Kara Maria

My paintings reflect my anxiety about the products and pollution of our synthetic culture as it is spread through the media, the military, and other sources of corporate sponsored global homogenization. Cheerfully apocalyptic, the work is intended to simultaneously attract and repel, blending beauty and toxicity, as in the supersaturated colors of a smoggy sunset.

Kara Maria, Flipping the Birds (detail),
etching, on handmade cotton paper

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2005 Smith Andersen Editions, Airborne, Palo Alto, CA
2004 Miller/Block Gallery, Almost Paradise, Boston, MA
2002 Catharine Clark Gallery, Fools Rush In, San Francisco, CA
2001 Ampersand International Arts, Fabricator, San Francisco, CA
Babilonia 1808, Emerging Bay Area Artist Exhibition, Berkeley, CA
Catharine Clark Gallery, Plastic Picnic, San Francisco, CA
2000 a.o.v., Plastic Dreams, San Francisco, CA
1999 Cité Internationale des Arts, Doggie Doo Hop Scotch, Paris, France
1998 Patricia Sweetow Gallery, Introductions, San Francisco, CA
1997 Gallery Luscombe, Recent Works, San Francisco, CA

Selected Group Exhibitions
2005
1 Art Chicago, Shark's Ink, Chicago, IL
2 Savannah College of Art and Design, Works from Shark's Ink, Savannah, GA
3 Scope NY, Catharine Clark Gallery, New York, NY
4 I-5 Gallery, Dialogue, Los Angeles, CA
5 SFMOMA Artists Gallery, Trillium Press, San Francisco, CA
2004
1 Artists Space, Night of 1000 Drawing, New York, NY
2 Nathan Larramendy Gallery, Three Squares, Ojai, CA
3 IFPDA Print Fair, Shark's Ink, New York, NY
4 AAF Contemporary Art Fair, Catharine Clark Gallery, New York, NY
5 Scope London, Catharine Clark Gallery, London, England
6 Intersection for the Arts, Paper Bullets, San Francisco, CA
7 National Coalition Against Censorship, Art Now, Online Exhibition, www.ncac.org, New York, NY
8 Gallery C, See California Now, Hermosa Beach, CA
9 Pelham Art Center, Terrible Danger Ahead!, Pelham, NY
10 Catharine Clark Gallery, Finesse, San Francisco, CA
11 International Print Center New York, New Prints 2004/Summer, New York, NY
12 Off the Preserve, Comics Stripped, Napa, CA
13 Kala Art Institute, High Fiber, Berkeley, CA
14 Nevada Museum of Art, Robert Z. Hawkins Contemporary Gallery, Reno, NV
15 The Armory Show, Raid Projects, New York, NY
16 Scope NY, Catharine Clark Gallery, New York, NY
17 San Francisco Int’l Art Exposition, Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, CA
18 Smith Andersen Editions, Large Format, Palo Alto, CA
2003
1 Spanganga, Out There: Selections from Trillium Press, San Francisco, CA
2 SFMOMA Artists Gallery, 25th Anniversary Exhibition, San Francisco, CA
3 Mezzanine, Spectrum, San Francisco, CA
4 di Rosa Preserve, Au Naturel, (catalog) Napa, CA
5 Bedford Gallery, Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts, Diablo Regional Arts Association Benefit, Walnut Creek, CA
6 Oakland Museum of California, Global Elegies: Ofrendas and Art for the Dead, Oakland, CA
7 Smith Andersen Editions, Recent Press Projects, Palo Alto, CA
8 Nathan Larramendy Gallery, Road Trip, Ojai, CA
9 Hunter College Times Square Gallery, Douglas Dibble Memorial Art Auction, New York, NY
10 Katonah Museum of Art, Food Matters: Explorations in Contemporary Art, (catalog) Katonah, NY
11 Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Annual Open House, Woodside, CA
12 608 Folsom, Breathless, San Francisco, CA
13 Michael Martin Gallery, Trillium Press ‘00 ‘01 ‘02 ‘03, San Francisco, CA
14 City Hall, Trillium Press at Brisbane City Hall, Brisbane, CA
15 White Columns, Groundswell Benefit, New York, NY
16 Contemporary Arts Museum, Splat, Boom, Pow! The Influence of Cartoons in Contemporary Art, (catalog) Houston, TX
17 Catharine Clark Gallery, Sprout, San Francisco, CA
18 White Columns, Momenta Art Benefit, New York, NY
19 W. Keith and Janet Kellogg University Art Gallery, California State Polytechnic University, Intersticies, Pomona, CA
20 Oakland Art Gallery, Visual Alchemy: Phase 2, Oakland, CA
21 Momenta Art, Benefit, Brooklyn, NY
22 Headlands Center for the Arts, Close Calls, Sausalito, CA
2002
1 Luggage Store, No War, San Francisco, CA
2 hiiko, Artwork from Catharine Clark Gallery, San Rafael, CA
3 Bedford Gallery, Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts, Shikishi: Gifts of Art for the New Year, Walnut Creek, CA
4 San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, Commission 02, San Francisco, CA
5 San Jose Museum of Art, Café Gallery, Art from Trillium Press, San Jose, CA
6 di Rosa Preserve, Director’s Cut, (catalog), Napa, CA
7 Off the Preserve, Nature Remains, Napa, CA
8 111 Minna, Gesture, San Francisco, CA
9 City Arts Gallery, San Francisco City College, Trillium Press: Traditional and Contemporary Printmaking, San Francisco, CA
10 Spanganga, I Hate Being a Girl, San Francisco, CA
11 Bickett Gallery, Eight Women, Raleigh, NC
12 Bedford Gallery, Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts, High Tech/Low Tech Hybrids, Walnut Creek, CA
13 Kala Art Institute, Trillium Press: Past, Present and Future, Berkeley, CA
14 Art Foundry Gallery, Trillium Press: Contemporary Prints, Sacramento, CA
2001
1 Oakland Art Gallery, Reconstructing Reality, Oakland, CA
2 Limn, The ArtCouncil Awards Show, (catalog) San Francisco, CA
3 The Drawing Room, A Group Show - Waiting Room Tales, Olema, CA
4 a.o.v., Recent Work, San Francisco, CA
5 Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Rising Tide, (catalog) Santa Ana, CA
2000
1 Biola University, 10 Degrees of Abstraction, La Mirada, CA
2 Raid Projects Gallery, Blank Cards, Santa Ana, CA
3 Bedford Gallery, Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts, Abstraction: From Raucous to Refined, Walnut Creek, CA
4 Andrea Schwartz Gallery, Velvet Paintings, San Francisco, CA
5 DiRT gallery, The Hokey Pokey Show, Hollywood, CA
6 Gensler, Connected, Santa Monica, CA
7 Beyond Baroque, Legal Paper Work, Venice, CA
8 Raid Projects Gallery, Spurgeon Experience II, Santa Ana, CA
9 Liste 2000, Jack Hanley Gallery, Basel, Switzerland
10 Wayland Baptist University, New American Talent 14, Plainview, TX
11 San Antonio International Airport, New American Talent 14, San Antonio, TX
12 Southern Exposure, Circus SoEx, San Francisco, CA
13 University of Texas, Pan American, New American Talent 14, Edinburg, TX
1999
1 Jones Center for Contemporary Art, New American Talent 14, (catalog) Austin, TX
2 Jack Hanley Gallery, Paintings, San Francisco, CA
3 Gartner, Gartner #1, Santa Monica, CA
4 J. Wayne Stark University Center Galleries, A&M University, New American Talent 14, College Station, TX
1998
1 SFMOMA Rental Gallery, 20th Anniversary Exhibition, San Francisco, CA
2 Mad River Post, Fall Collection 1998, San Francisco, CA
3 soundmatters, inc., San Francisco, CA
4 SFMOMA Rental Gallery, San Francisco, CA
5 UC Berkeley Art Museum, MFA/UCB, Master of Fine Arts Exhibition, (catalog) Berkeley, CA
6 Worth Ryder Art Gallery, UC Berkeley, Circus Momentous, Berkeley, CA
7 CA Palace of the Legion of Honor, Benefit Auction, San Francisco, CA
8 Wight Art Gallery, UCLA, Circus Momentous, Los Angeles, CA
1997
1 d.p.Fong Galleries, Toys in Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
2 Esperanza Salon of the Arts, Fantasy and the Surreal, Dublin, CA
3 Southern Exposure, Over, Under and Around, San Francisco, CA
4 SOMArts Gallery, Symbolist/Abstract Art, San Francisco, CA
5 Soda Hall, UC Berkeley, Eisner Prize Awards Exhibition, Berkeley, CA
6 Worth Ryder Art Gallery, UC Berkeley, Level Playing Field, Berkeley, CA
1996
1 Worth Ryder Art Gallery, UC Berkeley, New Grad. Students, Berkeley, CA
2 Berkeley Art Center, National Exhibition, Berkeley, CA
3 Crocker Art Museum, Crocker-Kingsley Exhibition, Sacramento, CA
1995
1 Bayfront Gallery, Kaleidoscope, San Francisco, CA
2 SF Women Artists Gallery, California Artists, San Francisco, CA
3 Show N Tell Gallery, Equinox ‘95, San Francisco, CA

Education
1998
MFA, Art Practice, University of California, Berkeley
1993
BA with honors, Art Practice, University of California, Berkeley

Awards/Honors
2003
1 Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Guarav Dhillon Fellowship, Woodside, CA
2001
1 The ArtCouncil, Grants to Individual Artists Program, Jury Award, San Francisco, CA
2000
1 Artists (web) Space, on-line exhibition, www.artistsspace.org, New York, NY
1997
1 UC Berkeley, Eisner Prize in Art, Berkeley, CA
1996
1 UC Berkeley, Marian Hahn Simpson Fellowship in Art, Berkeley, CA
2 Crocker Museum, Director’s Choice Award, Sacramento, CA
3 FringeArts Festival, First Place Award, Sacramento, CA
1994
1 Phi Beta Kappa, University of California, Berkeley, CA

Residencies
2004
1 Idyllwild Arts, Painting's Edge, Idyllwild, CA
2003
1 Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Artist Residency, Woodside, CA
2001
1 Headlands Center for the Arts, Affiliate Artist Residency, Sausalito, CA
2000
1 M.H. de Young Memorial Museum, de Young Artist Studio, San Francisco, CA
2 Headlands Center for the Arts, Affiliate Artist Residency, Sausalito, CA

Curatorial Projects
2004
1 San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, Meat Show, San Francisco, CA

Comissions
2004
1 Benziger Imagery Estate Winery, Glen Ellen, CA
2 Hearts in San Francisco, www.heartsinsf.org, San Francisco, CA
2003
1 San Francisco Arts Commission, Art on Market Street, Kiosk Poster Series Commission, San Francisco, CA

Bibliography
2004
1 SF Weekly, Night & Day, "Paper Machine", by Karen Macklin, October 20, San Francisco, CA
2 The Pelham Post, "Comix Artists at PAC", August, Volume 3, Issue 8, Pelham, NY
3 San Francisco Chronicle, Datebook, "Gotta Have Heart", May 9, San Francisco, CA
4 Inside City Limits, cable television channel 11, May 5-8, San Francisco, CA
5 Morning News, KRON 4 television, May 4, San Francisco, CA
6 New American Paintings, Number 49, The Open Studios Press, Boston, MA
2003
1 San Francisco Bay View, “Global Elegies: Art and Ofrendas for the Dead”, by Wanda Sabir, November 26, www.sfbayview.com
2 Los Angeles Times, “A Welcome Addition in Ojai”, by Josef Woodard, October 23, Los Angeles, CA
3 Art in America, “Report from Houston: Learning from Comics”, by Frances Colpitt, October, New York, NY
4 Global Elegies: Art and Ofrendas for the Dead, catalog of exhibition, Oakland Museum of California, Oakland, CA
5 VC Reporter, “The Power of Subjectivity”, by Rob Campbell, September 25, Ventura, CA
6 Kitchen Sink, “The Bigger Picture: Paintings and Politics”, by Alison Bing, Vol. 1, Issue 2, Summer, Oakland, CA
7 Shock & Awe: Responses to War, edited by Peter Laufer, Creative Arts Books, Berkeley, CA
8 The Museum of California, “Elegies”, by Chiori Santiago, Fall, Volume 27, Number 4, Oakland, CA
9 Food Matters: Explorations in Contemporary Art, catalog of exhibition, Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY
10 The Banner Press, “ Livin’ in the toon age”, by Jessie Wright, July 20, Brenham, TX
11 Splat Boom Pow! The Influence of Cartoons in Contemporary Art, catalog of exhibition, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX
12 Bridge Magazine, “Intersticies”, by Jennie Klein, May, www.bridgemagazine.org
13 Houston Chronicle, “Pop Goes the Culture”, by Patricia C. Johnson, April 12, Houston, TX
14 Texas Monthly, “Around the State”, by Patricia Busa McConnico, April, Houston, TX
15 Paper City, “Cartoons to Couture”, March, Houston, TX
16 "From Ground Rules to Horizon Lines", by Alison Pearlman, www.thealisonfiles.homestead.com
17 Artweek,“‘Close Calls: 2003’ at Headlands Center for the Arts”, by Barbara Morris, March, Volume 34, Issue 2, San Jose, CA
2002
1 Contra Costa Times, “Little Reflections”, by Robert Taylor, November 17, Walnut Creek, CA
2 Stretcher, "Sabina Ott and Mark Johnson, Part 1: Painting Now", November 9, www.sfgate.com, “‘I Hate Being a Girl’ Femme Fatale-istic”, by Alison Bing, August 29 - September 4, San Francisco, CA
3 Diablo Arts, Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts Magazine, “Blurring Boundaries: Two Presses Lend Artists a Helping Hand”, by Terri D. Wetter, April - June, Walnut Creek, CA
4 Artweek, “‘Trillium Press: Past, Present and Future’ at Kala”, by Barbara Morris, April, Volume 33, Issue 3, San Jose, CA
5 New American Paintings, Number 37, The Open Studios Press, Boston, MA
2001
1 Archives of American Art Journal, Smithsonian Institution, “Regional Reports: West Coast”, by Paul J. Karlstrom, Volume 41, Numbers 1-4, pg. 83, Washington, D.C.
2 NY Arts, “West Berkeley: A Hotbed Still”, by Daniel Rothbart, November, Volume 6, Number 11, New York, NY
3 Copia, “In Praise of Pork”, by Sara Rath, Volume 4, Issue 02, Napa, CA
4 The ArtCouncil, Grants to Individual Artists, Awards Show, catalog of exhibition, San Francisco, CA
5 Artweek, “ArtCouncil Announces Grant Winners”, September, Volume 32, Issue 9, San Jose, CA
6 San Francisco Chronicle, Datebook, Art Notes, by David Bonetti, Tuesday, August 7, San Francisco, CA
7 Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Art, Oral History Program, interview by Paul J. Karlstrom, recorded August 7, San Francisco, CA
8 Saturday Night, “Beef”, May 19, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada
9 Orange County Center for Contemporary Arts, Rising Tide, catalog of exhibition, Santa Ana, CA
2000
1 nextMonet, Holiday 2000, catalog, San Francisco, CA
2 Artweek, “‘Abstraction: From Raucous to Refined’ at the Bedford Gallery”, by Juan Rodriguez, October, Volume 31, Issue 10, San Jose, CA
3 San Francisco Chronicle, Datebook, “The Last Gasps of Abstraction”, by Kenneth Baker, Saturday, September 2, San Francisco, CA
4 Artweek, “Kara Maria at a.o.v.”, by Juan Rodriguez, September, Volume 31, Issue 9, San Jose, CA
5 Diablo Arts, Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts Magazine, “Driven to Abstraction”, by Carol Egan, July - September, Walnut Creek, CA
1999
1 Texas Fine Arts Association, New American Talent 14, catalog of exhibition, Austin, TX
1998
1 UC Berkeley Art Museum, MFA/UCB, Master of Fine Arts Exhibition, catalog of exhibition,Berkeley, CA

Fine Art Print Publishers
Eastside Editions, Sonoma, CA
Gallery 16, San Francisco, CA
Shark's Ink, Lyons, CO
Smith Andersen Editions, Palo Alto, CA
Trillium Press, Brisbane, CA

Permanent Collections
Babilonia Wilner Foundation, Berkeley, CA
Benziger Imagery Estate Winery, Glen Ellen, CA
Casper Design Group, Berkeley, CA
De Saisset Museum, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA
di Rosa Preserve, Napa, CA
Hotel Diva, San Francisco, CA
King County Public Art Collection, Seattle, WA
Nevada Museum of Art, Reno, NV
Novell, Provo, UT