OIL PAINTING

BioJ. M. Culver is a contemporary figurative artist who creates portraits and psychological narratives with universal themes. She explores figuration and abstraction through a combination of painting and drawing. Prominent themes in her work are the transitory nature of memory, social dynamics, and personal allegories that give an intimate and tangible glimpse into the human psyche. Culver attended Syracuse University in New York for graduate studies and holds a BFA in painting from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She is a featured artist on the MN Original TV series, a recipient of two Artist Initiative Grants from the MN State Arts Board, a recipient of a First Place International Award for painting from the FSU Museum of Fine Arts, has exhibited alongside Margaret Keane’s paintings in an international exhibition curated by the editor of Juxtapoz Magazine, and has been featured in numerous publications. Culver is a former gallery director and curator. She actively exhibits her work, which is held in private collections internationally. Culver is a member of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA) and works full-time in her studio located in Minneapolis. StatementMy paintings explore memory, identity, and the human condition through dramatic character portraits and psychological narratives. Bordering between representation and abstraction with provocative paint and charcoal layers, the portraits explore identity by obscuring facial features, revealing the underlying structure, and expressing a sense of raw emotion, while presenting a distorted character of what once-was. The viewer is confronted with an uncertain and unnerving presence of the other, with something almost nonhuman left on the surface. Using these characters, I recreate narratives that stem from my childhood memories of my grandfather who suffered from schizophrenia combined with the second-hand memories of his surreal story-telling. These reconstructions and personal observations of the human condition present an immediate and intimate, tangible expression of memory while exploring the mundanity, absurdity, gravity, and the humor of life. My work addresses issues of the transitory nature of memory, the ownership of stories and secrets, and the inconsistency of perspective with mental health and personal identity. I create paintings that have personal significance and create social consciousness to connect and emotionally resonate with the viewerCurriculum VitaeEducation 2011Graduate Studies, Painting, Syracuse University, New York 2006BFA, Painting, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minnesota Solo Exhibitions​2024Feral, Mandeville Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Upcoming) 2022#100 Heads, Gallery 505, Minneapolis, Minnesota​2018PAUSE, Popup Gallery, Calhoun Square, Minneapolis, Minnesota​2017Wanderlust, Ditch Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota 2016WHERE BACK WHEN, Gage Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota 2011Remnants, Gallery 122, Minneapolis, Minnesota 2010Conjured Memories, SSCA Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota​​Selected Group Exhibitions​2023Art & Artifacts: A Vintage Exhibition, Mandeville Gallery, Minneapolis, MN 2022Holiday Salon Exhibition, Aurelia Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico 2021Drama, Aurelia Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico​Primal Dispositions, Vestige Gallery, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania ​2020The Beginning of Everything: An Exhibition of Drawings, Katherine E. Nash Gallery, Minnesota​2019Inventory, Gallery 505, Minneapolis, Minnesota​Displacement, East Honolulu Gallery, Waimanalo, Hawaii​20183rd Annual MCAD Alumni Exhibition, Squirrel Haus Arts Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota​Menagerie: Animals in Art, Laura H. Miles Gallery, Minnetonka, Minnesota​New Figurations, Two Person Exhibition, California Building, Minneapolis, Minnesota​2017Sweet N Low: An International Show of Cute, Bedford Gallery, California​Portraits & Landscapes, Calhoun Square Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota​More Than Human, East Honolulu Gallery, Waimanalo, Hawaii 2016Fun House: Art of the Surreal, Fantastic, and Bizarre, Barrett Art Center, New York Tallahassee International 31st Annual Juried Exhibition, FSU Museum of Fine Arts, Florida INSPIRE, Hue Gallery of Contemporary Art, Kansas Menagerie: Animals in Art, Laura H. Miles Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota Christie's Auction at MCAD, Minneapolis, Minnesota Art4Good event for the Minnesota Museum of American Art, Flow Art Space, St Paul, Minnesota 2015Behind-the-Scenes, Gallery 505, Minneapolis, Minnesota pART Dallas, SMU, Dallas, Texas 2014In the Gallery, Inez Greenberg Gallery, Bloomington Theatre and Art Center, Minnesota Recent Paintings and Drawings, Gallery 505, Minneapolis, Minnesota Art in Bloom, Minneapolis Institute of the Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota 2013California Dreamin', California Art Building, Minneapolis, Minnesota Bringing the Harvest Home, Deer Creek Gallery, Aurora, Oregon Open Studio Exhibition, Annual Art-A-Whirl, Minneapolis, Minnesota 2012Recent Paintings, Gallery 505, Minneapolis, Minnesota CS // SpeakEasy, Cult Status Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota Love/Hate, Cult Status Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota 2011Untitled I Exhibition, Shaffer Art, Syracuse, New York Cult Sisters II, Cult Status Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota 2010Ultimate Landscape, Gallery 13, Minneapolis, Minnesota Off Center, SSCA Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota About Face, SSCA Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota Cult Sisters 5, Cult Status Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota 2009Sixth Annual Member’s Exhibition, SSCA Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota Art Perchance, Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, Minnesota Struggle Within, Altered Esthetics Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota Autumn Artquinox, Grain Belt Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota Art Ache, Grain Belt Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota Anatomy: Creation, Existence, and Decomposition, SSCA, Minneapolis, Minnesota Paradigm Shift, MCAD Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota 2008Grain Belt Artists Gala, Grain Belt Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota Anxiety Dreams, Q.arma Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota Critical Habitat III, Altered Esthetics Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota 2007Projection Exhibition, Center for Independent Artists, Minneapolis, Minnesota Ephemeral Space: Ephemerality, Tonnage Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota 2006A Sororal Gathering, The AZ Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota Earthscapes, The AZ Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota Diorama-rama, The Bell Museum, Minneapolis, Minnesota Selected Curatorial Work​2023Grant Review Panelist, Flexibility Support Grant for Groups, Metro Regional Arts Council, Minnesota​Grant Review Panelist, Arts Impact for Individuals, Metro Regional Arts Council, Minnesota​2022Grant Review Panelist, Arts Impact for Groups, Metro Regional Arts Council, Minnesota 2021Juror, BAX Exhibition, Grinnell College Museum of Art, Iowa 2020Juror, 29th Annual Powderhorn Art Fair, Minneapolis, Minnesota 2018Grant Review Panelist, VSA Minnesota: The State Organization on Arts and Disability 2017Grant Review Panelist, Minnesota State Arts Board, Visual Arts, Saint Paul, Minnesota​2016Juror, 53rd Annual Uptown Art Fair, Minneapolis, Minnesota 2011Curator, The Nature of Romance, SSCA Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota 2010Curator, About Face, SSCA Gallery, Minneapolis, Minnesota Publications 2021Juror's Statement, BAX Exhibition Publication, Grinnell College Museum of Art, Iowa, April 2017Featured Solo Exhibition, Wanderlust, MN Women's Press, Inc., June 2016Featured Artist, Exhibition Catalog, Tallahassee International 31st Annual Juried Exhibition, FSU Museum of Fine Arts, FL, August​Featured Artist, Praftfalls Podcast: Conversations with Creative Folks, Minnesota A-List Review, J. M. Culver: Where Back When, Solo Exhibition, City Pages, Minnesota, January 2015Featured Video, The Fight & Victory, Art to Beat Cancer: Children's Research Institute, Texas, May Featured Artist, The New Collectors Book, Basak Malone LLC, NYC, April 2013Featured Artist, Reflections: A Collection of Art, Art Impressions Publishing, Inc, April 2012Featured Artist, Studio Visit Magazine, Winter Edition 2011A-list Feature, Cult Sisters II, Review, City Pages, Minnesota, May Featured Video, MN Original art series, Twin Cities Public Television Featured Interview, Local Artist Interviews, Minnesota, January 2010Twin Cities Top 100 Creative Types, Interview, City Pages, Minnesota A-List Review (Curator /Featured Artist), About Face, City Pages, Minnesota, September Featured Artist, Art & Beyond Magazine, July A-List Feature, Cult Sisters 5, Review, City Pages, Minnesota, June Featured Artist, Cult Sisters 5, Video Interview, 3-Minute Egg, Minnesota, June Art Enters Cult Status, Interview / Review, The Minnesota Daily, June Conjured Memories: A Psychological Narrative Writ, Solo Exhibition Review, SouthWest Journal, Minnesota, March Conjured Memories: Drawing on Memory, Solo Exhibition Review, The Minnesota Daily, March Featured Artist, Solo Exhibition Interview, Rift Magazine, Minnesota, March 2009Featured Poet, Stellar Showcase Journal, March April May 2008Anxiety Dreams at Altered Esthetics: The Morning After, Review, Mpls St. Paul Magazine, Minnesota 2007Featured Artwork, The Rake Magazine, Minneapolis, Minnesota, April​Awards/Grants 2017Artist Initiative Grant, MN State Arts Board, Minnesota 2016First Place Award, Tallahassee International 31st Juried Exhibition, FSU Museum of Fine Arts, Florida 2015Artist Initiative Grant, MN State Arts Board, Minnesota 2011Graduate Painting Merit Fellowship, Syracuse University, New York​Professional Experience 2006-PresentProfessional Fine Artist, Educator, Curator, & Writer​​2012-PresentPrivate & Group Workshops, Minneapolis, MinnesotaPainting / Drawing, Studio and Virtual ​2021Artist Talk, Studio Visits, and Award PresentationBAX Exhibition, Grinnell College of Museum of Art, Iowa​2018Artist Talk/Studio VisitCreative Practice, Bethel University, Minnesota 2011Syracuse University, College of Visual and Performing Arts, New YorkGraduate Representative, Painting DepartmentTeaching Assistant, Visiting Artist Lecture Series 2010-2011SSCA Gallery, Minneapolis, MinnesotaGallery Director, Chair on Board of Directors, Exhibitions Chair, Marketing Committee 2010-2011Interact Center for the Visual & Performing Arts, Minneapolis, MinnesotaTeaching assistant for artists with disabilities and mental illness 2009-2010SSCA Gallery, Minneapolis, MinnesotaVice Chair on Board of Directors, Exhibition Chair, Marketing Committee 2001-2006Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MinnesotaDevelopment, Fundraising, Stewardship 2005The Soap Factory, Art Gallery, Minneapolis, MinnesotaExecutive Assistant 2004Abusement Park Entertainment, Fort Lauderdale, FloridaPerformance Artist 2003Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, MinnesotaSketch Artist, Private Opening Reception for The Age of Romanticism Minnesota Retreat for the Arts, Crystal, MinnesotaTeaching/Technical Assistant for workshops