1980 born in Dallas (TX), USA
2012 receives degree in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence (RI)
2015 lectures on Art at Southern Methodist University in Dallas
Lives and works in Dallas.
Michelle Rawlings’ intimate painting combines visual brillance and multiplicity with reticent contemplation. The artist combines in her works different styles and manners of painting, with themes ranging from pixelated, abstract compositions and coloristically refined monochromes to the iconography of girlish Instagram shots. They are mostly created through a time-consuming, painstaking process modeled on traditional studio painting. Their intimate scale and the way their themes are chosen keeps pace with the contemporary speed of the Internet and social media. The two interpenetrate: a sense of the singularity and classic nobility of modern art and a fascination with the non-hierarchical, spontaneous and fetishistic consumption of culture peculiar to teenage girls. By stripping the former of its sublimity and imparting gravity to the latter, Rawlings seeks in her work a new, contemporary female identity: creative, subjective, intuitive, and perfectly at home in the digital world.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2020
- In the Garden, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, US
2019
- Formy, Raster, Warsaw, PL (with Rafał Bujnowski)
- And Now, Dallas, US
2018
- And Now, Dallas, US
2017
- Protest Songs, Shane Campbell Gallery, Chicago, US
- And Now, Dallas, US
- Girl Talk, Raster, Warsaw, PL
2016
- - And Now, Dallas, US (with Dustin Pevey)
- Permanent.Collection, Austin, US (with Matt Morris)
2015
- A Gentle Creature, Raster Gallery, Warsaw, PL
- Impressionist Paintings, Hello Project Gallery, Houston, US
2014
- Feature: Michelle Rawlings, Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas, US
2012
- Empathicalism at Oliver Francis Gallery, Dallas, US
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021
- Soft Matters, Raster, Warsaw, PL
2020
- Psychic Wounds: On Art & Trauma, The Rachofsky Warehouse, Dallas, US
2019
- Friend of a Friend, Raster, Warsaw, PL
2018
- Black Dolphin, And Now, Dallas
2015
- Subject: Disability, UTA Gallery, Arlington, US
2014
- Summer Party, Hello Project Gallery, Houston, US
- Dreamstone Presents, SunScreening Vol.1, New York, US
- A Pack of Camels, a Zippo and a Bottle of Jack, Galleri Rostrum, Malmö, SE
- 48 TIMER FESTIVAL on NØRREBRO, KoncertKirken, Copenhagen, DK
- Forgive Me I Love You, Projekt 722, New York, US
- Dallas Biennial 2014, Dallas, US
2013
- Acceleration, The Dallas Contemporary, Dallas, US
- Group Show, The Brandon Gallery, Houston, US
- Pleased to Meet Me, Talley Dunn Gallery, Dallas, US
- Ft. Worth Drawing Center booth at Fallas Dart Air, Dallas, US
- 25 Artists, Suite 217, New York, US
- 9 Artists, Blow-Up Gallery, Dallas, US
- Susan/Elizabeth, The Goss-Michael Foundation, Dallas, US
- Contemporary Drawing Today, Ft. Worth Drawing Center, US
2012
- SNAFU, Oliver Francis Gallery, Dallas, US
- The Gallery as Host, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, US
- Dallas Biennial, Volume 2, US
- Dallas Biennial 2012, Volume 1C— Film Screening, Texas Theater, US
- RISD MFA Painting 2012, 532 Gallery, New York, US
- Present/Future, Concord Art Association, Concord, US
- RISD Graduate Thesis Exhibition 2012, Providence, US
2011
- NOW! THAT’S WHAT I CALL ART: VOL 1, Oliver Francis Gallery, Dallas, US
ONLINE
- Arthur Peña, The sweet subversive rise of artist Michelle Rawlings, “FD magazine”, 03.10.2014 (EN)
- Lauren Smart, 100 Dallas Creatives: Rising Talent Michelle Rawlings, “Dallas Observer”, 08.09.2014 (EN)
INTERVIEWS
- Michelle Rawlings Studio Visit, interview with Michelle Rawlings, “MTV Re:define” blog, 30.04.2015 (EN)
- Interview with Michelle Rawlings, by Stephen Becker, “Art & Seek Online”, 19.01.2012 (EN)
ARTICLES
- Justine Ludwig, A Subtle Knife, “Patron Magazine”, 04-05/2016, p. 66-67 (EN)
- Michael Granberry, Art Notes: Dallas Biennial is all about the artists, “Dallas Morning News Arts & Features”, 31.01.2014 (EN)
- Michael Granberry, Art Notes: Contemporary high jinks to mark 35 years, “Dallas Morning News Arts & Features”, 3.11.2013 (EN)
- Stephen Becker, A Dallas Gallery, Not Where Youʼd Expect, “KERA Radio Broadcast”, 20.01.2012 (EN)