September 17–October 16, 2021
Steve Turner is pleased to present Walking in the Wild, a solo exhibition of recent paintings by Brooklyn-based Maria Calandra that are inspired by her frequent excursions into nature. According to Calandra: Walking in the wild plays a major role in my artistic life. I have always been mesmerized by the repeating lines and colors in reflected water, ancient rocks and twisted tree trunks and roots. Channeling a stream of consciousness, I pull from both the real and imagined while using a form of automatic painting to guide me. I try to make connections between that which I observed and that which I remember. I aim to liberate my thoughts and experiences from any boundaries of the rational. Photos taken while hiking are used as a visual springboard, but the work quickly departs from there to the memory of a place and the feeling I had while in it. Some of these memories date back to my youth. As I always begin painting a particular place while listening to the same music that I listened to when I was there, undulating sounds and vibrations also influence my brush strokes. The paintings are dense with detail and I strive to make them as alive and wild as the lands that inspired them. Maria Calandra (born 1976, London) earned a BFA from Ohio University (1999) and an MFA from Cornell University (2006). She is the artist and writer behind Pencil in the Studio, an online project for which she visits an artist for one day to capture their studio and artwork in a drawing. She has exhibited her work at Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York; Shrine Gallery, New York; Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York and Fourteen30, Portland. This is her first solo exhibition at Steve Turner. Maria Calandra creates paintings that are inspired by her frequent excursions into nature. She pulls from both the real and imagined to record the lines and colors of reflected water, ancient rocks, twisted tree trunks and swirling clouds. The rhythm of music also plays an important part as she begins painting each work while listening to the same music that she listened to when she was in nature. Born 1976, London, England Education Solo Exhibitions 2017 2015 2014 2013 2003 2000 Select Group Exhibitions 2020 2019 2018 💥 🎢 ☀ 🏖 🌈 🐳 🌋 , Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, Manhattan The Mushroom Show, curated by Letha Wilson, New York 2017 2016 2015 2013 2012 2011 Grants, Residencies and Awards 2020 2016 2015 2013 2006 2004 Bibliography 2015 2013Installation Views
Works
Lives and works in Brooklyn
2006
MFA, Cornell University, New York 1999 BFA, Ohio University
2021
Walking in the Wild, Steve Turner, Los Angeles
Wall Drawing, Wythe Hotel, Brooklyn
Maria Calandra – New Drawings, Sardine, Brooklyn
SPACES, Sierra Nevada College, Nevada
Pencil in the Studio, Sardine, Brooklyn
Recent Paintings, Frank L Melaga Museum, Pennsylvania
4 Sections, Moffit Cancer Center, Contemporary Art Museum of The University of South Florida, Tampa
2021
Downtown 21, La MaMa Gallery, Manhattan
Beasts Like Me, Bronx Art Space, Bronx
End of the World, Sardine Gallery, Brooklyn
Ho Hum, BravinLee Programs, Manhattan
Message/Mystery, Co-Worker Gallery, Ohio
Downward Flower, Fourteen30 Contemporary, Portland
Door #3, Essex Flowers, Manhattan
FURTHER, George Gallery, Brooklyn
EM-DASH, Ampersand Gallery, Portland
Park, Public Address Gallery, Brooklyn
Meet the Parents, Essex Flowers, Manhattan
Three Person Exhibition, General Hardware Gallery, Toronto
Actually Weird, Underdonk, Brooklyn
Weekend, Mindy Solomon, Miami
Squared x2, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Massachusettes Parting and Together, Greenpoint Hill, Brooklyn Secret Life of Plants, Freight and Volume, Manhattan Wythe Collection, Wythe Hotel, Brooklyn
Salami Salon, ROE Projects, Brooklyn
Woman Artists for Women’s Rights, Safe Gallery, Brooklyn
The Oasis, Gitler & ____, Manhattan
Summer Flats, Shrine, Manhattan
Super Sketchy, Alleyoop Projects, Manhattan
Inaugural Exhibition, Romeo, Manhattan
World Made by Hand, Andrew Edlin Gallery, Manhattan
Your Bad Self, Arts and Leisure, Manhattan
HOUSE, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Massachusettes
Salon Society Edition 2, curated by Fabiola Alondra, Brooklyn
#FFFF2 (Fifteen Fragments For Feature), White Columns, Manhattan
I am What I am Not Yet, Madelyn Jordon Fine Art, New York
Mercury Rising, Mulherin New York, Manhattan
Wagers, Essex Flowers, Manhattan 2014 Key Party, Orgy Park, Brooklyn
Moore College of Art Design, Philadelphia
By Invitation Only, Kinz + Tillou Fine Art, Brooklyn
SPRING/BREAK, Old School, Manhattan
HKJB: Genesis Forward Battery, Underdonk, Broooklyn
Typhoon Haiyan Relief Auction, The Lodge, Manhattan
Cat Camp, Helper, Brooklyn
Portraits of Fern, Norte Maar, Brooklyn
Giacometti and Contemporary Drawing, Norte Maar, Brooklyn
Thank You, Lu Magnus Gallery, Manhattan
Peaces on Earth, Daily Operation/Sardine, Brooklyn
Summer Group Show, DNA Gallery, Provincetown, MA
Can’t Stop Rock Lobster, Shoot The Lobster/Martos gallery, Manhattan WAVERS, curated by EJ Hauser and Rob Nadeau, Brooklyn
Haywire, STOREFRONT, Brooklyn
Temporary Antumbra Zone, Janet Kurnatowski Gallery, Brooklyn
New Year, New Work, New Faces, STOREFRONT, Brooklyn
Blue Hill Residency, Blue Hill, Maine
Wythe Hotel Residency, Brooklyn
DNA Summer Residency, Provincetown, MA
DNA Summer Residency, Provincetown, MA
Art Fellowship, Cornell University, New York
Art Fellowship, Cornell University, New York
2016
Smith, Roberta. “Inaugural Group Exhibition at Romeo,” The New York Times, April 22
Love, Matthew. “12 Talents shaping the future of New York City’s culture,” Time Out New York, September 23
Halle, Howard. “The best art shows and exhibits in NYC,” Time Out New York, June 15
Greenwald, Xico. “Inside the Artist’s Studio,” New York Sun, May 23
Simon, Lizzie. “Absorbing Inspiration From Her Fellow Artists,” Wall Street Journal, May 20
Butler, Sharon. “Giacometti in Bushwick: “Art, reality and the myth of life became one,” Two Coats of Paint, February 23