Brooklyn Rail, April-May.
Pepper, Keane A. “The March Art Crawl,” www.freewilliamsburg.com, No 36, March.
Powhida, William. “Clutter and Clarity,” artnet.com, February.
2002
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Richard, Frances, “Picks”, artforum.com, August.
Boiled or Fried, “Critics Picks”, Artforum, Summer.
Schmerler, Sarah. Boiled or Fried, Time Out New York, Issue 356, July 25-August 1.
1999
Johnson, Ken, “Contemporary Art and the Dark Side….”, 1999 Exhibition by Artists of the Mohawk-
Hudson Region, (catalogue), Albany: Albany Institute of History and Art, 1990., pp. 6-9, 25.
1996
Moffett, Mark, “Unconscious Choice”, Metroland, July 25.
1993
La Biennale di Venezia: XLV Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte catalogue of the 1993 Venice
Biennale, Venice: Marsilio Editori, 1993. pp.236, 237, 238.
Aperto’93: Emergency, XLV Biennale di Venezia, Milan: Giancarlo Politi Editore.
Bonami, Francesco, “Dawn Clements”, Flash Art, January/February.
1990
Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region, (catalogue), Albany: Albany Institute of History and Art. pp. 6-9, 25.
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
The Tang Museum, Saratoga Springs, NY
Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
Brown University Art Collection, Providence, RI
RISD Museum, Providence, RI
Princeton University Art Museum, Princeton, NJ
University Art Museum, University at Albany, SUNY, Albany, NY
Colecção Madeira Corporate Services
The Deutsche Bank Collection
The Saatchi Collection, London
Various private collections