About — Virginia Wagner

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 currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. She teaches interdisciplinary classes about world building at Pratt Institute. Visit those student worlds HERE.

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

2016-present 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.