Photo: Kristin Sztyk
Virginia Wagner makes paintings set in zones of conflict between human progress and the natural world. This tension plays out in the paint, as rigid grids contrast swampy pools and violent spills. Raised in a family of biologists, she has a unique perspective from which to observe the psychological and physical effects of our quickly changing planet.
Wagner, with a literary degree from Oberlin College, uses narrative to expand and populate her visual worlds. Her interests in the figure and mythology led her to Berlin where she joined the Agora Art Collective and studied German Romanticism, Neo-Expressionism, and Leipzig School painting. After receiving her MFA from MICA’s Hoffberger School of Painting, she worked in the studios of feminist, figurative artists Wangechi Mutu and Julie Heffernan.
She is currently working on a commission for Guggenheim Works & Process. She received the Lotos Prize in Painting and has been granted residencies Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, Bridge Street Theater, Guggenheim Peter B Lewis Theater, Mount Tremper Arts, Brush Creek, Byrdcliffe, VCCA, the Edward Albee Foundation, Jentel Foundation, Ucross, Vermont Studio Center, and Yale Norfolk.
She is Co-Founder and Editor of the online journal Painters on Paintings with Julie Heffernan.
Wagner lives in Brooklyn and is a Full-time Lecturer of Painting and Drawing at Purchase College.
Resume
EDUCATION
2011 Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore MD
Master of Fine Arts, Hoffberger School of Painting & Certificate in the College Teaching of Art
2008 Oberlin College, Oberlin OH
Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art, Graduated with Honors & Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing
2007 Studio Art Centers International, Florence Italy Semester program
FELLOWSHIPS AND RESIDENCIES
2023 STEAMplant Grant, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn NY
2022 Guggenheim Peter B. Lewis Theater, New York NY (Funded by Guggenheim Works & Process)
2021 Kaatsbaan Cultural Park, Tivoli NY (Funded by Guggenheim Works & Process)
2021 Bridge Street Theater, Catskill NY (Funded by Guggenheim Works & Process)
2021 Mount Tremper Arts, Mount Tremper NY (Funded by Guggenheim Works & Process)
2019 Brush Creek Artist Residency, Saratoga WY
2019 Byrdcliffe Colony Artist Residency, Woodstock NY
2019 Hartford Foundation for Public Giving Grant, Garmany Fund, Hartford CT
2018 VCCA Residency, Amherst VA
2016 Edward F. Albee Foundation Visual Arts Residency Fellowship
2016 Lotos Foundation Prize in Painting, New York NY
2015 Ucross Foundation Residency, Clearmont WY
2015 Jentel Artist Residency, Banner WY
2011 Artist’s Grant, Vermont Studio Center Residency, Johnson VT
2011 Member, AGORA Art Collective, Berlin Germany
2008 Fulbright Scholarship Finalist, Berlin Germany
2008 School of Visual Arts Summer Residency in Painting, Chelsea NY
2006 Ellen Battell Stoeckel Fellowship to Norfolk Summer School of Music and Art, Yale University, Norfolk CT
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2024 Guggenheim Works & Process, Collaborative Commission (Upcoming)
2023 Backdrop, Radiator Gallery, Solo Show, LIC NY
2023 Utopia Means No Place, Thermostat Video Art Program, Brooklyn
2023 Dystopian Hope, Oklahoma City University, Oklahoma City OK
2022 Flora Fantastic: Eco-Critical Contemporary Botanical Art, apexart, Curated by Corina Apostol & Tashima Thomas, New York NY
2022 7 Gardens, Anonymous Gallery, New York NY
2022 Creekworthy, FluxFactory, Long Island City NY
2022 Liminality, Time Arts Gallery, Organized by Asian Artists in America, New York NY
2021 Resolution, Permanent exhibition aboard Lindblad Expedition and National Geographic ship, curated by Zaria Forman
2020 Hotheads, Catherine Clark Gallery, San Francisco CA
2019 Change, Permanent exhibition aboard Lindblad Expedition and National Geographic ship, curated by Zaria Forman
2019 The Strangeness of Structure, (Traveling from Adelphi University) Wells College, Aurora NY
2019 ‘Under Here Somewhere,’ Portal, Governor’s Island Art Fair, Governor’s Island NY
2019 Ruin, Royal Society of American Art, Brooklyn NY
2019 Lookout, Google Headquarters, New York NY
2019 More Than Landscape, Curated by Leonard Yang, Parsons School of Design, New York NY
2018 Constructing a Praxis, Columbia University, Teachers College, New York NY
2018 The Strangeness of Structure, Adelphi University, Garden City NY
2018 Benders, Real Estate Gallery, Brooklyn NY
2018 Natural Proclivities, Shirley Fiterman Art Center at BMCC, New York NY
2017 Metropolis, Solo Show, Kate Oh Gallery, New York NY
2017 Object/Objectified, Gallery Petite, Brooklyn NY
2017 All in One, Kate Oh Gallery, New York NY
2017 Weather or Not, Children’s Museum of Art, New York NY
2017 Body / Head, Curated by Jacob Rhodes of Field Projects at Be Fluent NYC, New York NY
2017 Edgy Elegance, Buddy Warren Gallery, New York NY
2017 Uprise: Angry Women, Untitled Space, New York NY
2016 Soiled Garden, Buddy Warren Gallery, New York NY
2016 30 Under 30(ish), Victori+Mo Gallery, Brooklyn NY
2016 Earth Speaks II (2-D Juried Award Winner), Pocono Arts Council, Stroudsburg PA
2016 Postcards Home, Eckhaus Gallery, Kutztown PA
2015 Faculty Exhibition, George Segal Gallery, Montclair State University, Montclair NJ
2015 Repose: Sleep and Autonomy in Hypercapitalism, 184 Project Space, Curated by the Baroque Power Group, Brooklyn NY
2015 Garage Sale, Buddy Warren Gallery, New York NY
2015 In Bloom, Mark Moore Gallery, Los Angeles CA
2015 Far Far Away... The Children’s Museum of Art, New York NY
2014 (e)merge Art Fair, Victori Contemporary, Washington DC
2014 Summer Preview, Victori Contemporary in collaboration with Birnam Wood Galleries, New York NY
2014 New York Tibetan Art Studio Presents: New Voices, Active Space, Brooklyn NY
2014 Emerald City, Project For Empty Space and Solo(s) Project House, Gateway II Gallery, Newark NJ
2014 Art from the Boros, Denise Bibro Gallery, New York NY
2014 Through the Looking Glass, Project For Empty Space and Solo(s) Project House, Gateway II Gallery, Newark NJ
2014 Art Wynwood, Victori Contemporary, Miami FL
2013 Uncanny Valley, PPOW Gallery, New York NY, In collaboration with Julie Heffernan
2013 Beasts and Bodies, Schema Projects, Brooklyn NY
2013 (e)merge Art Fair, Victori Contemporary, Washington D.C.
2012 SCOPE Miami, Victori Contemporary, Miami FL
2012 New Paintings, MIMA Music, Brooklyn NY
2012 Art for Tibet, Annual Auction, Tibet House, New York NY
2012 Restrictions, Limitations, Confinements, Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education, Bronx NY
2011 Benefit Auction, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Robert Miller Gallery, New York NY
2011 Academy 2011, Conner Contemporary, Washington D.C.
2011 First Look III, Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, Peekskill NY
2011 Sleeping Beauties, Canterbury Salon, Baltimore MD
2011 Paintings on Mylar, Montenegro Musik Raum, Berlin Germany
2011 Outpost, Decker Gallery, MFA thesis show at MICA, Baltimore MD
2011 Align, Gallery 500, MICA, Baltimore MD
2010 A Friend in Need, American University MFA Invitational, Washington D.C.
2010 Out of Order, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore MD
2010 Animal Attraction, Whole Gallery, Baltimore MD
2009 Here or There, Camper Contemporary, Miami FL and Baltimore MD
2008 Five Colleges of Ohio Student Juried Biennial Exhibit, College of Wooster Art Museum, Wooster OH
2006 Yale Norfolk Summer School of Art Exhibition, Norfolk CT
TEACHING & LECTURES
2024 Purchase College, Full-Time Lecturer, Purchase NY
Painting & Drawing: Junior Studio, Junior Seminar, Senior Project, Senior Seminar, EcoTopia, Foundations Drawing
2016-2024 Pratt Institute, Visiting Instructor, Brooklyn NY
Foundation Department: Light Color Design, Visualization / Representation
Pratt Integrative Course Program: Another Earth, Bestiary
2018 Marymount Manhattan College, Adjunct Professor, New York NY
Studio Art: Painting I
2015-2018 Montclair State University, Adjunct Professor, Montclair NJ
Dept. of Art and Design: Drawing I, Painting I, Intermediate Drawing
2022 Visiting Artist, New York Arts Program (NYAP), New York NY
2022 Visiting Artist, Montclair State University, Undergraduate Painting, Montclair NJ
2021 Visiting Artist, Tufts University, Undergraduate Painting, Boston MA
2020 Visiting Artist, Union College, Undergraduate Painting, Schenectady NY
2019 Visiting Artist, Purchase College MFA Program, Purchase NY
2018 Guest Lecturer, Hoffberger School of Painting, MICA, Baltimore MD
2018 Artist Talk, Adelphi University, Garden City NY
2018 Panelist, Natural Proclivities, BMCC, New York NY
2017 Guest Speaker, The New School, Lecture on figurative painting for a Drawing and Imaging course, New York NY
2016 Visiting Artist, Pace University, New York NY
2016 Panelist, Postcards Home, Kutztown University, Kutztown PA
2015 Guest Artist, LeAp Public Art Program, Met with New York public middle school students at my studio, New York NY
2015 Panelist, Professional Practice, Montclair State University, Montclair NJ
2015 Lecturer, John Swihart’s Artist Lecture Series, Santa Monica CA
2014 Panelist, Through the Looking Glass, Gateway Center, Newark NJ
2011 Visiting Artist, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore MD
PRESS
“We Are Still in Eden: Virginia Wagner.” Project Gallery V. Interview. 9 Jan 2022.
“Artist Spotlight: Virginia Wagner.” OtraVox. Interview. June 2021.
Chaisson, Clara. “Climate Art Sets Sail for the Poles,” NRDC 16 July 2021.
“Meet Virginia Wagner: Artist.” Shoutout LA. Interview. 20 May 2020.
Keeting, Zachary and Christopher Joy. “Gorky’s Granddaughter,” Video Interview. 21 May 2019.
Nemett, Barry. "Virginia Wagner's Landscapes of Exquisite Dread," Hyperallergic, 2 Dec 2017.
Graeber, Laurel. "What Struck These Artists? Meteorology Itself," New York Times, 23 March 2017.
Hoffman, Anne. “Watching and Being Watched,” The Cultural Frontline, BBC Radio. 4 Sept. 2016.
“The Gender Line,” Documentary short featuring my Outlaws portrait series, Directed by Joe Rubenstein, 2016. Premiered at the Williamsburg Independent Film Festival.
Nunes, Andrew. “’30 Under 30ish’ Art Show Sends Up Arbitrary Lists,” The Creators Project, Vice Media 5 Aug 2016.
Buhmann, Stephanie. “Far Far Away...,” The Villager 29 July 2015.
Joseph, Martha. “Virginia Wagner,” Blisss Magazine 6.1, 2012: 40. Print.
Jenkins, Mark. “Academy 2011 at Conner Contemporary Art,” The Washington Post 21 July 2011.
Hodara, Susan. “The Voices Emerging From College Studios,” The New York Times 1 July 2011.
VISUAL ART IN PUBLICATION
“Caught in the Dark Net of Our Own Past – Breaking Free of What Holds Americans Hostage,” New Observations, Edited by Mia Feroleto. vol. 137, pp 63-66, Feb 2021.
“Destruction,” The Turnip Truck(s), vol. 3, no. 2, Fall/Winter 2017.
Make/shift Magazine. Issue 16, Summer/Fall 2015.
Bat City Review. Issue 10, University of Texas, 2014.
Stouffer, Hannah, Juxtapoz Painting, High, Low and Pop. Gingko Press Feb 2013.
WRITING
“Painters on Paintings,” Online publication, Editor and Co-Founder with Julie Heffernan, January 2014-Present.
Texts on Doron Langberg, Wangechi Mutu and Anselm Kiefer
“Paper Heart: Arcmanoro Niles discusses his work with Virginia Wagner,” ArtCritical, 29 May 2019.
“The Matrix: Tim Kent at Slag Gallery,” ArtCritical Magazine 7 October 2018.