BIOGRAPHY & CV

Canadian, B.1973
Mel Davis is a Berkeley, California based visual artist. She grew up in Montréal, graduated from Concordia University in 1998, then moved to the Bay Area to complete her Masters in Fine Art at the San Francisco Art Institute. She is part of numerous private and public collections and is the recipient of The Canada Council For The Arts Grant and the Irene Pijoan Memorial Award for Painting.

“My paintings investigate iconic themes in art such as landscape, the portrait, the interior. I am interested in how we as makers and viewers can find endless modes of description and emotional connection in these classical representations. The history of painting has informed our modern view of nature and our reality. By continuing the tradition of painting these subjects, I explore the space between what is familiar and what still can be mysterious. My work questions if we can find new and relevant areas of study in what is traditional.” – Mel Davis

EDUCATION

2005       MFA, The San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California
2002       The Slade School of Art London, United Kingdom
1999       BFA, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec Studio Arts

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2013

Begin Here, Eleanor Harwood Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2011

A Surprising Turn of Events, Eleanor Hardwood Gallery, San Francisco, CA
First Things At The Last Minute, Local 123 Berkeley, CA

2008

Sea and Sky, Larry Becker Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA

2006

Mel Davis Paintings, Cecile Moochnek Gallery, Berkeley, CA
Mel Davis New Paintings, NavtaSchulz Gallery, Chicago, IL

GROUP EXHIBITION

2013

Cloud Chambers, The Mayors Parlor Gallery, London, U.K.
In-Between, Contemporary Art Center in las Vegas, NV

2012

Aqua Art Fair, Eleanor Harwood Gallery, Miami, FL

2011

Art Market, K. Imperial, San Francisco, CA

2010

This Cool, Larry Becker Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA
Lines, Lanes and Planes, Slate Art, Oakland, CA

2009

New American Talent 24, (juror: Hamza Walker), Arthouse, Austin Texas, (traveling exhibition)

2008

Close Calls, Headlands Center For The Arts, (juror: Christopher Brown), Sausalito, CA
Introductions 2008, (juror: Amy Ellingson), Root Division, San Francisco, CA 2007
In Light, Larry Becker Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, PA

2007

Aqua Art Fair, NavtaSchulz Gallery, Miami, FL
Making Peace, Three Walls, Chicago, IL
2×2, Oakland Art Gallery, Oakland, CA
Polyptychs, COCA, Seattle, WA

2006

Ripples, The Oakland Art Gallery, Oakland, CA
Bridge Miami Art Fair, NavtaSchulz Gallery, Miami, FL
The Shape of Things, NavtaSchulz Gallery, Oakland, CA
Berkeley Art Center 23rd Annual National Juried Exhibition (juror: Paule Anglim), Berkeley, CA

2005

Ceontemporary Abstracts (juror: Kenneth Baker), Alameda Center For The Arts, Alameda, CA

2004

Gen Art Emerge (jurors: Paule Anglim, Squeak Carnwath), The Old Mint, San Francisco, CA

SELECTED AWARDS

2014

Grant: The Canada Council For The Arts, Travel Grant

2008

Grant: The Canada Council For The Arts

2005

The Irene Pijoan Memorial Award for Painting, SFAI-MFA Painting Prize

2004

International Student Grant – The San Francisco Art Institute

2001

Grant: Conseil des Arts et Lettres du Quebec, Quebec, Canada

1998

Recipient of the Mills Prize for Painting – Concordia University