Carmen Neely
Carmen Neely (b. 1987 in Charlotte, North Carolina; lives and works in Chicago) trades in semantics. For Neely, the difference between two types of line is not so much a precious commitment to formal queries that lead nowhere outside of the canvas; rather these marks are an earnest stab at solving real problems in expressing one’s own history and the histories that are passed through us by the act of mark making.
Neely’s canvases are surfaces taught with conflict, line, color and language. The marks ricochet and collide off one another, their meanings always affected by their proximity to other gestures. In Neely’s paintings, memory, speech, and feeling are not necessarily linear or discrete expressions and experiences but are rather codependent on a series of contexts that produce, interrupt and re-form them over time.
Her paintings give a feeling of catharsis, bursting with colorful and calligraphic strokes on delicate and soft backgrounds. The tableaus propose the peace that comes through an ongoing process of renegotiation and reiteration. If each line holds expressions of identity, values, and memory passed through generations of family and friendships, Neely’s consistent modulation of gesture and color in her own vernacular suggest the mutability and evolution of these values over time and geography. The process is about intricacies of interpretation with the resulting works expressing a methodological approach to language that remains vulnerable to Neely’s own ongoing confrontation with selfhood.
Neely holds a Master in Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is included in the collection of The University of North Carolina (Charlotte, North Carolina), and Plattsburgh State Museum of Art, New York. Neely is currently an adjunct professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Carmen Neely’s forthcoming solo exhibition will open in fall 2024 in Paris.
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Carmen Neely
Sometimes a painting is a prayer 26 May - 8 Jul 2023 Chicago“Are you sure, sweetheart, that you want to be well?… Just so’s you’re sure, sweetheart, and ready to be healed, cause wholeness is no trifling matter. A lot of weight...Read more -
Un Abrazo
Group Exhibition 8 Feb - 29 Apr 2023 Mexico CityThe inaugural group exhibition, Un Abrazo, features new work uniting a selection of represented artists. The exhibition explores the new possibilities of immersion, culture, and sensation that Mexico City represents...Read more -
Carmen Neely and Ferrari Sheppard
Where to begin... 11 Dec 2021 - 15 Jan 2022 ParisMariane Ibrahim presents “ Where to begin…” the gallery’s second group exhibition in Paris following the inaugural opening in September 2021. The show highlights significant new and large scale works...Read more
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ART ONO
Setec, Seoul, Korea 19 - 21 Apr 2024BOOTH # 113 EXHIBITING ARTISTS: ruby onyinyechi amanze Patrick Eugène Yukimasa Ida Eva Jospin Carmen Neely Zohra Opoku Mariane Ibrahim is pleased to participate in...Read more -
BARELY FAIR
COLOR CLUB 13 - 21 Apr 2024Mariane Ibrahim is delighted to present a miniature work by Carmen Neely in the 4th iteration of Barely Fair, an artist-run international art fair. Organized...Read more -
Art Basel Miami Beach
1 - 3 Dec 2022BOOTH #D33 EXHIBITING ARTISTS: Amoako Boafo M. Florine Démosthène Patrick Eugène Yukimasa Ida Clotilde Jiménez Shannon T. Lewis No Martins Ian Micheal Ian Mwesiga Carmen...Read more -
Paris+ par Art Basel
19 - 23 Oct 2022BOOTH # E16 EXHIBITING ARTISTS: Raphaël Barontini Amoako Boafo Yukimasa Ida Clotilde Jiménez Shannon T. Lewis Ian Mwesiga Carmen Neely Peter Uka Mariane Ibrahim is...Read more -
The Armory Show
9 - 11 Sep 2022BOOTH # 126 EXHIBITING ARTISTS: ruby onyinyechi amanze M. Florine Démosthène Maïmouna Guerresi Mwangi Hutter Ayana V. Jackson Shannon T. Lewis Carmen Neely Zohra...Read more -
Art Basel
14 - 19 Jun 2022BOOTH # R24 EXHIBITING ARTISTS: Raphaël Barontini Amoako Boafo M. Florine Démosthène Mwangi Hutter Yukimasa Ida Ayana V. Jackson Clotilde Jiménez Ian Mwesiga Carmen Neely...Read more -
EXPO CHICAGO
7 - 10 Apr 2022BOOTH # 223 EXHIBITING ARTISTS: Raphaël Barontini Amoako Boafo Yukimasa Ida Clotilde Jiménez No Martins Ian Micheal Ian Mwesiga Carmen Neely Zohra Opoku Our presentation...Read more