Carrie Yamaoka is a New York-based visual artist whose work ranges across painting, drawing, photography and sculpture. She is interested in the topography of surfaces, materiality and process, the tactility of the barely visible and the chain of planned and chance incidents that determine the outcome of the object. Her work engages the viewer at the intersection between records of chemical action/reaction and the desire to apprehend a picture emerging in fleeting and unstable states of transformation. Her work has been featured in exhibitions at the ICA (Philadelphia), MOMA/PS1 (New York), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Palais de Tokyo (Paris), the Henry (Seattle), Artists Space (New York), the Wexner (Columbus), Leslie-Lohman Museum (New York), Victoria and Albert Museum (London) and MassMOCA. Writing about her work has appeared in the New York Times, Artforum, Art in America, Artnews, The New Yorker, Time Out/NY, Hyperallergic, Interview and Bomb. Her work is included in the collections of the Buffalo AKG Art Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, Dallas Museum of Art, Henry Art Gallery, and Centre Pompidou. She is the recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and an Anonymous Was A Woman award. Yamaoka is represented by Commonwealth and Council (Los Angeles/Mexico City) and Ulterior (NYC). She is a founding member of the queer art collective fierce pussy.
Solo Exhibitions
2023
Objects in mirror are closer than they appear, COMMONWEALTH AND COUNCIL,
Los Angeles, CA
Seeing is forgetting and remembering and forgetting again, ZILKHA GALLERY, Wesleyan University, CT
2020
pour crawl cast peel, COMMONWEALTH AND COUNCIL, Los Angeles, CA
2019
Panorama, ULTERIOR GALLERY, New York, NY
recto/verso, HENRY ART GALLERY, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
2017
The Space Between, SOCO GALLERY, Charlotte, NC
2015
LUCIEN TERRAS, New York, NY
2014
Are You Experienced?, PK SHOP, KASMIN GALLERY, New York, NY
2013
stripped.striated.poured, STOREFRONT BUSHWICK, Brooklyn, NY
2011
rub/dissolve/strip, STUDIO 1.1, London, UK
2010
Recent Work, GALERIE UNE, Auvernier, CH
2009
Works 2004-2009, AEROPLASTICS CONTEMPORARY, Brussels, BE
2007
GALERIE LANGE + PULT, Zurich, CH
I will have been there after you have already arrived, TORCH ART GALLERY, Amsterdam, NL
2005
Portholes, Potholes and Portals, GALERIE UNE, Auvernier, CH
2004
world hotel, DEBS & CO., New York, NY
STUDIO 1.1, London, UK
AEROPLASTICS CONTEMPORARY, Brussels, BE
2002
blue × clear + 12:1, DEBS & CO., New York, NY
2000
ROBESON ART GALLERY, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ
(t)here, DEBS & CO., New York, NY
1997
DEBS & CO., New York, NY
1990
SORKIN GALLERY, New York, NY
Banned, SWARTHMORE COLLEGE, Swarthmore, PA
1981
BETTE STOLER GALLERY, New York, NY
Selected Two-person Exhibitions
2023
Ketuta Alexi-Meskhishvili & Carrie Yamaoka, Galerie Hubert Winter, Vienna, AT
2019
The leaden circles dissolved in the air, Carrie Yamaoka & Joy Episalla, TRANSMITTER, New York, NY
A Crack in Everything, Carrie Yamaoka & Thomas Fougeirol, ALBERTZ BENDA, New York, NY
2018
Julien Carreyn, Heima Matti & Carrie Yamaoka, GALERIE CRÉVECOEUR, Marseilles, FR
Selected Group Exhibitions
2023
Gathering, curated by Anne Couillaud, THE CORNER GALLERY, Andes, NY
arms ache avid aeon: Nancy Brooks Brody, Joy Episalla, Zoe Leonard and Carrie Yamaoka: fierce pussy amplified, chapter 7 in “Exposed”, PALAIS DE TOKYO, Paris, FR
Behind Abstract Forms, FRAGMENT, NYC
I Live In a Box of Paints (I’m Drawn to Those Ones that Ain’t Afraid), curated by Matt Morris, RUSCHWOMAN, Chicago, IL
2022
8th Triennial of Photography / Currency: Photography Beyond Capture, DEICHTORHALLEN, Hamburg, DE
At Six and Seven, ULTERIOR GALLERY, NYC
Dwellers part I, curated by Lucien Terras, GALERIE PERROTIN, NYC
Dwellers part II, curated by Lucien Terras, GALERIE PERROTIN, Paris
2021
Elisions: N. Dash, K.R.M. Mooney, B. Ingrid Olson, Carrie Yamaoka; I8 GALLERY, Reykjavik
Chingu, 47 CANAL, NYC
Voices: Camel Collective, Douglas Goldberg, Carrie Yamaoka; ULTERIOR GALLERY, NYC
2020
DUST: The Plates of the Present, CENTRE POMPIDOU, Paris
2019
arms ache avid aeon: Nancy Brooks Brody/Joy Episalla/Zoe Leonard/Carrie Yamaoka: fierce pussy amplified, Chapter 5, curated by Jo-ey Tang, INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART, Philadelphia, PA
Slack Tide, curated by Matthew Nichols, ARTS CENTER AT DUCK CREEK, East Hampton, NY
CCNOA/DAC; a Shared Experience, curated by Tilman, M-17, CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER, Kiev, UA
Faces in the Crowd, SOCO GALLERY, Charlotte, NC
Intoto 7, organized by Thomas Fougeirol and Julien Carreyn, KUNSTVEREIN ROSA –LUXEMBURG–PLATZ, Berlin, DE
2018
arms ache avid aeon: Nancy Brooks Brody/Joy Episalla/Zoe Leonard/Carrie Yamaoka: fierce pussy amplified (chapters 1-4), curated by Jo-ey Tang, BEELER GALLERY, Columbus College of Art & Design, OH
Ponds and Waterfalls, curated by Julia Trotta, THE GALLERY AT MICHAELS, Santa Monica, CA
Haptic Tactics, curated by Noam Parness, Risa Puleo and Daniel Sander, LESLIE-LOHMAN MUSEUM, New York, NY
Intoto 6, organized by Thomas Fougeirol and Julien Carreyn, FONDATION RICARD, Paris, FR
2017
Knives, curated by Alyse Ronayne, In Limbo at PRACTICE GALLERY, New York, NY
In the hopes of not being considered, curated by Nick Morgan, KATE WERBLE GALLERY, New York, NY
Intoto 4, organized by Thomas Fougeirol and Julien Carreyn, ESSEX FLOWERS, New York, NY
Found: Queerness as Archeology, curated by Avram Finkelstein, LESLIE-LOHMAN MUSEUM, New York, NY
Plates of the present, so far, organized by Thomas Fougeirol and Jo-ey Tang, GALERIE PRAZ-DELAVALLADE, Paris, FR
2016
Absolute Beginners, LUCIEN TERRAS, New York, NY
More Than Lovers, More Than Friends, curated by Jo-ey Tang, CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY ART FUTURA, Prague, CZ
Art/AIDS/America, BRONX MUSEUM OF THE ARTS, Bronx, NY
Plain Sight, curated by Tom McGlynn, RICHMOND CENTER FOR THE ARTS, Western Michigan University, MI
2015
Greater New York 2015, curated by Douglas Crimp, Peter Eleey, Thomas Lax and Mia Locks, MOMA PS1, Queens, NY
Art/AIDS/America, TACOMA ART MUSEUM, Tacoma, WA
Dipthong, curated by Stephen Maine and Gelah Penn, SHIRLEY FITERMAN ART CENTER, BMCC, New York, NY
Dust: The Plates of the Present, curated by Sonel Breslav, BAXTER STREET, CCNY, New York, NY
Swingers WKND, curated by Tribble and Mancenido, 2 ST. NICHOLAS AV., Brooklyn, NY
2014
Maximal/Minimal, KINZ TILLOU FINE ART, Brooklyn, NY
Das stille Leben des Sammlers Kempinski, curated by Billy Miller and Christian Siekmeier, EXILE GALLERY, Berlin, DE
Art and Activism: Kunst und politischer Aktivismus in NY, curated by Lutz Hieber and Gisela Theising, MANNHEIMER KUNSTVEREIN, Mannheim, DE
A Particular Kind of Solitude, curated by Serra Saboncuoglu, ELIZABETH STREET GARDEN, New York, NY
Full House, AEROPLASTICS CONTEMPORARY, Brussels, BE
The Last Brucennial, THE BRUCE HIGH QUALITY FOUNDATION, New York, NY
30/30 Image Archive Project, organized by Tilman, A/B/CONTEMPORARY, Zurich, CH
2013
Blow-Up, curated by Lucien Terras, 143 READE STREET, New York, NY
Clouds, curated by Adam Simon, LESLEY HELLER, New York, NY
Pour, ASYA GEISBERG GALLERY, New York, NY
Pour, LESLEY HELLER, New York, NY
Pour, curated by Elisabeth Condon and Carol Prusa, FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY, Boca Raton, FL
2012
30/30 Image Archive Project #3, organized by CCNOA, MOINS UN, Paris, FR
2011
Deep Inside, AEROPLASTICS CONTEMPORY, Brussels, BE
Driven to Abstraction, VON LINTEL GALLERY, New York, NY
2010
Monochrome (part two), GALERIE LANGE + PULT, Zurich, CH
The Alchemy of Delusion, AEROPLASTICS COMTEMPORARY, Brussels, BE
Reflective Reflexion, Carrie Yamaoka w/ Corban Walker, organized by Joy Garnett, CURATORIAL RESEARCH LAB, WINKLEMAN GALLERY, New York, NY
With Your Eyes Only, curated by CCNOA and Tilman, YUM, Brussels, BE
Movement Schmoovement, organized by Nancy Brooks Brody and Linda Matalon, LA MAMA LA GALLERIA, New York, NY
Composite Visions, curated by CCNOA and Tilman, CAN, Neuchatel, CH
Mostly Monochrome, MCKENZIE FINE ART, New York, NY
2009
With Your Eyes Only, curated by CCNOA and Tilman, KUNSTVEREIN MEDIENTURM, Graz, AT
Topographies, THE ALBRIGHT-KNOX ART GALLERY, Buffalo, NY
Psychedelia Paradise, GALERIE EXPRMNTL, Toulouse, FR
Out of the Blue, curated by Joy Episalla, Joy Garnett & Amy Lipton, BERGEN COMMUNITY COLLEGE, Paramus, NJ
2008
Yo, Mo’ Modernism… 2, curated by Tilman, CCNOA, Brussels, BE
Transcendent and Sublime, curated by Deborah Frizzell, SACRED HEART UNIVERSITY, Fairfield, CT
Summer Show, GALERE UNE, Auvenier, CH
Side × Side, curated by Dean Daderko, LA MAMA LA GALLERIA, New York, NY
Diffracted Solstice, AEROPLASTICS CONTEMPORARY, Brussels, BE
Break The Rules, curated by Lutz Hieber and Gisela Theising, MANNHEIMER KUNSTVEREIN, Mannheim, DE
2007
Who Are You?, GALERIE LANGE & PULT, Zurich, CH
The Show’s So Nice, MONYA ROWE GALLERY, New York, NY
project:rendition, a collaborative project by JC2: Joy Episalla, Joy Garnett, Carrie Moyer and Carrie Yamaoka, MOMENTA ART, Brooklyn, NY
2006
Water, Water Everywhere, CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER, Virginia, VA
Here We Go, GALERIE UNE, Auvernier, CH
No Lemons, No Melon, curated by Carrie Moyer and Sheila Pepe, DAVID KRUT PROJECTS, New York, NY
When Artists Say We, ARTISTS SPACE, New York, NY
Out of the Blue, curated by Joy Episalla and Joy Garnett, organized by Amy Lipton, ABINGTON ART CENTER, Jenkintown, PA
Blessed are the Merciful, curated by Jerome Jacobs, FEIGEN CONTEMPORARY, New York, NY
2005
Sleigh, curated by Studio 1.1, ARTS AND BUSINESS, London, UK
The Obligation to Endure; Art and Ecology Since ‘Silent Spring’, curated by Nick Debs, NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, New York, NY
Petits Formats/Small Formats, GALERIE QUANG, Paris, FR
Shining Stars under Shining Sun, GALERIE UNE, Neuchatel, CH
Water, Water Everywhere, curated by Marilu Knode, SCOTTSDALE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, Scottsdale, AZ
Extreme Abstraction, curated by Claire Schneider and Louis Grachos , ALBRIGHT-KNOX ART GALLERY, Buffalo, NY
Vanishing Point, curated by Claudine Isé, THE WEXNER CENTER FOR THE ARTS, Columbus, OH
Surfaces Paradise, curated by Rafael von Uslar, MUSEUM OF MODERN ART, Arnhem, NL
2004
Live forever, or die trying (manic abstract painting now), TORCH GALLERY, Amsterdam, NL
Pulse of America, AEROPLASTICS CONTEMPORARY, Brussels, BE
2003
Without Fear or Reproach, curated by Jerome Jacobs, WITTE ZAAL, Ghent, BE
The Alumni Show, curated by Nina Felshin, WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY, Middletown, CT
2002
Mirror Mirror, curated by Jane Simon, MASSMOCA, North Adams, MA
Painting as Paradox, curated by Lauri Firstenberg, ARTISTS SPACE, New York, NY
Portrait Obscured, SAN JOSE INSTITUTE OF CONTEMPORARY ART, San Jose, CA
2001
Psychedelia, AEROPLASTICS CONTEMPORARY, Brussels, BE
Sheroes, CLAIREFONTAINE GALLERY, Luxembourg, LU
Ignoring Boundaries: Image in the Landscape, THE FIELDS SCULPTURE PARK, Ghent, NY
2000
Snapshot, THE CONTEMPORARY MUSEUM, Baltimore, MD
Other Worlds, curated by Erika Belle, 28 WOOSTER STREET, New York, NY
1999
Distilled Life, curated by Medrie MacPhee, BARD COLLEGE, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY
Stars of Track and Field, DEBS & CO., New York, NY
Acrylic/Plastic, TRANS HUDSON GALLERY, New York, NY
Unbehagen der Geschlechter/Gender Trouble, curated by Lutz Heiber and Gisela Theising, NEUER AACHENER KUNSTVEREIN, Aachen, DE
1998
Bob and Wheel, DFN GALLERY, New York, NY
Skin Deep, curated by Stefanie Nagorka, 123 WATTS GALLERY, New York, NY
The Erotics of Denial, curated by Bill Arning, E.S. VANDAM, New York, NY
1997
Material Girls: Gender, Process and Abstract Art Since 1970, curated by Harmony Hammond, GALLERY 128, New York, NY
Very Large Array, DEBS & CO., New York, NY
Silence = Death, curated by Lutz Heiber and Gisela Theising, KUNSTHALLE DOMINIKAMERKIRCHE, Osnabrück, DE
1996
Geopony, ADAM GALLERY, London, UK
Graphic Responses to AIDS, VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM, London, UK
1995
Interference, LONDON ARTFORMS, London, UK
Other Rooms, Four Walls, at RONALD FELDMAN GALLERY, New York, NY
1993
New Jersey Arts Annual, NEWARK MUSEUM, Newark, NJ
Contacts/Proofs, JERSEY CITY MUSEUM, Jersey City, NJ
1991
Outrageous Desire, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, New Brunswick, NJ
Situation, curated by Nayland Blake and Pam Gregg, NEW LANGTON ARTS, San Francisco, CA
Hot Off the Press, ZIMMERLI MUSEUM, New Brunswick, NJ
Marginal Majority, AARON DAVIS HALL AT CUNY, New York, NY
Printmaking Fellowships Exhibition, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, New Brunswick, NJ
1990
Use: Anatoly Pronin, William Rodwell, Carrie Yamaoka, JERSEY CITY MUSEUM, Jersey City, NJ
Word as Image, PROCTOR ART CENTER, BARD COLLEGE, New York, NY
Queer, WESSEL O’CONNOR GALLERY, New York, NY
A Force of Repetition, curated by Alison Weld, NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM, Trenton, NJ
Body. Once Removed, SORKIN GALLERY, New York, NY
1989
Surfaces, HENRY FEIWEL, New York, NY
Indicators: The Word as Image, COUP DE GRACE GALLERY, Hoboken, NJ
1988
Wedding Pictures, Four Walls, WHITE COLUMNS, New York, NY
Hudson County Artists, JERSEY CITY MUSEUM, Jersey City, NJ
Four Painters, COUP DE GRACE GALLERY, Hoboken, NJ
Double Vision, curated by Fred Wilson, HALLWALLS, Buffalo, NY & LONGWOOD ARTS PROJECT, Bronx, NY
Yesterday, ASIAN AMERICAN CENTRE, New York, NY
1987
The Last Supper, LUDLOW GRAPHIC ARTS, New York, NY
Ten Chinatown, ASIAN AMERICAN ARTS CENTRE, New York, NY
1985
Christopher Engel, Joy Episalla, Carrie Yamaoka, FOUR WALLS, Hoboken, NJ
1983
Seven Painters, RAMAPO COLLEGE, Mahwah, NJ
1981
Rutgers National Drawing Show, RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, NJ
1980
Group Exhibition, BETTER STOLER GALLERY, New York, NY
Education
1979
BA cum laude in Studio Art with High Honors and the Ross Prize in Art, WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY, Middletown, CT
1977-78
TYLER SCHOOL OF ART, Rome, IT
Grants & Fellowships
2021
FST Studio Projects Fund
2019
JOHN SIMON GUGGENHEIM MEMORIAL FOUNDATION Fellowship
2017
Anonymous was a Woman award, AWAW FOUNDATION
2009
One-year studio residency at PAINTING SPACE 122, PS122, New York, NY
2006
FENENIN EL RAHHAL Nomadic Artists, Working Artists’ Summit, Western Desert and Cairo, EG
1998
Residency at BRAZIERS INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS WORKSHOP, Oxfordshire, UK
1995
Residency at BRAZIERS INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS WORKSHOP, Oxfordshire, UK
1990
Printmaking Fellowship, RUTGERS CENTER FOR INNOVATIVE PRINTMAKING, Rutgers University, NJ
1988
ARTMATTERS INC., New York, NY
1986
Two-month residency at YADDO, Saratoga Springs, NY
Selected Reviews & Publications
2020
DUST: The Plates of the Present, publ. by Centre Pompidou and Spector Books, illus.
2019
Critic’s Picks: Panorama at Ulterior Gallery, by Zack Hatfield, ARTFORUM online
Review of The leaden circles dissolved in the air, by Will Heinrich, THE NEW YORK TIMES
Carrie Yamaoka recto/verso, catalogue with essay, by Nina Bozicnik, HENRY ART GALLERY, University of Washington, DC
2017
Art Once Shunned, Now Celebrated in ‘Queer Archaelogy; Queer Abstraction’, by Holland Cotter, THE NEW YORK TIMES
Interview, NOTEWORTHY MAGAZINE online
Critic’s Corner, by Andy Smith, CHARLOTTE MAGAZINE, February issue
2016
Artists and Identity, ARTFORUM, Summer issue
Interview: Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic Oral History Project, SMITHSONIAN ARCHIVES OF AMERICAN ART
2015
Art/AIDS/America, exhibition catalog, UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS
Dust: The Plates of the Present, by Sonel Breslav, BLONDE ART BOOKS and SECRETARY PRESS, NYC
2014
Carrie Yamaoka; Inside Out (or… Reversible Raincoat), Zoe Leonard’s, CHINATI FOUNDATION NEWSLETTER, Vol. 19
Art Before Images, by Susan Silas; HYPERALLERGIC, April
Experiencing Carrie Yamaoka, by Rachel Small, INTERVIEW MAGAZINE ONLINE, March
Herstory Inventory: 100 Feminist Drawings by 100 Artists, by Ulrike Muller, DANCING FOXES PRESS
2013
The Lookout: A Weekly Guide to Shows You Won’t Want to Miss, ART IN AMERICA ONLINE, April
Pour (exhibition catalog), FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY
2010
Des oeuvres-miroirs qui ne cessent d’évoluer, by Séverine Cattin, L’EXPRESS MAGAZINE: Beaux arts, Feb.
Cette semaine Carrie Yamaoka est l’autre, by Alexandre Caldara, www.les-autres.ch, Feb.
JC2, project: rendition, PUBLIC CULTURE, Vol 22, Nb 1, Winter
2008
Carrie Yamaoka à Bruxelles, by Elisabeth Lebovici, LE BEAU VICE, www.le-beau-vice.blogspot, Dec.
Un minimalisme brilliant et coloré, by Claude Lorent, LE LIBRE BELGIQUE, Nov.
SIDE × SIDE, exhibition broadside, by Dean Daderko, VISUAL AIDS
Break The Rules! Sammlungen Hieber/Theising, exhibition catalog, MANNHEIMER KUNSTVEREIN
2007
The Interiority of Surfaces, by Faye Hirsch, I will have been there after you have already arrived, exhibition catalog AEROPLASTICS CONTEMPORARY, GALERIE UNE and TORCH GALLERY
2006
Blessed Are the Merciful, by Ken Johnson, THE NEW YORK TIMES, April
2005
Abstract Generations, by Faye Hirsch, ART IN AMERICA, Oct.
Everywhere’s the Same: Nowhere in Particular, by Ken Johnson, THE NEW YORK TIMES, June
Six Notes on Vanishing’, Vanishing Point, exhibition catalog, by Hal Foster, WEXNER CENTER FOR THE ARTS, Ohio State University
Vanishing Point, exhibition catalog, by Claudine Isé, WEXNER CENTER FOR THE ARTS, Ohio State University
2004
Review of Carrie Yamaoka , World Hotel, by Roberta Smith, THE NEW YORK TIMES, June
Pick: Carrie Yamaoka, by Kim Levin, Voice Choices, VILLAGE VOICE, June
2003
Neither Here Nor There: Mirror Mirror at Mass MoCA, by Roger Boyce, ART NEW ENGLAND, Feb-Mar.
2002
Carrie Yamaoka, Art/Galleries: Chelsea, THE NEW YORKER, June
Review of Carrie Yamaoka, by Ken Johnson, THE NEW YORK TIMES, May
Review of Carrie Yamaoka, by Robert Mahoney, TIME OUT NY, May, issue 347
Painting as Paradox; exhibition catalog, by Rachel Baum, ARTISTS SPACE
2000
Review of Carrie Yamaoka at Debs & Co, by Edward Leffingwell, ART IN AMERICA, July
(t)here; exhibition catalog, by Bill Arning, DEBS & CO, NYC
Review, by Saul Anton, NEWYORK.CITYSEARCH
Lesbian Art in America: A Contemporary History, by Harmony Hammond, RIZZOLI INTERNATIONAL PUBLICATIONS
1999
The World, Carrie Yamaoka,THE POETRY PROJECT, NYC, issue 55
1998
Skin Deep; exhibition catalog, 123 WATTS GALLERY, NYC
Editor’s Choice: Carrie Yamaoka, by Bill Arning, BOMB, Spring, issue 63
Review of Carrie Yamaoka, by Bill Arning, TIME OUT NY, January, issue 121
Three Shows in Chelsea, Critical Review, by Jay Grimm, CREVIEW.COM
1997
Carrie Yamaoka, DEBS & CO, NYC
1996
Review of Interference, by Nicola Gray, THIRD TEXT, London, Spring, Nb 34
Review of Interference, WOMEN’S ART MAGAZINE, London, Jan-Feb.
1995
Review of Interference, by Cherry Smyth, TIME OUT LONDON, November
1990
Review, by Stephen Westfall, ART IN AMERICA, September
Review, by Peggy Cyphers, ARTS, April.
COVER, NYC, March
Public Collections
ALBRIGHT-KNOX ART GALLERY, Buffalo, NY
ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO, Chicago, IL
CENTRE POMPIDOU, Paris, FR
DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART, Dallas, TX
HENRY ART GALLERY, Seattle, WA
PIZZUTI COLLECTION, Columbus OH
THE VICTORIA & ALBERT MUSEUM, London