12613 ½ Venice Blvd.
Mar Vista CA 90066 USA
t 310.915.1930
Fritz Chesnut (artists site) is known for his abstract paintings inspired by cosmic phenomena, waves, oil spills, and other aquatic and geologic formations. His paintings are made with the canvas laying horizontally and as the poured paint coalesces, he intervenes by lifting and tilting the canvas. Gravity and the artist's small gestures work to create pools, ravines and fields of color. Chesnut employs an intuitive process that allows for interaction of paint based on subtle shifts in viscosity and accumulation. Bridging the environment with his psyche, Chesnut's work filters the history of modern abstraction through an immersion in a psychedelic Southern California surf culture.
Chesnut was born in 1973 in Santa Fe, New Mexico and currently lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He received his BA from University of California, Santa Cruz in 1995 and his MFA from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University in 1997.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2014
Cult (Aimee Friberg Exhibitions), San Francisco, CA (forthcoming)
2010
Peak and Flow, Country Club, Los Angeles, CA
Peak and Flow, Country Club, Cincinnati, OH
2002
Starstruck, Bellwether Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2013
Works on Paper, Inc. Greatest Hits & Selected B-Sides, c.nichols project, Los Angeles, CA
Thinking Like the Universe, K Imperial Fine Art, San Francisco, CA and Hatch Gallery, Oakland, CA, curated by Aimee Friberg
2012
Good Morning Captain, Country Club, Louisville, KY
2011
Abstract Location, Andrew Rafacz Gallery, Chicago IL, curated by John Knuth and Matt Distel
The Gold Rush/Manifest Destiny: La Californie, Pubic Fiction, Los Angeles, CA, curated by Josh Peters and Lauren Mackler
2010
Animal Style: The New Warrior, Pepin Moore, Los Angeles, CA, curated by Drew Heitzler
Contemporary Impressionism, Art House LA, Los Angeles, CA, curated by Lauren McCaffrey and Thalassa Balanis
2009
Potluck, Country Club, Los Angeles, CA, curated by Christine Nichols
Tribeca Film Festival Art Awards, Chanel Boutique, New York, NY
2008
Relevé, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY, curated by Jessica Murray
2007
Ornament: Ho Hum All Ye Faithful, Bravin Lee Programs, New York, NY
Jouissance, Autoversion, Ltd., New York, NY
Post Retro, Brooklyn Fire Proof, Brooklyn, NY, curated by Monica Moran and Justin Leiberman
Eye Contact: Portraiture Now, GE Headquarters, Fairfield, CT, curated by Paddy Johnson and Danielle Mysliwiec
2006
Considered Drawing, The College of St. Rose Art Gallery, Center for Art and Design, Albany, NY
SCOPE New York Art Fair, with Jack the Pelican Presents, New York, NY
The Social Body, Rocket Projects, Miami, FL, curated by David Gibson
2005
Gods and Monsters, Ambrosino Gallery, North Miami, FL, curated by Heather Darcy and Erin Sircy
El Greco, Islip Art Museum, East Islip, NY, curated by Joy Glidden
This Dream, America, Art League of Long Island, Dix Hills, NY, curated by Keith Miller
2004
Frisbee Art Fair, with ARENA Gallery, Miami Beach, FL
Incognito, Santa Monica Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
From New York With Love, Covivant Gallery, Tampa, FL, curated by Trong G. Nguyen
2003
Supereal, Marella Arte Contemporanea, Milan, Italy, curated by Lauri Firstenberg
You, Royal Modern, New York, NY, curated by Lisa Kirk
Gush, d.u.m.b.o. arts center (dac), Brooklyn, NY, curated by Joy Glidden
B-LIST Brooklyn, Angst, and Desire, Hallwalls, Buffalo, NY, curated by David Kramer and John Massier
2002
AIM 22, Artist in the Marketplace, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY
Scratch, ARENA, New York, NY, curated by Renée Riccardo
End of the Rainbow, Bellwether Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, curated by Rebecca Smith
The Brewster Project, Brewster, NY, curated by Paul Laster
A Special Place, ARENA, Brooklyn, NY
SCOPE New York Art Fair, with ARENA, New York, NY
New York Mutation Project, 31 Grand, Brooklyn, NY, curated by Heather Stevens
2001
Fast FWD: Miami, Bellwether at the Hotel Nash, Miami Beach, FL
Benefit Exhibition and Silent Auction, White Columns, New York, NY2000Works on Paper, White Columns at the Meat Market Art Fair, New York, NY
Fritz Chesnut, Andrew Nofsinger, Christine Sciulli, 31 Grand, Brooklyn, NY
Posers, White Columns, New York, NY
SELECTED GRANTS AND AWARDS
SELECTED GRANTS AND AWARDS
2002
Nominee, Rema Hort Mann Foundation Art Grant
Artist in the Marketplace Program, The Bronx Museum of the Arts
1995
Susan Benteen and William Irwin Hyde Scholarship
1991
Santa Barbara Scholarship Foundation Scholarship in Art
RESIDENCIES
2005
Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
CURATORIAL
2011
Over the City and Through the Woods, Statler Waldorf Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2010
June Gloom, Country Club, Los Angeles, CA
2000
Posers, White Columns, New York, NY
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2012
SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
2012
James, Chris, Tracing Chaos, Aesthetics in the Surf Zone, X-TRA Contemporary Art Quarterly, Volume 14 Number 4, p. 65
Shaw Michael, "In Conversation, Michael Shaw Interviews Fritz Chesnut," NY Arts Magazine, Volume 19 Summer 2012, p. 10-11
"30 Artists to Watch in 2012," NY Arts Magazine, nyartsmagazine.com
2011
Shaw, Michael, interview "Fritz Chesnut Makes the Leap," The Conversation, an Artist Podcast
Wagley, Catherine, "Busted Open Abstraction: Fritz Chesnut on Richard Prince," New American Paintings Blog, October 21, 2011, newamericanpaintings.wordpress.com
2010
Schwartz, Kathy, "Peak and Flow," review, CityBeat, Tuesday, May 18, 2010
2005
Harrison, Helen A., "El Greco," review, The New York Times, Sunday, March 20, 2005
2004
Lee, Chris, "Karaoke's Religious Ecstasy," Black Book, December 2004/January 2005, p. 38
Quattordio, Alessandra, "Supereal," review, Flash Art Italia, December 2003/January 2004, p. 119
Savorelli, Alice, “Supereal,” review, Contemporary Magazine, issue 59, p. 75
2003
Battiston, Eleonora, "Supereal," review, Segno, November/December, 2003, p. 44-45
Firstenberg, Lauri, Supereal, catalog, December, 2003, p. 15-17
“Gush,” review, The New Yorker, September 22n, 2003, p. 58
Huntington, Richard, "How Ironic," review, Buffalo News, May 2, 2003, p. 19
Kramer, David and Massier, John, B-LIST Brooklyn, Angst, and Desire, catalog, April 2003, p. 15
Martin, Michael, “Hardcore Art,” Black Book, Oct/Nov, 2003, p. 176
2002
Artist in the Marketplace, 22nd Annual Exhibition catalog, July, 2002, p. 15
Reproduction, Harper's Magazine, March, 2002, p. 21
Coates, Jennifer, "Starstruck," review, Wburg.com, May, 2002
Cotter, Holland, "Artist in the Marketplace," review, The New York Times, September 6, 2002
Hamburger, Susan, "Starstruck at Bellwether," review, Waterfront Week, Volume 12.09 / May, 2002, p. 6
Lepore, Louise, "Almost Famous Artists," Jane Magazine, April, 2002, p. 72
Van Mol, Jan, "New York Mutation Project," Ad!dict Magazine, #15: Mutation, winter 01/02
Wawerna, Beth, "Show Us Your Zits," Spin Magazine, February, 2002, p. 52
2001
Laster, Paul, "bkyn 2.0, an online journal of the arts," www.bkyn.com, November, 2001
Reardon, Valerie, "The Big American Issue," Exhibit:a, June/July 2001, p. 38-39
2000
Bollen, Christopher, "Posers," review, Time Out NY, Apr. 27-May 4, 2000, Issue No. 240, p. 71