Elisabeth Condon

Elisabeth Condon is an American artist whose multilayered pour paintings reference scroll painting, postwar abstraction, vintage textile patterns, nightclubs, and her immediate surroundings.

Here is an excerpt from the Introduction to her exhibition catalog from her 2019 show at Emerson Dorsch:

“Elisabeth’s intellect, spirit and sharp wit are on a full view in these pieces. As Franklin Einspruch wrote of her, “to know Elisabeth Condon is to understand the magnitude of art in her head.” Her knowledge of art history and her commitment to sustained examination of past and present paintings have inspired me since I first began working with her in 2008. She is more than these attributes though. Eisnpruch gets it right when he elaborates that Elisabeth’s head in that sentence is better understood as the Chinese word for heart, xin, which encompasses all aspects of enlightened being. Sporting cropped red hair and vividly patterned clothes, her spritely presence vibrates with her passion for art and life.

Her inexhaustible research fuels her practice, which begins a monk-like ritual each day and finishes after painting until 2 or 3am each night. Her Tampa studio, where she made the paintings for this show, has about 50 paint pots laid out on two or three tables, brushes neatly divided by size and texture, and paintings all around. The space has a lofted ceiling and natural light spills through the windows high above. The painting process in this show came on the heels of a two week print-making residency with Graphicstudio, one of more than twenty renowned residencies all over the word Condon has attended through the years. Her travels are part of her research. She summoned her time in New York, NY, where she spends half of the year, in her depiction of pigeons as symbols of that city’s landscape. Often within a single painting there is conflict, like a desire to be in another place than where she is. She tells me that when she is in New York she thirsts for Florida’s lushness and space. Other conflicts manifest in her treatment of her subjects – they are not always easy depictions. She often explodes, obliterates or dissolves the flowers entirely. She can be irreverent. She enacts ambivalence while committing fully. The battle on view is part of the show.”

Elisabeth Condon’s paintings have been recognized by a Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant, Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant, and Florida Individual Artist Fellowship. They reside in the permanent collections of Tampa Museum of Art, Perez Art Museum Miami, Hudson River Museum, United States Embassy Beijing, and numerous private collections throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Public commissions extend Condon’s synthetic landscape into the urban environment. They include Urban Idyll, commissioned by MTA Art & Design Percent for Art for the NYCT Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard Station in Queens, Lattice Views, commissioned by Norte Maar in Brooklyn’s Highland Park, Notes on a Landscape, commissioned by the Judy Genshaft Honors College at University of South Florida, and Verdant Tampa Bay for the Tampa Airport’s International Arrivals Terminal.

Condon has integrated travel and artist residencies into her practice, listing 23 residencies since 1992. Her time at the Sam and Adele Golden Foundation Residency Program in New Berlin, NY was especially important to her upcoming exhibition for Emerson Dorsch, Tempus Fugit. 

The discourse surrounding Condon’s work is substantial. An eloquent writer about her process and philosophy, interviews are a good way to delve into her deeply erudite way of articulating the context and references in her work. Recent interviews are available at Two Coats of Paint and Voyage Mia. Condon is also a regular guest on the podcast Pep Talks for Artists, where she shares deeply informed observations of paintings by Joseph Stella, Sam Francis, Pierre Bonnard and Edvard Munch, among others. Writers who have written essays about Condon include Jason Stoppa, Erica Ando, Franklin Einspruch, and Tyler Emerson-Dorsch. 

For eleven years Condon served as Associate Professor at the University of South Florida, Tampa. She holds an MFA from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design, Los Angeles, where she grew up a second generation native. Condon currently lives and works in New York, NY and Tampa, FL.

Elisabeth Condon is represented by Emerson Dorsch.

b. 1959 Los Angeles, CA
Lives and works in New York, NY and Tampa, Florida

EDUCATION

1989 MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL
1986 BFA, Otis Art Institute of Parsons School of Design, CA

SELECTED SOLO & TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2023
Tempus Fugit, Emerson Dorsch, Miami, FL
Un(Common) Light, Art & History Museum Maitland, FL (duo)

2021
New Works, Emerson Dorsch, Miami, FL (2017, 2012)

2019
Mitsui/Fudosan at 527 Madison, New York, NY, curator Jay Grimm
Effulgence, Emerson Dorsch, Miami, FL

2018
Miami International Airport Galleries, curator Tyler Emerson Dorsch

2017
Unnatural Life, Emerson Dorsch, Miami, FL
Saunders Foundation Gallery, Tampa Museum of Art, FL (duo)
Herbert H. and Barbara C. Dow Center for Visual Arts, Interlochen Center for the Arts Interlochen, MI
AIRIE Nest, Everglades, FL

2016
Lesley Heller Workspace

2015
Pulse New York, Emerson Dorsch, Miami, New York, NY (Prize Recipient)

2013
University Gallery, Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA

2012
Art & Cultural Center of Hollywood, Hollywood, FL
Maison de la Culture Maisonneuve, Montréal (duo)
Walk with Me, Emerson Dorsch Gallery, Miami, FL

2011
Bob Rauschenberg Gallery, Edison State College, Fort Myers, FL

2010
Emerson Dorsch, Miami, FL

2009
Albany Museum of Art, Albany, GA
Da Feng Gallery, Beijing, China
Windows Project, GrantPirrie Gallery, Sydney, Australia

2008
Emerson Dorsch, Miami, FL
Lenore Gray Gallery, Providence, RI (duo)
ADA Gallery, Richmond VA (duo)

2007
With Bruce Willhelm, ADA Gallery, Richmond, VA

2006
Emerson Dorsch, Miami, FL

2004
Beaker Gallery, Tampa, FL (also 2003)
Stock 20, Taichung, Taiwan

2001
Lenore Gray Gallery, Providence, RI (duo)

1999
Galerie du Tableau, Marseille, France

1998
Jeffrey Coploff, New York, NY

SELECTED GROUP AND THREE-PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2023
Rainbows and Unicorns, Markel Fine Arts, New York, NY, curator Marilla Palmer
Made in Paint, Sam and Adele Golden Gallery, New Berlin, NY, curator Jim Walsh
(un)Common Light, Maitland Art & History Museum, Maitland, FL (duo, Dan Hess curator)
This Earth, Concord Center for the Visual Arts, Concord, MA, curated by Stefan Hagen
Dear March Come In, Birdhouse Brooklyn, NY, curator Alexi Rutsch Brock
BluPrnt, Bridge Red Studios, Miami, Fl, curated by Robert Chambers

2022
Mural Group Project Group, Norte Maar, Brooklyn, NY
The World is Just So Small Now, Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL
Fragile Rainbow, Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, Brooklyn, NY, curated by
Sue Spaid for ecoartspace
Pa hay okee: the Land of ‘Grassy Water’, ArtServe, Fort Lauderdale, FL, curator Ombretta
Agro Andruff
Passages: 8 Painters, Steadman Gallery, Rutgers University at Camden Center, NJ

2021
This Earth: Notes and Observations by Montello Foundation Artists, Southern Utah Museum of Art, Cedar City, UT
The Power of Ten, Kleinert/James Center for the Arts, Woodstock Byrdcliffe Guild NY, curator Jane Hart
TIME/FRAME/MATTER: HARD LIGHT, curated by Felecia Chizuko Carlisle and Richard Haley,
hosted by Elaine Jacob Gallery, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI
Artists Draw Their Studios, Available Space at New York Public Library, Hudson Branch, NY, NY

2020
From Dark to Light, online exhibition, Jason McCoy Gallery, New York, NY
Mercedes Matter Award Show, New York Studio School Alumni Exhibition, 122 Grand St., NY
What We Create May Save Us, curated by Cynthia Reynolds, Ejecta Projects, PA
Postcards from the Pandemic, Beard & Weil Galleries, Wheaton College, Norton, MA
Eco Consciousness, juried by Eleanor Heartney for ecoartspace, online catalog
Art Off Screen, organized by Eileen Jeng Lynch, Neumeraki Projects, NY, NY
Mother Altar, Mother Gallery, Beacon, New York (contributor)
New York Studio School 2020 Alumni Exhibition (online) (prize recipient)
Drawing Challenge (weekly online exhibition), Jason McCoy Gallery, New York, NY
Return to the Source, Glyndor Gallery at Wave Hill, Riverdale, Bronx, NY

2019
Florida Contemporary, Baker Museum of Art, Naples, FL, curator Rangsook Yoon
Unbound: Selections from the Stanton Storer Collection, UT Hartley/Scarfone Gallery,
Tampa, FL
Divine Interventions, Christ Episcopal Church, Sag Harbor, NY, curator Teri Hackett
Parameters, LES Gallery at The Clemente, New York, NY , curator Dan Rosenbaum
Dance With Me, Galerie Zurcher, New York, NY, curator Kyle Staver
Incise, Echo, & Repeat, Abrazo Interno Gallery, curators Kylie Heidenheimer and Camilla Fallon

2018
Paradise Summit Miami, Emerson Dorsch, Miami, FL
Picnic, Lesley Heller Gallery, New York, NY
Brooklyn Combine, Norte Maar at The Muse, Brooklyn, NY
Natural Proclivities, Shirley Fiterman Center for the Arts, BMCC, New York, NY, curators Kim Power and Melanie Vote
Cultivate Your Own Garden, Painting Center, New York, NY

2017
Sunrise, Sunset, Emerson Dorsch, Miami, FL
Flora Fantastica!, Glyndor Gallery at Wave Hill, Riverdale, NY, curator Jennifer McGregor
Skyway 2017, Selections From the Permanent Collection, Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL
Aesthetics & Values, Patricia and Phillip Frost Art Museum, Florida International University, Miami, FL
Tremolo, Rick Wester Fine Art, New York, NY
Marking Time, Mark Borghi Fine Art, New York, NY
Gardens on Orchard, Lesley Heller Workspace, New York, NY

2016
Splotch, Lesley Heller Workspace, New York, NY, curator Eileen Jeng
All Florida, Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL
The Conference of the Birds, Shirley Fiterman Art Center at BMCC, New York, NY, curator Brenda Zlamany

2015
Westbeth Annual 2015 Residents Exhibition, New York, NY, curator Bill Carroll
1000 Degrees in the Shade: A Survey of South Florida Art, Design Sublime, Miami, FL, curator Jane Hart assisted by Chris Ingalls and Nina Arias
Marks Made: Prints by Female American Artists 1960-Present, Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, FL
Into the Wild, Miami Dade College Kendall Campus Gallery, Miami, FL, curator Carol Jazzar
New York Studio School Alumni Exhibition, NYSS, New York, NY
Defining Abstraction, Selby Gallery, Ringling School of Art, curator Mark Ormond
Torn and Fired, Outlet Fine Art, Brooklyn, NY curator Jason Andrew
Urban Wild, Undercurrent Projects, New York, NY, curator Roberta Kent
Capelli d’Angeli Foundation exhibition, Gallery on the Green, Canton, CT
Transcendence, Artist Pension Trust / SoHo Fuxing Road Complex, Shanghai, China

2014
Faces and Traces, Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai, China (catalog)
The Gallery Project by Wang Xin at Antennae Art Space, Westbund Art & Design Fair, Shanghai, China
Summer Invitational, Life on Mars Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
The Florida Prize, Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando, FL
Enticing Luminosity, Lesley Heller Workspace, New York, NY

2013
Earthward, Skylight Gallery, New York, NY, curator David Gibson
Texas Contemporary, George R. Brown Convention Center, Houston, TX
Stone Canoe (Syracuse University’s Journal of the Arts) Artist Exhibition,
Herbert T. Williams Gallery at the Community Folk Art Center, Syracuse, NY, selected by Amy Cheng

2012
Dorsch Gallery Popup Show, Rehearsal Studio, Miami Theater Center, Miami, FL
5th Beijing Biennial, National Art Museum of China, Beijing, Nominated by Peter Wayne Lewis and Ning Ding, Professors, Mass Art and Beijing University
To Be A Lady: Forty-five Women in the Arts, curator Jason Andrew, 1285 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY
Fresher Paint, Rockland Center for the Arts, West Nyack, New York

2011
With Eastern Eyes, Studio Salon, Brooklyn, NY, curator David Gibson
Sense of Place, Foreman Gallery, Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY, curators Terry Slade and Fiona Dejardin
Haywire, STOREFRONT, Brooklyn, NY, curators Deborah Brown and Jason Andrew
Find and Combine, Abrazo Interno Gallery at CSV Centre, NY, NY, curator Linda Griggs
Can’t Hear The Revolution, Kunsthalle Galapagos, Brooklyn, NY
Painting with Pictures, Part II, Artjail, NY, NY, curator David Gibson
Signs on the Road, Curatorial Research Lab/Winkleman Gallery, NY, NY, organized by Workroom G (Leslie Brack, Michael Ashkin, Josh Geldzahler)
Reinventing the Landscape, A Fresh Look at Traditional and Contemporary Painting, North Terminal Gallery, Concourse E, Miami International Airport, Miami, FL, curator Yolanda Sánchez
New Year, New Work, New Faces, STOREFRONT, Brooklyn, NY, curators Jason Andrew and Deborah Brown

2010
Citational Graphologies, or a Show of Hands, Centotto, Brooklyn, NY
Ab Hinc, Camp Pocket Utopia, Rouse’s Point, NY, curator Austin Thomas
Get it Fresh! 6th Street Container, Miami, FL, curator Alberto Delgado
New/Now, Schoolhouse Gallery, Provincetown, MA
Paper Trails, Pearce Gallery, Whitecliffe College of Art and Design, Auckland, NZ, curators Saydi Kaufman and David Keefe
Flower (Re)Power, Housatonic Museum of Art, Bridgeport, CT, curator Terri C. Smith
Florida Contemporary, Naples Museum of Art, Naples, FL, curator Michael Culver
Ocketopia, Lesley Heller WorkSpace, New York, NY, curator Austin Thomas
L’Arabesque, Bleu Acier, Inc., Tampa, FL

2009
Into the Wild, Carol Jazzar Contemporary Art
New/Now, Schoolhouse Gallery, Provincetown, MA
With You I Want to Live, From the Collection of Francie Bishop Good and David Horvitz, Fort Lauderdale Museum, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Shapeshifted, Dorsch Gallery, Miami, FL

2008
Shapeshifter, Dorsch Gallery, Miami, FL
Under the Influence, Girls Club Foundation, Fort Lauderdale, FL
ContemporAryism, Songzhuang Museum, Beijing, China
Landscapes of the Mind, Permanent Collection, US Embassy, Beijing, China
Into the Woods, Arsenal Gallery at Central Park, New York, NY, curator Clare Weiss
Aesthetics and Values 2008, The Gallery at Green Library, Florida International University, Miami, FL, curators Victoria Cueto and Carolina Candeleria
Drawing Beyond the Plane, Tampa Museum of Art
Beyond Picturopolis, Art Center/South Florida, Miami

2007
Picturopolis, DACRA, Miami, FL

2006
Art on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC
Fantastic Routes, Roger Smith Hotel Lab Gallery, New York, NY,curator Allejandra Villasmil
Distance, Shenghua Art Center, Nanjing, China, curator Jaia Chen
Garden Paradise, Central Park Arsenal Gallery, New York, NY, curator Clare Weiss
Transparent/Opaque, Hunter College, New York, NY, curator Laura Sue Phillips

2005
Being There, BIAC Art Space, Beijing, China
Drawing, Southeastern Contemporary Art Gallery, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA
What is Drawing? Stock 20, Taichung, Taiwan
Florida Focus, Gulf Coast Museum of Art, Largo, FL, curator Mark Ormond

2004
Infinite Fill, BEIGE at Foxy Production, New York, NY
Elisabeth Condon and Todd Schroeder, superior (an art space), Cleveland, OH
Visual Mnemonics, Edge Zones, Miami, FL

2003
Retrospectives, Gallery 312, Chicago, IL, curator Adelheid Mers
Drawings SF/NY/LA, San Luis Obispo Center for the Arts, San Luis Obispo, CA

2001
The Figure: Another Side of Modernism, Newhouse Center for the Arts,
Snug Harbor, Staten Island, NY

1993 – 2003
Exhibited doll paintings in The Figure: Another Side of Modernism, Newhouse Center for the Arts Snug Harbor, Staten Island, NY, curator Lilly Wei (2001) and Cadavre Exquis at The Drawing Center (2003), among many other exhibitions.

1999 – 2003
Organized, alone and with Adelheid Mers, collaborative installations in New York, Chicago, London, Tennessee and Florida.

FAIRS

2023
UNTITLED Art Fair, Miami, FL

2021
IFPDA Ink! Miami with Graphicstudio, Miami, FL
Intersect Aspen with Emerson Dorsch, Aspen, CO

2020
No Fair, SoHo Beach House, Miami, FL, curated by Ché Morales
IFPDA Fine Art Print Fair Online Fall 2020, Graphicstudio USF
Intersect Aspen, Emerson Dorsch (online)

2019
Untitled Miami, AIRIE Nest Gallery

2015
NY Pulse Art Fair, Emerson Dorsch (prize recipient)

2012
Art Miami, Lesley Heller Gallery

2010
Next Art Fair, Chicago, Lesley Heller Gallery

RESIDENCIES, GRANTS, AWARDS, HONORS

2022
Golden Foundation Residency, New Berlin, NY
2020
Mercedes Matter Award, New York Studio School Alumni Exhibition, New York, NY
Artist in Residence, Tlacopac International Artist Residency, Mexico City, MX
2019
Patricia Specter Brown Fellowship, MacDowell Colony Fellowship, Peterborough, NH
Graphicstudio / Institute for Research in Art, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
2018
Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Program Grant
Artist in Residence, Montello Foundation, Montello, NV
Graphicstudio and Institute for Research in Art, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Artist in Residence, Ucross Foundation, Sheridan County, WY
Artist in Residence, Carrizozo Colony, Carrizozo, NM
Artist in Residence, Art & History Museums Maitland, FL
2017
Artist in Residence, Winter Workspace Program, Wave Hill, Bronx, NY
Artist in Residence, Art & History Museums, Maitland, FL
Hemera Foundation, Tending Spaces Artist Scholarship, Garrison, NY (declined)
2016
Artist in Residence, Everglades (AIRIE), Everglades National Park, FL
2015
Mercedes Matter Award, New York Studio School Alumni Exhibition, New York, NY
PULSE Prize, Pulse Contemporary Art Fair, New York, NY
Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant, New York, NY
Capelli d’Angeli Foundation Grant, Canton, CT
Inaugural Artist in Residence, Norte Maar, Jay, NY
2014
Artist in Residence, Swatch Art Peace Hotel, Shanghai, China
Confucius Institute Understanding China Fellowship, Hanban, Beijing, China
Artist in Residence, Morris Graves Foundation, Loleta, CA
Provost Summer Research Grant, University of South Florida
2013
Artist Pension Trust
Artist in Residence, Grand Canyon National Park, AZ
Artist in Residence, Wupatki National Monument, AZ
2012
Creative Scholar Grant, University Research Council, University of South Florida
Provost Summer Research Grant, University of South Florida
2011
College of The Arts Research Grant, University of South Florida
2010
Artist in Residence, Loft Nota Bene, Cadaques, Spain
Artist in Residence, Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY
Artist in Residence, Fountainhead, Miami, FL
College of The Arts Research Grant, University of South Florida
2009
Creative Scholar Grant, University Research Council, University of South Florida
Provost Summer Research Grant, University of South Florida
2008
Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant
Individual Artist Fellowship, Florida Division of Cultural Affairs
College of The Arts Research Grant, University of South Florida
2007
Artist in Residence, Yaddo, Saratoga Springs, NY
Individual Artist Grant, Hillsborough County
Provost Summer Research Grant, University of South Florida
2006
Artist Enhancement Grant, Florida Division of Cultural Affairs
Provost Summer Research Grant, University of South Florida
2005
New Researcher Grant, University Research Council, University of South Florida
Artist in Residence, Red Gate, Beijing, China
Artist in Residence, Stock 20, Taichung, Taiwan
Provost Summer Research Grant, University of South Florida
2004
Artist in Residence, Stock 20, Taichung, Taiwan
1997
Artist in Residence, Shave International Artist Workshop, Somerset, UK
1994
Artist in Residence, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT
1992
Artist in Residence, Ox-bow, Saugatuck, MI

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Hudson River Museum, Yonkers, NY
Perez Art Museum Miami, Miami, FL
Tampa Museum of Art, Tampa, FL
Martha and Jim Sweeny Collection of Contemporary Prints by American Women, Museum of Fine Arts, Saint Petersburg, FL
U.S. Department of State Art in Embassies Program, Beijing, China
JP Morgan Chase Collection, New York, NY
Conoco-Phillips Collection, Houston, TX
M-Restaurant Group, Glam, Shanghai, China
Swatch Art Peace Hotel Traces Collection, Shanghai, China
Memorial Sloan Kettering, New Jersey
Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa, FL
Lawrence Public Library, Lawrence, KS
Francie Bishop Good and David Horvitz/Girls Club Collection, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Kathryn and Dan Mikesell, Miami, FL
Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, FL
Marshall Center Collection, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL
Roger Evans Collection, London, UK

TEACHING

2009-2014 Associate Professor of Painting and Drawing, University of South Florida, Tampa
2003-2009 Assistant Professor of Painting and Drawing, University of South Florida, Tampa