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.
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