STERLING WELLS

6115 Mesa Ave., Apt. 9
Los Angeles, CA 90042-3587
727 - 776 - 7891
sterlingfwells@gmail.com
sterlingwells.info

Lives and works in Los Angeles, CA

EDUCATION

2018      Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Skowhegan, ME
2017      Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA
          Master of Fine Arts, Graduate Art
2007      Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
          Bachelor of Fine Arts, Painting

SOLO AND COLLABORATIVE EXHIBITIONS

2023       A New Flood, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2020       La Brea and the River, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019       Milk Plastic Incubator, LAMOA DS#3 at Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles, CA
2018       Maintain Disgust (with Haena Yoo), AWHRHWAR, Los Angeles, CA
2017       Pressure Drop (MFA Thesis Show), Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA
2016       Fountain for Vernon, Vernon Gardens, Vernon, CA
             Less World and Working World (with Haena Yoo), Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA
2015       Broken Window, Metropolitan Structures, Baltimore, MD
             Large Ear >PP+EPDM-TX10<, Lana’s, Brooklyn, NY
2012       A Structure to View Geological Time in Pictorial Space, A Slender Gamut, Brooklyn, NY

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS, PROJECTS, SCREENINGS

2024     Moved/ Displaced, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Ana, CA (Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture alumni show co-curated by Annette Cyr and Rebecca Shippee)
             Hot Glue, presented by Night Gallery at NADA East Broadway, New York, NY
             Out Yonder, Tyler Park Presents, Los Angeles, CA          
2022     Plein Air (curated by Aurora Tang), MOCA Tucson, Tucson, AZ (traveled to the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, CA in 2023)    
             Shrubs, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2021     Love in Bright Landscapes (curated by Annika Kristensen), Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Perth, Western Australia
             If it’s good for you, it’s fine by me (organized by Gracie Hadland), Real Pain, Los Angeles, CA
            SUBSTRATA, EPOCH + LAMOA, Los Angeles, CA
2020     From Dallas to Baum Bridge (curated by Anna Frost), Los Angeles River, Los Angeles, CA
             Majeure Force, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019     Grey Garden, Night Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2018     La Biennale di Vista del Oro II (Curated by Santi Vernetti), Yard Pedro, San Pedro, CA
            "An Ode To All That", screening of video works by sixteen ArtCenter Grad Art alumni spanning 1987-2018, Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA
2015     Water’s Shape, 308 at 156 Project Artspace, NY, NY
             Finally Every Dimension of the Soil, American Medium, Brooklyn, NY
2014     Maspeth’s World of Wheels (MWOW) Auto Show Extravaganza, Knockdown Center, Maspeth, NY     
             I’ll Miss Your Garbage, Molasses Books, Brooklyn, NY
             Search Results, A Slender Gamut, Brooklyn, NY
2013     Petrella’s Imports: Internet Protocol, petrellasimports.net
             A Discourse on Plants, RH Gallery, New York, NY

FAIRS

2021     Frieze LA, Night Gallery

AWARD

2019     Rema Hort Mann Foundation Emerging Artist Grant

SELECTED ARTICLES, INTERVIEWS, PRESS

2023     FOX 11 Los Angeles Digital Team. "Floating artwork seen in Ballona Creek". Local FOX News story. June 6, 2023.
              Matthew Rodriguez for KCAL NEWS. "Apparent homeless encampment found floating around Ballona Creek". Local CBS News story. June 6, 2023.
              Matthew Rodriguez for KCAL NEWS. "Makeshift raft docked, removed after being spotted on Ballona Creek". Local CBS News story. June 7, 2023.
              Mina, AX. "Staying Close to the Land with Plein Air Painting". Hyperallergic. September 18, 2023.
              Cascone, Sarah. "Artist Sterling Wells Built a Floating Studio in Order to Paint the View from L.A.’s Ballona Creek. Then the City Demolished It". Artnet. July 19, 2023.
              Keenan, Annabel. "LA Artist’s Floating Painting Studio Removed by Local Officials". Hyperallergic. June 29, 2023.                 
2022     Trimble, Lynn. "Review: Plein Air Challenges Assumptions and Aesthetics at MOCA Tucson”. Southwest Contemporary. June 17, 2022
             Votang, Thao. “Plein Air Is a Sobering Reminder of Human Impact on the Environment”. Hyperallergic. August 20, 2022
             Yang, Catherine. “Pick of the Week: Shrubs”. Artillery Magazine. January 26, 2022
2021     Kirkman, Kim.“Tales of two sun-bleached cities”. Seesaw Magazine. August 3, 2021     
          Osberg, Annabel. “Spelunking Through “Substrata” at EPOCH Gallery”. AEQAI. February 20, 2021
             Preston Zappas, Lindsay. “‘Substrata’ at Epoch Gallery”. KCRW. January 26, 2021
             The Art Newspaper’s XR Panel. “Memories of Myst: Substrata, a new artist-run virtual exhibition, is like entering a magical afterlife”. The Art Newspaper. March 12, 2021
2017     Kissik, Dean. "the best young artist-run spaces and galleries in los angeles". i-d.vice.com. December 4, 2017
2015     Ober, Cara. “Interview with Sterling Wells by Jan Razauskasc. BmoreArt. October 17, 2015
2013     Meier, Alison. “EMERGING: Artist Sterling Wells Creates Post-Natural Landscape Paintings”. BLOUIN Artinfo. January 17, 2013
               Truax, Stephen. “New Art Spaces in the Bushwick Area, Part 1”. Hyperallergic. January 9, 2013
2012     Chapline, John and Lorraine Nam. “Studio Visit: Sterling Wells- Red Hook”. #FFFFFF Walls. May 30, 2012

COLLECTIONS

University Hospital, San Antonio, TX
New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY