Mel Davis
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
2020
Hihihi You feel good *I, Barbara Davis Gallery, Houston, Texas
2017
Mel Davis: Meet Me in the Usual Place, Honor Fraser, Los Angeles, CA
Windows, Mirrors, Pools, Galleri Urbane, Dallas, TX
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
2017
Women Painters, Madison Gallery, La Jolla, CA
2016
Between Land and Sky, Olga Korper Gallery, Toronto, Canada
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