Sophy Naess (b. 1982) is based in New York and received her B.F.A. from Cooper Union in 2004 and M.F.A. from Rutgers University in 2013. Recent exhibitions include solo shows at Veda (2023); April in Paris (2021); 17 Essex (2018); The Middler (2017) and 321 Gallery (2016). Her work has appeared in group shows at Kerry Schuss, Heroes Gallery, The New School, Chapter NY, Matthew Marks and Greene Naftali galleries in New York City, as well as institutional shows at Växjö Konsthall in Sweden and the Albuqerque Museum in the US. She has been artist in residence at the International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP), NY; The Shandaken Project, NY; Southern Oregon University; The Brooklyn Arts Council's SU CASA program at the Bay Ridge Senior Center in Brooklyn; Gael Roots Community Farm, NY; The Range, Colorado; and Sikås Art Center, Sweden. Naess is a Senior Critic in Painting and Printmaking at the Yale School of Art. 


sophia.naess@gmail.com


Education

2013 MFA Mason Gross School of the Arts

2004 BFA Cooper Union


Solo Exhibitions

2023 I AM NATURECULTURE! Veda, Florence, IT

2021 Dramas of Adjustment, April in Paris Fine Arts, Aerdenhout, NL

2020 Floating World Revisited, 628 Grand St, Brooklyn

2018 The Tapestry of the Apocalypse, 17 Essex, NYC

2018 Selections from Sophy Naess Supporters' Circle scarf editions at 45b Rue Ramponeau, Paris

2017 All The Things You Are, The Middler, Brooklyn

2016 Labor of Love, 321 Gallery, Brooklyn

2013 Furtive Movements, Weekend Projects, Brooklyn

2011 Unexpected Pasts and Frantic Futures, Galleri Box, Gothenburg, Sweden

2009 The Fairest of them All, Galleri Thomassen, Gothenburg, Sweden

2008 Like to Get to Know You Well, Galleri 54, Gothenburg, Sweden

2008 The Railton Collection, New York


Selected Group Exhibitions


2023 Mosaics, James Barron Fine Art, Kent CT


2022 The Printer's Proof, Albuquerque Museum, Albuquerque, NM


2021 

Sonia Louise Davis Selects: Foundation for Contemporary Arts Benefit Exhibition, Greene Naftali Gallery, NYC

Asynchronous Viewing, Heroes Gallery NYC

Anarchy of the Imagination, Kerry Schuss Gallery, NYC

Art for Life's Sake, April in Paris Fine Arts, Aerdenhout, NL

Love at the End, Heroes Gallery http://www.heroesgallery.gallery/


2020 Sikås Biennale 2020, Sikås Art Center, Sweden

2019

May China, Xi’anAcademy of Fine Arts, Xi’an, China

Pulled in Brooklyn, IPCNY, New York

Grand Buffet, Baba Yaga Gallery, Hudson NY

2018

NADA New York with 321 Gallery, New York NY

Editions/Artists Book Fair with 10 Grand Press, New York NY

To Whom It May Concern, BILAGA Editions, Skövde Konsthall, Skövde Sweden

Summer in Sikås, Växjö Konsthall, Växjö Sweden

2017

How to Draw the Human Figure, Agency Gallery, Brooklyn

Capitalist Realism Surimono, Situations, New York

Ephemeroptera, The Hand Space, Brooklyn

We The Watchers Are Also Bodies, Hercules Art Space, New York

2016

J'AI RÊVÉ LE GOÛT DE LA BRIQUE PILÉE, Centre of Contemporary Ceramics of La Borne, France

Five Holes All Smiles, Greenpoint Terminal Gallery, Brooklyn

The Good Life, The Range, Saguache, CO

Syntagma, Eugene Lang College, New York

Large Glass curated by Jennifer Sullivan, Spring/Break Art Fair, NYC

2015

I Lost Something in the Hills or A Painting of Blue Roses, US Blues, Brooklyn

The Harmers, Joan Gallery, Los Angeles

♂ Anti‑‑Fertility Garden, organized by Mary Walling Blackburn, Sala Diaz, San Antionio, TX

The Harmers, David Lewis Gallery, New York

2014

Artists for Artists, Foundation for Contemporary Art Benefit, Matthew Marks, New York

About Like So: The Influence of Painting, curated by Terri C Smith, Franklin St. Works, Stamford, CT

The Shandaken Project Retrospective Exhibition, Creative Time, New York

And the Villagers Never Liked you Anyway, Knockdown Center, Brooklyn

Sisrahtac, organized by Brie Ruais and Maria Stabio, Torrance Shipman Gallery, Brooklyn

Zero Point, Jackie Klempay Gallery, Brooklyn

The View from the Window, curated by Lumi Tan, Chapter NY

Yard Show, Essex Flowers, New York

Speaking Through Paint: Hans Hofmann's Legacy Today, Lori Bookstein Fine Art, New York

The Last Brucennial, New York

Correspondance, Publication Studio Hudson, Catskill, NY

Tag Sale, organized by Julia Sherman, New York

Material Memory: Heather Hart, Nick Pilato, Sophy Naess, Gallery Aferro, Newark

2013

Speaking Through Paint: Hans Hofmann's Legacy Today, Lori Bookstein Gallery, NY

FABRIKA (with Jam Archives), Court Square, Queens

Your Content Will Return Shortly, Franklin Street Works, Stamford, CT

2012

The End(s) of the Library, Goethe Institut, New York

Fruit and Vegetable Stand by Paul Branca, New York

Leisure / Work, The Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY

Bazaar, Soloway, Brooklyn

Little Languages Coded Pictures, Kathryn Markel Fine Arts, New York

The Brucennial, New York

Dependent Art Fair with New Capital Projects, New York

2011

99% Wizards of Change, Mason Gross Galleries, New Brunswick, NJ

Blackout, Port d’Or, Brooklyn

A Person Of Color / A Mostly Orange Exhibition (with Carmelle Safdie), The Green Gallery East, Milwaukee WI

Best of 2011, Soloway, Brooklyn

Tide Pool Shop, Sara Meltzer Gallery, New York

2010

Par Avion, Parlour No. 19 (home of D. Endo), Siena, Italy

First Rate Second Hand (calendar and poster launch and signing), Printed Matter, New York

Brucennial, New York

The Artist At Work, Recess Activities, New York

A Reluctant Apparition, Sue Scott Gallery, New York

2009

Galleri 54, Supermarket Art Fair, Stockholm, SE

2008

Memories of Development, Pocket Utopia Gallery, Brooklyn

Kunstpublikationer 2008, Overgade Institut for Samtidskunst, Copenhagen, DK

Brevity's Rainbow, Cinders Gallery, Brooklyn

2007

Darling What Color, Thrust Projects, New York (with Matthew Lutz Kinoy)

2005

No Apology for Breathing, Jack the Pelican Presents, Brooklyn

Tutti Frutti Miami Basel, Miami, FL

Memorial Daze, RKL Gallery, Brooklyn (with Natsuko Uchino)

Sisters, The Fresh‑Up Club, Austin, TX

2004

The Liberty Fair, New York

Horror Vaccui, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, New York

The Lucky Seven, The Cooper Union School of Art, New York

Awards & Residencies

2023 Shandaken Governor's Island, NYC; Southern Oregon University, Ashland, Oregon; Gael Roots Community Farm, Livingston Manor, NY

2019 Lenore Tawney Foundation Artist in Residence, ISCP New York

2016

The Range, Saguache, CO

SU-CASA Artist In Residence, Brooklyn Arts Council

2015

Sikås Art Center, Sweden

2013

Artist in Residence at Scuola Grafika, Venice, Italy

Artist in Residence at the Shandaken Project, NY

2011‑2012 Full TA, Mason Gross

2010

Artist in Residence, Recess Activities, New York 2008

Lundgrenska Stiftelsen, Sweden

Artist in Residence, The Press at Colorado College, Colorado, USA

Guest lecturer at Bennington College, Vermont, USA

Guest lecturer at California College of Art, San Francisco.

2007 Otto och Charlotte Mannheimer Fonden, Sweden

2004 Pietro and Alfrieda Montana prize for excellence in drawing and sculpture

2002 New York Central Supply Award

2001 Frank Caldiero Humanities Award, Cooper Union