Sarah Crowner’s diverse art practice ranges from paintings and ceramics to sculptures and theater curtains.
She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1996 and a Masters of Fine Arts from Hunter College, City University of New York in 2002. She also attended École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France.
Crowner creates paintings by sewing together angular pieces of already painted canvas and linen, revealing the painting’s composition and construction simultaneously. The stitched seams are visible, reflecting an interest in production and reproduction. These seams and the forms they create are reminiscent of hard-edge paintings of the 1960s. In an interview with the New York Observer, Crowner states, “sewing made sense at first because it was a way of cutting up, collaging, reorganizing and re-constructing in a practical way.”
In recent years, Crowner has exhibited her paintings in conjunction with ceramic tile murals and floor instillations. Each individual stitched and painted fragment of canvas and each hand-crafted tile is a unique element, contributing to a greater whole. Her work draws attention to the surrounding context, from the painted walls, brick patterns, concrete floor or plate glass windows. These dynamic three-dimensional abstractions seductively speak of connection, opposition, separation, hierarchy, transition and assimilation. Witty, playful and optimistic, Sarah Crowner’s investment in materials and use of color as form deliberately seduce the viewer, evoking desire and reflecting her interest in how painting can engage the body and mind.
Crowner was awarded the 2019-2020 Rome Prize in the visual art category by the American Academy in Rome.
Born 1974 in Philadelphia, PA. Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
EDUCATION
2002
M.F.A., Hunter College City University of New York, New York, NY
Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts, Paris, France
1996
B.A., University of California, Santa Cruz, CA
AWARDS AND RESIDENCIES
2022
Chinati Foundation, Marfa, TX
2020
Rome Prize, American Academy in Rome, Italy
2019
The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Captiva, FL
2007/2008
Artist in Residence, Ceramics Department, Hunter College City University of New York, NY
2008
Skopelos Foundation for the Arts, Skopelos, Greece
1999
ARCO: Centro de Art Communication Visual, Lisbon, Portugal
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022
Sarah Crowner, Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico (Forthcoming)
2021
Sarah Crowner: Plant Based, Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin, Germany
Sarah Crowner: Landscape, Kayne Griffin, Los Angeles, CA
2020
Sarah Crowner, Casey Kaplan Gallery, New York, NY
2019
Post Jacaranda, Galerie Nordenhake, Mexico City, Mexico
Paintings for the Stage, Simon Lee Gallery, Hong Kong
Three Concrete Sculptures, Kayne Griffin Corcoran, Los Angeles, CA
2018
Weeds, Casey Kaplan, New York, NY
2016
Sarah Crowner/ Tutsi Baskets, Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm, Sweden
PlasticMemory, Simon Lee Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Beetle in the Leaves, MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA
2015
Everywhere the Line is Looser, Casey Kaplan, New York, NY (cat.)
2014
Interiores, Travesia Cuatro, Guadalajara, Mexico
Motifs, Galerie Catherine Bastide, Brussels
The Wave, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY
2012
Geometric Park, SAKS Galerie, Geneva, Switzerland
Rehearsal, Galerie Nordenhake, Stockholm, Sweden
2011
Acrobat, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY
Ballet Plastique, Catherine Bastide, Brussels
Zig Zags and Curves, Helena Papadopoulos, Athens, Greece
2009
Paintings and Pots, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY
2008
Handbuilt Vessels, Nice + Fit Gallery, Berlin, Germany (cat.)
TWO PERSON EXHIBITIONS
2014
Sunday in the Park, organized with Sari Carel and Exile Books, Locust Projects, Miami, FL
2013
Larry Bell and Sarah Crowner Meet Marlow Moss, Kunstverein, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2008
Ceramics and Other Things, with Paulina Olowska, DAAD Galerie, Berlin, Germany
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2021
Cerámica Suro: A Story of Collaboration, Production, and Collecting in the Contemporary Arts, Museo de Arte de Zapopan, Zapopan, Mexico
Field of Vision, Peter Blum Gallery, New York, NY
New to the Collection, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
Contemporary Art + Design: New Acquisitions, Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas,TX
2021
Sculpture, Kayne Griffin Corcoran, Los Angeles, CA
Painting, Kayne Griffin Corcoran, Los Angeles, CA
2019
Abstract, Representational, and so forth, Gladstone Gallery, New York, NY
Hinge Pictures: Eight Women Artists Occupy the Third Dimension, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
Notebook, 56 Henry, New York, NY
2018
Carnegie International 57th Edition, 2018, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA
Hinge Picture, Contemporary Art Centre (CAC), New Orleans, LA
Clay Bodies: Moving Through Ceramics, Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft (KMAC), Louisville, KY
Painting/Object: Sarah Crowner, N. Dash, Sam Moyer, Julia Rommel, Erin Shirreff, FLAG Art Foundation, New York, NY
Hog’s Curve, Halsey McKay, New York, NY
Invitational Exhibition of Visual Arts, American Academy of Arts and Letters, New York, NY
2017
5KV / 5 Years of Art and Design in Kvalitář Gallery, Kvalitář Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
Für Barbara, Hall Art Foundation, Derneburg, Germany
Mauvaises Herbes: Sarah Crowner, Caitlin Keogh, Paulina Olowska, Simon Lee Gallery, Hong Kong
You Should Be An Artist, Catherine Bastide, Brussels
The Centre Cannot Hold, Near East, Istanbul, Turkey
Salon Hang, Kunstverein, Amsterdam, Netherlands
99 Cents or Less, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Detroit, MI
2016
If Only Bella Abzug Were Here, Marc Straus, New York, NY
We Are Not Things, INVISIBLE-EXPORTS, New York, NY
2015
Surface Tension, The Flag Art Foundation, New York, NY
Faux Amis, Simon Lee, London, United Kingdom
Space Between, The Flag Art Foundation, New York, NY
Repetition and Difference, Jewish Museum, New York, NY
2014
Conversation Piece, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
From Pre-History to Post-Everything, Sean Kelly Gallery, New York, NY
2013
Painter Painter, curated by Eric Crosby and Bartholomew Ryan, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
Pathfinder: And to End, -1, curated by Arlène Berceliot Courtin, Paris, France
Work, Organized by Sara Greenberger Rafferty, Klaus von Nichtssagend Gallery, New York, NY
DNA: Strands of Abstraction, Loretta Howard Gallery, New York, NY
Experienz #2, WIELS, Contemporary Art Centre, Brussels
Edge, Order, Rupture: Geometric Abstraction, Galerie Lelong, New York, NY
Questioning the canvas, Geukens & De Vil, Knokke, Belgium
Excursus IV: Primary Information, ICA Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
Splendor Tkaniny, Zacheta National Museum of Art, Warsaw, Poland
Abstract Generation: Now in Print, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
Beyond the Object, Brand New Gallery, Milan, Italy
2012
a gathering, Athens Festival, Athens, Greece
Surface in Volume, Luce Gallery, Turin, Italy
Material Occupation, University Art Museum, University at Albany, Albany, NY (cat.)
2011
WE REGRET TO INFORM YOU THERE IS CURRENTLY NO SPACE OR PLACE FOR ABSTRACT PAINTING, Martos Gallery, New York, NY
New Shadow Old Legs, Eleven Rivington, New York, NY
Paying A Visit to Mary Part 2, Kunstverein, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2010
Peter Saville’s ‘Accessory to an Artwork,’ Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, East Hampton, NY
Creeds, Colors and Combinations, Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, New York, NY
Owl Stretching Time, Galerie Nordenhake, Berlin, Germany
2010
Whitney Biennial, curated by Francesco Bonami and Gary Carrion-Murayari, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY (cat.)
2009
Looking Back: The White Columns Annual, White Columns, New York, NY
For the blind man in the dark room looking for the black cat that isn’t there, curated by Anthony Huberman, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis; ICA, London; Museum of Contemporary Art, Detroit; de Appel, Amsterdam; Culturgest, Lisbon
Cave Painting: Installment #1, curated by Bob Nickas, Gresham’s Ghost, New York, NY
Sarah Crowner and Yiannis Moralis: Conversations Part I, Nice + Fit Gallery, Berlin, Germany
2008
Opportunity as Community: Artists Select Artists, Part Two, Dieu Donne, New York, NY
SPECIAL PROJECTS
2022
US Embassy of Honduras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras (forthcoming)
2021
Museo Amparo, Puebla, Mexico
2019
Commission, Park House, Dallas, TX
2018
Jessica Lang and Sarah Crowner, Garden Blue, American Ballet Theatre, New York, NY
Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art: An American City: Eleven Cultural Exercises, FRONT International, Cleveland, OH
Commission, New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY
2017
Commission, The Wright restaurant, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
2011/2014
VIDAS PERFECTAS, The Irondale Center, Brooklyn, NY; The Serpentine Gallery, London; Whitney Biennial, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Ballroom Marfa, Marfa, TX
2001
Garden Chairs, Luxembourg Gardens, Paris, France
Brooklyn Monochrome Project, Brooklyn, NY
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
Carnegie Museums, Pittsburgh, PA
The Contemporary Austin, Austin, TX
Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX
Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, North Adams, MA
Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN